Satanath Records - Reviews: SODP164

Reviews: SODP164

The Israeli black metal band Azamoth first formed in 2004 and released their debut album Eternity in 2006. In just a few days — roughly 18 1/2 years later — they will release their second album, Bellum Nostrum (“Our War”), via the Symbol Of Domination label.

Obviously, that’s a very long recording hiatus, and the lineup that created Bellum Nostrum isn’t identical to the one that made Eternity (though founding vocalist Scorch and founding guitarist Lord Grief remain in place). So the impulse is to take the new album as a re-launch of the band, as a new statement of intent, as a flaring of ideas and experiences that have accumulated over that long stretch of years.

Today we have a sign of what Bellum Nostrum holds for listeners as we premiere the album track “Ancient Signs of War“.

War is obviously a theme of the album, as reflected in both the record’s title and the name of this new song, though it also has supernatural themes. In keeping with the themes of violence, “Ancient Signs of War” is one of those songs where we can’t help but advise listeners to take some big gulps of air before pressing Play.

The track is a whipping sonic kaleidoscope, obviously influenced by the more bellicose manifestations of Scandinavian black metal from the second wave. It’s an explosion of fire and fury that strains and then blows away moorings of sanity — but it also channels moods of despair and despondency without ever letting the music drift out of the red zone.

And that, in a nutshell, is what makes the song so striking. It’s almost relentlessly warlike in its speed and viciousness, but what it leaves behind is a powerful feeling of loss, and so it proves to be as deeply haunting as it is ferocious, something like a reflection of the suffering produced by endless cycles of violence.

That derives from the melodic quotients of the hook-laden riffs. From the song’s first moments, before the charge begins in earnest, the drums momentously boom like some death ritual and the guitars dismally ring. When the charge begins — drums blasting and guitars whining in both scarring and clean tones, and with haughty howls and burning screams rising above them — the music carries as much desperation as derangement.

As the song rushes forward, with drum and tempo variations augmenting the changing patterns, the riffing still burns but brings agony as well as madness, and a whirling lead guitar leaps out to underscore those moods.

When the pace briefly slows, the music sounds feral, cold, and cruel, and at speed again it also seems ecstatic. The song even picks a time to rock out and to become even more frighteningly jubilant. The vocals remain the most unhinged aspect of the music, even as they change too.

But again, what’s left behind when the song ends is a distressing mood — or at least that’s what happened to this listener.

Bellum Nostrum was recorded and mixed by Ratimus at The Pill sound design studios, and it was mastered by Maor Appelbaum (known for his collaborations with Sepultura, Annihilator, Abbath, and many others). It features attention-grabbing cover art by Christophe Szpajdel.

https://www.nocleansinging.com/2025/05/29/an-ncs-premiere-azamoth-ancient-signs-of-war/