Demo:listen: Sombre Mundus

Welcome to Demo:listen, your weekly peek into the future of underground metal. Whether it’s death, grind, black, doom, sludge, heavy, progressive, stoner, retro, post-, etc. we’re here to bring you the latest demos from the newest bands. On this week’s Demo:listen, we become acquainted with the majesty of an empty world with Novia Scotia’s Sombre Mundus.

Sombre Mundus is the name given to the solo, ambient black metal endeavor undertaken by an otherwise unidentified person from Halifax, Novia Scotia. Called simply Demo, Sombre Mundus’ demo is two tracks plus an outro long. The homemade production and the presence of keyboards lends Demo a somnambulant, hazy atmosphere a la Bekëth Nexëhmü or early Gehenna, while the actual black metal conjured and set loose by Sombre Mondus has teeth and claws for days.

According to the unidentified person behind Sombre Mundus, “The project . . . has been in the works for about a year now.” A guitarist first and foremost, Sombre Mundus’ composer says: “Guitar to me is the most important in my music, so it’s done first. Additional ideas come after the guitar parts are written. This way I feel can focus on writing around the most important element of the sound and atmosphere to this project . . . I’ve always steered towards melodic black metal when writing music by myself on guitar.”

While the Sombre Mundus demo may only be two songs, both songs are lengthy compositions just teeming with an hermetic ingenuity. “I” is full of stomping, entrancing passages that make its eight and a half minutes seem at once short and endless, while “II” climbs a Hate Forest-esque crescendo only to expire, full of majesty and promise. Honestly, you’ve never heard anything quite like Sombre Mundus before.

“Creation, multiverse theories, different mind states,” are the driving forces behind Sombre Mundus’ elegant black metal, according to its master. Which means, let’s hope, there should be no shortage of material to look forward, as those topics seem like they would be endlessly inspiring. In the meantime, if you’re quick enough, you can grab a copy of Demo on tape, directly from the band. “I’m big into analog,” says Sombre Mundus’ sole member. “So I wanted to make tapes instead of CDs. I think the music compliments an analog sound more than digital.” Even if you miss out on a tape, throw them a few bucks and cop the mp3s. This is absolutely a project to keep on your radar.

You heard it here first on Demo:listen. Check this space next and every Friday for promising new metal.