After the Monas Hyeroglyphica EP, Tunisian band Primordial Black continue their plunge into the abyss with Dark Matter Manifesto, a debut album described as exploring ‘themes such as inner collapse, the silence of God and the dark matter of consciousness’. If you were still in any doubt and the band's name wasn't enough for you, the artwork by Gustave Doré illustrating the Divine Comedy and the Moroccan label Darkside Records should provide you with a few more clues: Primordial Black are not here for laughs.
Led by guitarist and singer Yasser Mahammedi Bouzina, the band offer a blend of black and death metal whose mystical theatricality is inevitably reminiscent of Behemoth, but with an emphasis on a rhythmic intensity that is sometimes martial, with a relentless industrial coldness... At times, it's not far from Rotting Christ, with its taste for the epic and the conquering. Sakis Tolis adds his voice to Sowing Discord, a nice nod but one that doesn't radically change Primordial Black's universe, which already seems consistent with his own. That doesn't stop us from enjoying the flame that this great man still carries within him and makes shine here in the darkness, we're just not overly surprised when the featuring arrives.
On the other hand, Primordial Black's work on atmosphere is immediately appreciated, as is the fact that despite the often fast-paced tracks, they take the time to create an immemorial, monolithic and mysterious universe. They've obviously studied up on Dario Argento, with the introduction of Profondo Nero, a nod to the Italian master of horror's famous Profondo Rosso, before moving on to Mater Lacrimarum, an explicit reference to his Mother of Tears (even if, by the time of this third film in the “trilogy” comprising the magnificent Suspiria and Inferno, Dario had lost some of his superbness...). Expressive, theatrical diction and lulls evocative of disturbing rituals, a hint of cosmic angst that teases Lovecraftian dementia... Primordial Black is generous and puts on a nice show.
While there are a few clumsinesses (the title track is much more captivating in its ambient parts than in its violence), it's easy to be seduced by the fascinating darkness that the band creates, while at the same time exuding a power and a rebellious fighting spirit that seems to be trying to pierce this darkness. We also appreciate how the music conjures up images of both timeless ruins and empty, interstellar cold, the darkness freeing itself from the laws of time to take us through the ages (the futuristic strings of Eidola serve as a launch pad for Iconoclast and its buried secrets).
And then, beyond the intentions, the richness of the universe created and the riffs that dictate the pace of exploration, there is the emotion that inhabits each track, a real ardour. In this respect, Primordial Black are well advised to conclude with Din of thy Celestial Birds. The celestial birds on the title track are symbols of divine strength and the ability to overcome challenges... This brings us back to the fighting spirit mentioned earlier. The result, haunted by the demonic borborygms of Maxime Taccardi (K.F.R., Osculum Serpentis, Kyuketsuki), oozes a visceral, sick, putrid darkness, which clashes with a melody that at times cuts through the fog before ending with the lamentations of wandering spectres. It's an impressive last track, and leaves an excellent impression. Dark Matter Manifesto attracts attention with its martial rhythms and melodic breakthroughs, but it particularly stands out when it fully embraces its horrific or ritual influences, which give it all its personality, flavour, mystery and dimension.
