CHAMBER OF MIRRORS REVIEW

CHAMBER OF MIRRORS - TALES OF BLOOD

Now with a third full-length, one-man California black metal act Chamber of Mirrors is the brainchild of Mortem and his outburts and misanthropic despondency are fast making waves in the underground as more and more solo acts gain recognition in an era where it's certainly difficult to find other like-minded individuals that would want to create music of this nature withouth compromise. 

Mortem lets out a fierce shriek immediately on "Dominion" and batters away at his drum kit like rapid fire artillery alongside his riffing being slightly melodic in unison. With "Mistress of the Blood Red Moon" he delivers tight melodies with the right amount of rawness to still give that pre-millenium black metal touch that many newer bands strives so hard to achieve. "Ancient Ember of Endless Time" has haunting keys subtly interjected in to and a touch of eerieness to a very ancient No Fashion Records atmosphere. The very simple name of "The Serpent" had Mortem tremolo-picking his way to transitions of keys and drums fills  as his ferocious vocals pay plenty of homage to the serpentine entity. Even with the shortest amount of time devoted to it of all compositions herein the title track is an etherela synth journey through faraway lands drenched in the very blood and sinew that the album alludes to. Going back to blasting and showing no further restraint "I Am Eternal" is a perfect ending in fire as Mortem burns everything to the ground and stands over the ashes to reign out of spite, a quick, sudden burst of aggression with a totally abrupt ending show he little of a fuck he could give as he indeed stands arrogantly tall and proud.

Primal, unforgiving and relentless, "Tales of Blood" is and times both melodic and hideous in its delivery of blasphemous blackness and Mrtem definitely has an ironclad grasp on how best to unravel his narrative in the most captivating way, paving the path for solo black metal acts to continue to thrive under the auspices of those that weave the most spellbinding of tapestries!

9/10