Band – Ars Magna Umbrae
Album – Throne Between Worlds
Country of Origin – Poland
Genre – Black Metal
Release Date – November 12, 2021
Label – I, Voidhanger Records
Author – Hayduke X
Much of black metal is purposely meant to be evil. That’s one of the original drivers of the genre, in a broad sense, or so the guys who own black metal demos worth more than your life will tell you. Throne Between Worlds is different. That’s not to say that the album projects goodness. Rather, Ars Magna Umbrae transcends questions of good and evil. It’s as if the project moves beyond, into the ‘other’ whatever that is. It’s perhaps an unknowable concept, certainly one that can’t be put into words, but one that the solo project has made us feel through thirty-seven minutes of simmering shadow.
First making an appearance in 2017 with the Through Lunar Shadows EP, Ars Magna Umbrae is the solo project of one K.M. Full length releases followed in 2018, 2020, and now 2021. Translated from Latin, the project name means something along the lines of ‘The Art of Shadows’, fitting given the spaces that are musically traversed here. This is not an album to be listened to in the bright daylight. In fact, if you were to try, the world would feel strange and dim as you listened.
Throne Between Worlds is deep and rich. More an exploration than an album, the six tracks dive deep into the other, showing without explaining, for what can be explained. This is contemplative black metal. This is black metal in which to immerse yourself, in which to let go and float along the undefinable pathways. This is Ars Magna Umbrae.
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
