Σωτηρία – Προπύλαια – Φωσφόρος — May the naturalborne sinful mind remain loud-crashing, forever hostile to the concept of God and the egregious falsehoods that suggest guilt stains any hereditary line, that penance for humanity is desirable beyond brutal consequence, and any other twisted arm of servitude which deals counterfeit merit in exchange for slavery. A community built upon absolution can never persist when the nature of mankind is so evidently proven to create their own sin and suffering, short lives and horrifying deaths are always preferable to the so-called humane exacerbation offered by false redemption shilled by charlatan soul taxation. No surrender is necessary to the amorphous constructs which identify sin and/or salve, instead the sentient among us would be bettered busying ourselves with the perpetual study and muse of these shifting sands in order to wield them back upon those acting in bad faith.

Without exactingly stated location or revealed faces to go along with their frenetically whirring immerse the internationally dispersed horde of Lvme present a sophomore full-length album in study of the perilous spiritus of human nature, examined with reverence for and glorification of the tendency to sin. Treated as both subject and all-encompassing muse for these six longform black metal pieces ‘Of Sinful Nature‘ tightens the floating empyrean loft of the project’s previous effort and in doing so strengthens what bolts of wrath they are capable of whirling when devastation is inevitably called-for. The flow and fluidity of these glowing and coldly sluiced compositions suffuse -some- of their mountainous scope yet in doing so they create a fuming, book-splaying madness where reasoning and revelry may as well read as incantation or impassioned, inescapable sermon.

Though I cannot confirm any information with directly stated source Lvme supposedly formed circa 2016 and eventually released a promotional rehearsal demo in 2018 which was limited to something like twenty copies. This suggests their intent was not the mass market and it is currently not available to hear online. An impressive debut full-length album (‘The Blazing Iniquity‘, 2019) would instead be their introduction to the polis in October of that next year by way of From Beyond Productions. This is the main reason most folks assume Lvme are at least somewhat inhabited by key members of Teitanblood by association but this isn’t particularly important in describing their debut which was reasonably compared to the heavily atmospheric yet dissonant voicing of Sinmara and especially Misotheist (Norway). As previously stated the modus of the band’s first LP featured a series of longform (~10-12 minute) black metal pieces with strong immersive value thanks to heavy use of repetition and upward-scaling tremolo picked runs and exceptionally dynamic drumming. Consider those core traits honed on this second LP, adding a more realistic drum resonance and sound, weighing the bass guitar in likewise real space and giving the album some authentic analogue sheen thanks to some suggested analog mastering as part of its overall process.

While we could easily find some natural peers for Lvme back in 2019 per their meandering-wide debut what we find today per the bespoke production values and a doubly focused illustrative hand applied to ‘Of Sinful Nature‘ is the product of an insular, rare standard set for performance and render. Crystalline as the shimmering dark spikes of lead interest throughout opener “The Venomous Fire” are it is the rushing rapids of those rhythms, specifically the drum lead froth-and-float virtuosity which chimes in throughout the piece, which captivates as an immediate sign of mastery which and persists throughout the full listen. The initial prowess of these songs feels practiced to Hell, unflailing in their rhythmic tautness to a degree which makes good sense for the surrealistic atmosphere generated but also speaks a guitar language in artful, poetically arcing language which lacks any truly raw or blunted edges as we press on through the six minute growling torsion of “Strix Rêverie”. The surprising note to take up front was that there was no barrier to the momentum built, no reservoir to collapse within but a perpetual feeling of gravity sinking ever lower as we’d gone on crashing through. This is where I’d identified some of the more profound density of ideas on the full listen, though all songs appear relation in their sensation of movement and voicing, at least in a way which is more effective than the four levitating temples that’d comprised their debut.

Without any interruptive punctuation between the first three songs which make up Side A the first half of the experience concludes with what’d end up being my favorite piece on the album, “Without Light Nor Guide”. Multiple vocal layers, escalating rhythmic movements and an early break into an almost prog-rocking sense of lilt does well to emphasize the bass guitar presence in a way which’d momentarily recalled the most recent Slidhr release (see ~2:10 minutes in), though the star of this piece overall is the harmonious whorl of the three main guitar tones and the rushed-at streams of riff that keep all flowing fast and lithe. Leading into the atmospheric dissolve beyond the ~5:15 minute mark I’d not necessarily expected any veering off course, maybe a heavy metal riff or two but the almost post-metallic crumble of this song would serve as a memorable stone to climb within the greater river of the full listen. With such long sidewinding pieces persisting throughout a general description of action versus how profound those moments are within a deeply immersed state of listening don’t necessarily do every moment justice but there is a transfixing, surrealistic knot which ties itself as the whole of the album presents its wares that nobly relates to ‘The Blazing Iniquity’ while also managing exponential ear-catching interest, even if that may very well depend on your interest in this type of guitar work and the effect of its arrangement.

Just as vital in some respects, if not more in terms of unexpected divergence from purely black metal streaking “Into Ashen Stone” brings a bluesy, jazz streaked lead run in refrain of its first third, its walking and growling Immolation-esque basslines casting a virtuosic brutality across its eleven minutes. Though this isn’t the deepest point of distraction from the main flow of the record, it is the natural eruptive peak of the full listen for my own taste and a greatest point of recusal from the flooded intensity of its surroundings. Again, the bass guitar’s tone and placement is especially prominent and powerful in its plodding insertions on this song, having already presented a pernicious and dark serpentine sense of movement throughout but here there is a rising tide, a faster boiling sense of movement provided by the rhythm section that makes this nearly ~11 minute piece an important standout, especially upon focused or repeated full listens. Some whispered chants and a scream later the closing piece drags us to the point of finale again using a complex web of post-black edged rhythms which quickly begin to veer out of control, picking up speed and accoutrement which signals the apex statement and conclusion of the album, though I’ve no insight in the lyrics unfortunately. Rather than leaning into the chiming, crystalline glinting found at the start of the album the guitarist(s) instead find a more percussive rise to present this closing piece which, relying on swerving bends and tempo shifts to create a vortex of an endpoint. The full listen finishes its thought with a sense of finality to the thought, a smokey haze having set over the atmosphere of the experience and the resting point managing some strong satiation in the round, repeatable nature of the running order.

The higher end of my ratings herein reflect some great admiration for the unreal performances pairing so well with a relatively organic render, making for an album which (to me) feels palpable and imposing in its collective reap but also far, far above average in terms of its instrumentation and rhythmic expression. With such a consistent tone realized throughout the full album Lvme‘s immersive capabilities seemed to increase with each listen as I’d become fixated on both each individual song and their moving parts while zooming out one magnitude to admire how each piece interlocks for an uninterrupted full listen. Not only did the rhythm section thrill throughout with their adaptive and commanding pulsing but the level of guitar mastery here, in terms of both precision and pushing that particular voicing into gloriously arcing dramatism, helped to create some lasting fixation with ‘Of Sinful Nature‘ on my part. With some additional consideration for the intense wrangling of the album artwork (per Álex Tedín) and some preliminary perusal of the lyrics I would easily place this as one of the better black metal releases I’ve encountered here in the early steps into 2024 and a record I will assuredly be returning to beyond the general intensity of analysis per review. A very high recommendation is warranted.

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