Ignis - Sic Transit Gloria Mundi - II - Phaeton

Written by Aaron Sullivan.


Just when I thought I had mined all that I could find in 2013 I stumble upon some Russian Post-Black Metal courtesy of Ignis. As if that weren’t enough I find on their bandcamp they have released three albums in 2013 all showing different facets of their sound. And as an added bonus they are all free for download.

The first album is Sic Transit Gloria Mundi (latin for "thus passes the glory of this world"). Three songs of soaring Post-Black Metal. Two of them hits the 12 minutes mark, allowing the music to shift and explore from roaring Black Metal to Post-Rockish mid sections. Drums are fast and heavy while guitars furiously keep pace. The vocals sound like rasped wails of torment. The ending of the third song hinting at their Ambient influences (which we will get into later). At times you get a slight hint of Deafheaven in the way they balance the Black and the Post.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

Next up is II. This is where they let their Hardcore influenced Black Metal flag fly. Songs are shorter and go straight for the throat. These are songs made to get the pit moving and heads bobbing.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

The third album, Phaeton, is the curve ball. Though hinted at in the first album as I said before. This is a full blown Ambient noise album. Consisting of two songs, "Dream" and "Decay", they bare a strong resemblance to the work of Dark Ambient master Lustmord. As the song titles would suggest "Dream" is the more subtle of the two songs while "Decay" is the more sinister and harsher of the two. But both have that underlying creepiness that Dark Ambient does so well.

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]

It’s one thing for a band to have many influences. It’s not uncommon for bands to show those influences over several albums. But it is quite another to do it in three albums in one year and for all those albums to not only be able to stand on their own, but to be well done and still feel like they are from the same band. That is quite an amazing feat. I love the ambitious nature of this band. Who knows what they will do next?