Band: OLTRETOMBA
Country: Italy
Title: The Horror - Figure del terrore
Label: Moribund Records
Year: 2019
Style: Retro Black Metal

Review:
5 years after they released their debut album, Italian duo Oltretomba are back with the followup studio material, now out on US based Moribund Records on CD format, probably to be followed by a tape version and maybe even vinyl as the music certainly asks for both of these ancient formats. If you know the band already than this new album's music is no surprise, it follows the path started with The Death - Schierati con la morte in 2014, but for the ones that are not familiar with it, Oltretomba plays an old type of Black Metal, one that was played in the end '80's on Hard Rock instruments and effects, so that it sounds more like a darkened Hard Rock rather than what we call nowadays Black and Death Metal, very far from it. The vocals and part of the drum patters are closer to nowadays' Extreme Metal, and the resulting blend sounds quite original within the current scene even though there are so many retrograde Metal bands out there, something way closer to Venom / Celtic Frost than let's say Behemoth or Belphegor, and all this drenched in a deep horror atmosphere and lyrics to match it. What's curious is that the music and lyrics were composed between 2000 and 2016, and the album recorded in 2017, so why was it released only 2 years after the recordings took place? Anyway, all in all this is an interesting album of theatrical retrograde Black Death Metal, and I think is the band decides to incorporate more of that flugelhorn bass they used on the track Dracul (which is also my fave track on this album) that will bring them even more originality and increase that spooky atmosphere no new heights. 
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 7.5/10

Contact:
facebook.com/Oltretomba.RetrogardeMetal
moribundrecords.bandcamp.com