Having taken the black metal underground by storm in just a few short years, Los Angeles-based Lamp of Murmuur‘s riff-based raw black metal is a step above the standard “black and white photo with a stylized border” pretenders, a mysterious artisan crafting varied and interesting, sickly music for the truest of maniacs. Now poised to release his third full-length album, sole musician M. decided to take a different route than his usual, extra-harsh affair. On Saturnian Bloodstorm, M.’s new approach–an unholy fusion of black and heavy metal–once again shows a new face for this young artist (because heavy metal and Dire Straits solos were simply not enough in previous releases). On “Seal of the Dominator,” which is streaming ahead of Saturnian Bloodstorm‘s late March release, M. adds an extra edge to his music, using meanness and cruelty, but also arrogance and pride, to make his music larger than life (and pissed, just listen to that ending). This isn’t the Lamp of Murmuur you know, but it also is at the same time. M. is an artist of many faces and facets, and Saturnian Bloodstorm is simply another partial lifting of the veil for this anonymous artist.
Saturnian Bloodstorm releases March 26th via Not Kvlt Records, Night of the Pale Moon and Argento Records.
