Review by Fernando on May 3, 2022.

While Portugal is a country not many people associate with black metal at first glance, it is a very prominent wellspring of black metal and Corpus Christii are one of the longest standing names of the Portuguese black metal scene. In 2022 they will unleash their ninth full length named The Bitter End Of Old, through Immortal Frost Productions.

Corpus Christii is, as mentioned, one of the long-standing black metal bands from Portugal, starting in 1998 and having a very prolific and active career. In the present they have their own style locked, which is on the melodic and orthodox brand of black metal people often associate with Sweden and modern German black metal bands. On this new record, Corpus Christii does mark some of the checkboxes, a high quality production, dynamic song structures that balance speed, groove and atmosphere, very melodic and somewhat progressive riffs and hooks, and vocals that are appropriately ghoulish with occasional bellowing. On those qualities alone, Corpus Christii do have a lot of strengths, albeit with not much innovation, since, as I’ve mentioned, this brand of black metal is the norm for many other bands and scenes, but that’s not to say Corpus Christii are devoid of an identity, as this album is a continuation of their ongoing journey, as this is the style they honed in long before scenes and bands started leaning into this particular style.

The biggest strength Corpus Christii has is of course the skills of the band’s founder Nocturnus Horrendus alongside member J. Goat. The duo since 2015 have been carefully refining their chemistry and on this album, I’d say they’ve achieved unity, in fact, one wouldn’t be able to tell the album was made by only two people, even with the excellent production. Nocturnus Horrendus and J. Goat have a unique skill of managing to make their music sound and feel somber but also vast and engrossing while at the same time, keeping you engaged from beginning to end, and also do it in a very tight package. At under 40 minutes the record is very well paced and engaging and it never feels stretched. While I can criticize how this style of black metal has been already proliferated by many bands in the past decade or so, not many of those artists have the skill Corpus Christii do, that is to be engaging and substantial without overstaying their welcome, so all in all the band continue to prove their long standing bearing as a major force of Portuguese black metal.

Overall, Corpus Christii continue to deliver their brand of wicked and epic black metal, and remain stalwart in their dedication to black metal and the darker side of mankind. It may be a tried and true path, but it's still a worthy path to embark.

Best tracks: 'The Predominance', 'Fragmented Chaos Disharmony', 'For I Am All', 'Heinous'

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Fernando on May 3, 2022.

While Portugal is a country not many people associate with black metal at first glance, it is a very prominent wellspring of black metal and Corpus Christii are one of the longest standing names of the Portuguese black metal scene. In 2022 they will unleash their ninth full length named The Bitter End Of Old, through Immortal Frost Productions.

Corpus Christii is, as mentioned, one of the long-standing black metal bands from Portugal, starting in 1998 and having a very prolific and active career. In the present they have their own style locked, which is on the melodic and orthodox brand of black metal people often associate with Sweden and modern German black metal bands. On this new record, Corpus Christii does mark some of the checkboxes, a high quality production, dynamic song structures that balance speed, groove and atmosphere, very melodic and somewhat progressive riffs and hooks, and vocals that are appropriately ghoulish with occasional bellowing. On those qualities alone, Corpus Christii do have a lot of strengths, albeit with not much innovation, since, as I’ve mentioned, this brand of black metal is the norm for many other bands and scenes, but that’s not to say Corpus Christii are devoid of an identity, as this album is a continuation of their ongoing journey, as this is the style they honed in long before scenes and bands started leaning into this particular style.

The biggest strength Corpus Christii has is of course the skills of the band’s founder Nocturnus Horrendus alongside member J. Goat. The duo since 2015 have been carefully refining their chemistry and on this album, I’d say they’ve achieved unity, in fact, one wouldn’t be able to tell the album was made by only two people, even with the excellent production. Nocturnus Horrendus and J. Goat have a unique skill of managing to make their music sound and feel somber but also vast and engrossing while at the same time, keeping you engaged from beginning to end, and also do it in a very tight package. At under 40 minutes the record is very well paced and engaging and it never feels stretched. While I can criticize how this style of black metal has been already proliferated by many bands in the past decade or so, not many of those artists have the skill Corpus Christii do, that is to be engaging and substantial without overstaying their welcome, so all in all the band continue to prove their long standing bearing as a major force of Portuguese black metal.

Overall, Corpus Christii continue to deliver their brand of wicked and epic black metal, and remain stalwart in their dedication to black metal and the darker side of mankind. It may be a tried and true path, but it's still a worthy path to embark.

Best tracks: 'The Predominance', 'Fragmented Chaos Disharmony', 'For I Am All', 'Heinous'

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 6, 2021.

History knows many artists who only became famous after their death. Van Gogh is the prime example. But there are also examples in extreme metal in a weakened form. I still remember well how the German metal press, at least, blasphemed about the early Venom for many years. Incompetent incompetents, that was the tenor. It's just amazing how many musicians were influenced by this oh-so-incompetent trio.

Occult Burial have clearly listened to a lot, maybe too much Venom. They play a primeval mixture of thrash, speed and black metal, trace elements of traditional heavy metal can be found as well as the simplicity of punk. That's pretty much what Venom labelled as black metal in the early 80s, whereas today we understand something completely different, much broader under this style designation. Be that as it may, not only the first sequences of 'Ancient Returns' sound exactly like the classic trio around Cronos. Or after young Quorthon (R.I.P.), but he was basically nothing more than the Swedish edition of Conrad Lant.

Unfortunately, a good influence is not synonymous with a good album by the respective musical successors. Hideous Obscure lacks power and steam, both compositionally and in terms of production. Elements of madness help every extreme metal work, but they are missing here. It would be too much to dismiss this debut as a mere tribute album. But when the vocal acrobat at the beginning of the sixth track murmurs into the mic exactly in the pitch of Cronos's "Evil Metal", the protagonists should not be surprised that you get the impression that you are dealing with a parody. At least, the title in question ('A Witch Shall Be Born..') brings a real bang to the music.

In general, after a very mediocre start, the album gains a little in quality the longer it runs. A few successful double bass entries at least provide a certain degree of intensity, the vocals at least approach hysterical realms from time to time and the dudes from Ottawa (of course there are three dudes, don't tell me this is a coincidence) at least avoid gross bloopers. But that can't hide the fact that the short record (playing time under 32 minutes) lacks fire, energy and the good will to destroy. Unfortunately, no single song really stands out above the rest. A few good riffs are present, but only rarely can a strong song be formed from them. The whole thing sounds like a demo pressed onto a CD that can't find its way in its new environment. No question, the debut of Venom had more charm.

Rating: 6.3 out of 10