Band: CODEX MORTIS
Country: The Netherlands
Title: What Befalls of Tainted Souls
Label: Vidar Records
Year: 2021
Style: Black Metal
Review:
Don't know why the band waited for 2 years after the recordings of this album to finally release it, in the meantime two of the participants are no longer in the band either. Anyway, this is Codex Mortis' debut album, an 8 tracks effort clocking over 40 minutes of playing time and delivering an uncompromising breed of Black Metal that at first, during the first track, seems to be on the chaotic, extremely brutal side of Black Metal, but soon it changes and evolves into a whole different kind of monster, with a much wider unfolding yet still remaining aggressive and intense throughout. Influences from bands like Emperor, Dissection and even Cradle of Filth are obvious, but the band's high technical level and wide writing capacity makes them no copy of the abovementioned and instead a really original sounding band, I couldn't actually say I've heard another band quite like Codex Mortis although they play in the same Black Metal league with influences from Doom or (Tech) Death Metal with both intense and melodic facets completing themselves. Maybe Polish Lux Occulta may be a similar sounding beast, but Codex Mortis managed to craft and deliver a fantastic debut here, all is impressive from the rich harmonics and structures, to the intensity, to the evilness, to the subtle (or blunt even) melodies sprinkled all over. And what's the best feature of this album in my opinion is that it constantly grows on you and serves many, many surprising moments throughout that will keep it interesting, so if you decide to try it out (and you should!), give it a full spin, don't stop at the first track(s)! This band MUST deliver a follow-up as soon as possible, they might easily become game-changers in this genre!
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 10/10