Antikatechon: "Chrisma Crucifixorum" CD reviewed on "Igloo Magazine"

After a debut release signed on Silentes, Davide del Col is back with a new instantly recognizable and sonically thrilling dark ambient opus for the polish label Rage in Eden (renowned for their high quality CD editions in the specific field of industrial-martial-neo folk). Just as in his previous effort, Davide del Col explores the musical equivalent of religiously cryptic images of awakening to the supreme absolute, to ultimate realities. This selection of blackened contemplative dark ambient atmospheres reveals and translates into sound textures a vertiginous, outstanding entrance to metaphysical realities and transcendental estate. Long droning chords, strangely looped motives, acoustic timbres and processed field recordings interact in a deep black ambient sonic ritual. The immersive and heavenly spiritual grandeur of this music is reminiscent to the huge cathedrals of sacred drones published by Raison d’être, Desiderii Marginis, Inade. The detached-suspenseful effervescence is directed to a step further due to the presence of a varied textured acoustic exploration which does not fall into the scope of smoothly symphonic neoclassicism (like in the egotic-sentimentalism releases by Eldar or Arcana) and which favor primeval picturesque sound metaphors. A very compelling album that can be perfectly associated to the new Italian standards of the dark ambient genre (with recent representative disciples such as Vestigial, New Risen Throne et al). In its supreme serenity and ability to conciliate subtly changing-incantatory harmonic structures with characteristic formal experiments, Chrisma Crucifixorum can be considered as a quintessential album in the stylistically territory bounded by the otherworldly facet of dark ambient music.

(Philippe Blache)

http://igloomag.com/reviews/antikatechon-chrisma-crucifixorum-rage-in-eden