Elemental [ˌɛlɪˈmɛntl / adjective]: related to or embodying the powers of nature.
Today, Portuguese Black Metal duo Everto Signum internationally release their long-awaited second full-length album “Beastiary” via Monumental Rex. Listen to the album in its entirety HERE, courtesy of the Atmospheric Black Metal Albums YouTube channel.
Everto Signum is a Black Metal act embodied by Nekruss and Æminus, hailing from the inner realms of Portugal. Having released the debut full-length “Enneachotomy” in 2012 and the EP “Synergy” in 2014, the band lied dormant as the creative duo focused on other music projects, namely Carma and Lacrau.
After ten years of silence, Everto Signum skulk out of chasmic caverns to unleash their brand new creation entitled “Beastiary” – a concept album inspired by destructive powers of Nature. The band stays true to their elemental background by writing an immersive story that guides the listener through a chain reaction of natural disasters. These calamities are beastialized – manifested as wild uncontrollable beasts exhibiting intrinsic animalistic shapes, traits and behaviours. The plot is comprised of seven chapters, each consisting of a contextual introduction that describes the scenery and sets the mood for the destruction to come, and an interpretation of the actual cataclysm. Written in English, the expressively poetic lyrical narrative portrays a journey from an ice-covered mountain top through a valley, down to the depths of a meromictic lake and finally into a perennial forest to witness the dreadful wrath of ancient forces.
To concretize this work, Everto Signum synergized with Diogo Mota, best known as the drummer of Gaerea, who infused the album with much energy and vigour. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Nekruss himself, “Beastiary” stands as a hostile soundscape lasting over 50 minutes. Seven tracks build upon the musical ideas set by the latest EP, expanding and developing those into a more sophisticated form through the band’s signature Elemental Black Metal, this time utterly imbued with the brutality of Death Metal. Sublimely enriched with progressive structures, synthesizer-led passages, ambient sections and many other captivating elements coming from a vast range of influences such as Prog Rock, Folk, Dungeon Synth and even New-age music, “Beastiary” abounds with furiously melodic and potent guitar riffage, fierce and technical drumming, heavy pounding bass lines, and viciously varied extreme vocals. The production is aggressive, massive and multilayered, perfectly fitting the epic thematic of the album and keeping the listener on the edge throughout the entire journey.
The visual representation took form by the hand of the plastic artist RF Torres Valente who created a set of graphite and ink illustrations. These drawings were embellished with arcane calligraphy and exquisitely arranged into a grimoire-inspired layout, all scrupulously crafted by Infected Minds. Printed on rough texturized paper, the magnificent A5-sized 20-page booklet seamlessly depicts surrealistic concepts envisioned by Everto Signum.
Fully explore “Beastiary” HERE, courtesy of Atmospheric Black Metal Albums YouTube channel. Order infos can be found HERE at Everto Signum‘s Bandcamp page.
Cover art and track list for Everto Signum’s “Beastiary”:
Tracklist:
- Genesis [0:49]
- Colossus [5:05]
- Ophidian [7:37]
- Wyvern [9:34]
- Dragon [8:41]
- Deinos [13:06]
- Weaver [6:43]
Complete album line-up:
Æminus – songwriting, guitars and bass
Nekruss – songwriting, lyrics, vocals, recording, mixing and mastering
Diogo Mota – session drums
RF Torres Valente – artwork
Infected Minds – calligraphy and layout
More infos at: