If history repeats itself in increasingly concentric circles is then the implied product of perseverance, endurance a sense of timelessness? Reaching back in time for the pen of our auld selves for the sake of examining lost works in the face of nostalgic times is potentially the best sort of full circle statement… on paper. If only so many wizened returns from the crypt’d not fallen so flat in the last two decades, eh. I’d posit today that Aalborg, Denmark-borne epic heavy/doom metal sextet ALTAR OF OBLIVION always bore the mark of timeless ambition, a sense of greatness initially unrealized which is now well proven through time and toil. Upon unearthed bones and revision ancient ideation this darkest-yet fourth full-length album, ‘In The Cesspit Of Divine Decay‘, directly reaches for pieces written as long ago as the mid-2000’s and in the process usurps the fumes and growing pains of auld beginnings with one eye set upon the past and another squarely set in the present. It isn’t so much the method as it is the madness, the music and its dramatic muse that is remarkable herein as these folks take to their earliest instincts at a time when their mastery is well-proven and their approach to epic doom metal singular, affirming beyond most else.

Altar of Oblivion formed circa 2003 when guitarist/vocalist Martin Meyer Sparvath and (then) drummer Allan Larsen formed Summoning Sickness a different sort of extreme speed metal band that’d serve as the rooting but not direct precedence for the increasingly grand ideation of epic doom metal they’d come to embody soon after. Though they can be conditionally placed under the Candlemass inspired category of epic doom metal and have some of their exaggerated traditional heavy metal traits likened to bands like DoomSword, Wheel and Argus there is no doubt a signature to both the songcraft and cadence of this band which starts with their songwriters and becomes transcendent via the classically trained talents of vocalist Mik Mentor who has become a serious point of personage within the band over the years. Since I’d previously remarked on their discography in a review of their 2019 opus ‘The Seven Spirits‘ (where I was too harsh on their debut LP) and detailed some of the timeline for their most recent mLP (‘Burning Memories‘, 2023) in my review for that album (see: #39 on my 75 Best of the Year list) you can more or less get a sense of what the band’ve been up to for the last decade or so by catching up on that reading.

Key context for what this fourth album would become more-or-less arrived with the digital release of some remastered demos from 2005 (‘Black Ashes‘ b/w ‘Nothing Grows From Hallowed Ground‘) and two EPs recorded in 2006 which showcased an earlier version of the band as a duo pre-Mentor‘s joining, each showcasing where they were at in terms of forging their musical identity. Early on in the band’s prototypical phase both World War II adjacent themes and 70’s heavy rock presented as additional points of focus, and while this’d carried on in their sound beyond that point it seems they’d left most of those formative songs behind in the archives, likely feeling they weren’t relevant to the band’s more refined touch on ‘The Shadow Era‘ (2007) demo. Some of those early songs would then eventually become part of ‘In the Cesspit of Divine Decay‘ during a flurry of recordings over the course of the early pandemic years including at least one more album in addition to this one as well as an acoustic record as far as I’ve gathered. In the midst of revitalizing the band after an intense period of change the old, the new, and the ageless aspects of epic heavy metal were summoned for this particular record.

Each side of their sphere is golden. — Reviving and reclaiming some of the eldest writ songs from Sparvath (for this band) doesn’t necessarily incite a major regression event but instead creates a focal point for the style of this ~47 minute concept album wherein the increasingly tuneful, dramatic style Altar of Oblivion had explored on ‘The Seven Spirits‘ is now more directly linked to their initial squarely traditional doom metal focused approach. This means some slower pieces (“Mark of the Dead”) and others which reach further back in time for their hooks (“The Night They Came”) all of which contribute to not only the character of this concept album but bridge past and present in a way which’ll assuredly impress folks who’ve followed the band over the years.

Church organs hum, distorted guitars grind in loosely circling haunt, a gorgeously thunderous bass guitar tone drives their oncoming force and drums full the hall with a commanding presence vital to the impact of Altar of Oblivion‘s work. In this sense the ever-refined sprawl of their production values now feel enriched to a new high yet no less specifically tuned to the sub-genre headspace they inhabit. There’ll be no mistaking ‘In the Cesspit of Diving Decay‘ for anything but a heavy metal album inspired by 80’s heavy metal guitar work, and even a bit of 70’s heavy rock theatre, but they’ve not intentionally gone for a retro-compressed or faux reverb entrapped sound to artificially cloud the air. There is a dark and hammering tilt to the experience which feels designed to emphasize their own sound, to suit the impact of the band’s songcraft and tendencies rather than resemble either past works or vague influences. As such the vocals are a major feature in terms of space allowed but a grand open-aired, plateau-set drum kit allows all else to rain down from above on their freest flowing heavy metal moments, such as the striding-hard “The Fallacy”.

The best songs on this album incorporate both old and new aspects of Altar of Oblivion‘s sound into ~six minute epics starting with opener “Nothing Grows From Hallowed Ground”, a riling heavy metal piece which should feel familiar and welcoming enough to fans of the 2019 and beyond boon of expression available to the band. If you’d spent any serious time with ‘Burning Memories‘ this’ll feel like an assurance up front that ‘In the Cesspit of Divine Decay‘ will ultimately feel like a step forth rather than a recension of their big personae. My personal favorite piece on the full listen, “Silent Pain”, likewise kicks off to a rousing start with its dual guitar harmony and beeline for the pre-chorus in under a minute. It feels like these songs were on a roll in terms of further developing their vocal arrangements while at times relying on more traditional/classic modes of songcraft at the same time. For my own taste a certain balance between the gloom of epic doom metal and traditional heavy metal with a meaner, lead-slinging touch to it is an impressive next-level revelation beyond their previous record. The tragedian epic station of the title track/closer (“In the Cesspit of Divine Decay”) only reinforces this point, an exasperated finale which’d felt palpable when fully engaged with the narrative course taken.

With lyrics and events based on the diarized experiences of Sparvath‘s great-grandfather as he’d been drafted and fought for the Germans during World War I there is an inherently personal implication tied to the themes of ‘In the Cesspit of Divine Decay‘. First for the sake of it being part of family history and (relatively speaking) fairly recent at that and secondly the implied conflict within the characterization of Jesper Wilhem Meyer for the sake of his military contributions being unwilling. Granted, I’ve only my ears to make out the lyrics and no sheet to pull directly from so I won’t go in to any interpretive depth. I did however notice themes of questioning divine purpose, regret, and of course the horrors of trench warfare and the repercussions of said trauma… a loose set of interpretations on my part. As always their lyricism is poetic without coming across overly performative or insincere and finds its dramatic peak(s) well in tune with the flow of the album. Also I suppose it goes without saying that Mentor is still one of the very best in this particular lane and these pieces utilize his range to tell this story with an appropriate level of gravitas applied.

Of course this is (perhaps obviously) one of my favorite bands in this style, of course I’d entered this album hip to both its background and after having sorted just what Altar of Oblivion have been up to for the last several years. The context of chronology is valuable on some level when parsed but the most important note to take in terms of ‘In the Cesspit of Divine Decay‘ has already been stated well enough: It is a best-yet representation of what is particularly special about this band’s work and for my own taste an elite feat, a decidedly somber heavy metal record that is infectious as it is heavy. We find the band at a newly reinforced high here on album number four and for my own taste their songcraft might’ve been more immediately catchy in recent times and more ‘epic’ in their earlier drawn-out compositions but the balance struck here both affirms and transcends their body of work. A very high recommendation.

https://altarofoblivion.bandcamp.com/album/in-the-cesspit-of-divine-decay

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