Blut Aus Nord — Deus Salutis Meae

Blut Aus Nord have been the leaders of the French Black Metal scene for around 23 years now, they flourished from the ashes of a band named Vlad who had recorded two demos in the early 1990s. Whilst they are most definitely a Black Metal band Blut Aus Nord are innovators and are always looking to take their brand of Black Metal in new and interesting directions, never happy to settle with a generic sound they constantly challenge themselves incorporating elements of ambient electronics, doom metal, industrial and death metal into their sound.

Deus Salutis Meae is their twelfth full length release in those 23 years, the band have also released numerous EPs during that time. They describe their brand of Black Metal as a “fist in the face of mainstream mediocrity”, and see themselves as creators of a hallucinogenic universe, erasing all preconceived ideas of Black Metal – and extreme music in general.”

Moving on to the music, Deus Salutis Meae is the follow up to the Codex Obscura Nomina split with Aevangelist that was released in 2016. The album opens with the ambient intro δημιουργός, first track proper is the doomy Chorea Macchabeorum, slow and heavy it’s a crushing start to the album that pummels the listener into submission. Not unlike Bathory in some of their slower moments, however there is a lot going on, and there is scope to uncover something new with repeat listens. Impius is up next, and whilst still slow and heavy it had a more industrial sound, vocals are used almost like another instrument on this track, they take no precedence but still account for creating an interesting whole. γνῶσις is a beautiful short piece of ambient electronics and acting something like the calm before the storm lead nicely into Apostasis the fastest track so far. Ushered in by crashing blast beats and 900 mile an hour guitar riffs the track soon changes direction slowing to a crawl and developing a more avant garde sound. One of the things I love about this album are the chanted vocals that add a layer of the surreal to the album. Abisme is another slow number that crawls from the sewer to rear its ugly head for all to see. Revelatio is next and takes the speed back up several notches, duly slowing again for what is an almost anthemic chorus. ἡσυχασμός represents another ambient interlude preparing the way for the brutal opening speed of Ex Tenebrae Lucis before slowing into something that is quite unique. Even now I am struggling to find words that aptly describe this track, but one thing I can say is that I really like it. It has a distinct doom metal vibe, and the music owes more to St Vitus or Solitude Aeternus than to any Black Metal band that I can think of, and features more of those chanted incantations. The final track on the album Métanoïa follows in a similar vein to Ex Tenebrae Lucis and rounds off the album nicely.
 
Overall Deus Salutis Meaeis a fascinating record that takes Black Metal into new and interesting dimensions, there is a massive doom metal influence that fits perfectly, and gives the album a heaviness often missing from Black Metal releases. The wonderful chanted invocations that pop up across the album and the use of the lovely warm tones of analogue synthesizers give the album a unique feel and keep things feeling fresh and exciting. There always seems to be a lot happening on this record and whilst this sometimes masks the vocals it is a very minor criticism, and one that will not even see it lose marks. If we think in terms of the vocals as being more like another instrument awaiting to be discovered on future listens, we can look forward to giving this one the time it deserves.