Artist: Spectrum Mortis
Country: Spain
Label: Bloody Productions
Formats: 7″ EP
Year: 2025
When, out of the blue, Spectrum Mortis debuted with their ‘Blasphemare Nomen Eius’ 12” EP in 2016, I was pretty impressed with what these Spaniards were able to put to the table. Especially considering this came out of thin air, without any warning shots in the form of a demo tape or anything else. Their brand of Black Metal sounded both occult and rather well-produced at the same time, proof that one does not necessarily rule out the other. That same formula was continued two years later with the follow-up 12” EP with the simple title of ‘קדוש’. Another two years on the band brought their next release, a split CD with the Mexicans of Hacavitz which I personally failed to check out. Yet another two years later the band came with their biggest surprise: a record deal with Listenable Records and their debut album for the French label. Not quite your go-to record label when you’re out for some fresh Black Metal…
And, whether the band’s signing to Listenable was the exact reason or not, but I never felt the urge to check out that debut album. What definitely didn’t help was that the album was never available in any of the distros I usually look and buy and the bigger retailers like EMP didn’t carry it either – the fate of bands signing to a label that is too big for the “underground people” and too small for the masses. Regardless, the album slipped my attention for the most part. I even didn’t remember it came out at all when this new 7” EP, through Bloody Productions, hit my mailbox.
For the sake of being able to write a decent review I, of course, have checked the album out online and with having heard ‘Clavis Magica’ a good couple of times – both online and on the turntable – I think it is fair to say that, although the band signed to a rather remarkable label, the music didn’t suffer from that odd step. At all. The Spanish band, currently reduced to a duo, still combine a rather brooding brand of Black Metal with a clear and thunderous production. Raw, but beefy enough to file it under “modern Black Metal”: melodious and, dare I say, rather accessible. Not so much as later Watain or bands like, for instance, Cloak, but on the other hand I’d say that the people who are usually enamoured by those bands would appreciate Spectrum Mortis as well.
In the past I have seen Spectrum Mortis being compared to bands like Necros Christos and Grave Miasma, however, I have always had a bit of a difficulty fitting the Spaniards in that frame. At least on a musical level. Not every band that sounds dark and have a slight occult edge to them do sound like Necros Christos or Grave Miasma, because that is basically where that comparison only holds up. Just because Spectrum Mortis sport some throaty, growling vocals and do not sound Norwegian, doesn’t automatically place them in the other camp. Nevertheless, that occult-ish image and atmosphere of the band gives them a certain appeal and distinguishes them, at least, from the plastic entry-level groups like Watain.
Although ‘Clavis Magica’ kind of broke the “a new recording every two years”-tradition, I am happy to at least have checked this out, as again the band showed their talent for writing solid and convincing tracks. Maybe nothing too challenging, but definitely top-tier material and very worth your attention and the few bucks that it takes for you to obtain a copy of this 7” EP – the format alone is worth the deal, I’d say.
