The unrelenting stance of the mystic warrior psyche is accessed in channeling the inalienable dark as Italy/Norway-based black metal duo HAMMERFILOSOFI wield death worship to scry their path forward on this second full-length album. ‘Signum‘ is a pledge of intent as much as it is a fantastical telling as it pertains to the author’s personal spiritual directive and in this sense it, like all of the band’s prior works, intends to resemble an exacting spirit of black metal through stated ideas. That level of ideological pursuit and representation directly translates to the type of black metal they’ve pursued herein as shades of orthodox and some second wave voicing push their rhythmic voicing and general battery to further extremes.

For a band that’d formed during the pandemia of MMXX, a fresh high point for black metal mediocrity, it’d been at least somewhat compelling to hear Hammerfilosofi state their purpose as calling back to the sub-genre’s spiritual onus when their debut LP (‘The Desolate One‘, 2023) released a few years later. In developing a narrative around the induction and education of the adversary it was clear that the orthodox black metal movement had potentially been either the impetus for their philosophy, or, at least compositional hand. From my point of view it’d resembled the more declarative shades of Funeral Mist too readily, an album that’d admirably slow-walk through despairing tones but without delivering riffcraft worth remembering. For this reason I’d not paid close attention to their follow-up EP (‘Solus‘, 2024) during its review window, eventually suggesting it as “an extension rather than an usurpation” of their debut LP. It’d appear as an experiment out of focus beyond being built around faster paced movements with some revelations in chaotic vocal expression and industrial metal elements.

‘Signum‘ manifests as dual-pronged paradigm shift into greater capability and heightened sensibilities both of which stand in contrast with Hammerfilosofi‘s generally passable past material. Their original stated purpose is intact while their performances and associated impact receive upgrade herein: Myriad vocal temperament now finds a declarative focus, drumming now delves into true extremes throughout, and their treatment of black metal grooves no longer sits buried so deeply within each composition. A bleak-yet-searching sense of movement persists throughout the full listen while eruptive outbursts ensure the atmosphere remains unbalanced, scorched and trialed as a direct result of changes to their methods, stripping away the busied nox of ‘Solus‘ to allow room for broader set violence. Opener “A Dance Above the Abyss” provides a clear window into this suggested change as it starts their sequence ablaze with a belligerent rant shouted from the gut which hasn’t been too neatly preened or dialed-in.

From the first song on ‘Signum‘ the sense that Hammerfilosofi‘s focus will heavily turn toward a sound and method nearby the early 2000’s is stoked and then more readily confirmed by the more patiently festering “Falling Monuments” afterward. It is arguably one of the best pieces on the album to showcase the unruly, cacophonic energies of ‘Solus‘ given much sharper focus and thusly it is a big piece of my argument that these folks have only improved their standing with this album. The vocals are over-active for my own taste, unwilling to rest for more than a few bars, but the tension created within that piece helps to crack open the possibilities for more variety pacing and affected narration going forward. Swedish (orthodox) black metal fandom will find some of the next few songs (“My Blood is My Void” esp.) familiar in shape and tone as we press forward though I would offer that the vocals both help and hinder the duo’s step in and out of said circle throughout Side A.

The classicist froth, uglier nuance and belligerent furor of Hammerfilosofi is best represented within Side B opener “Funeral Veil” where we might’ve already found this type of dynamic expressed within “Falling Monuments” in some sense but here their execution is most notable from my perspective. This maximally applied bark and hammer approach brings some extra life to ‘Signum‘, and is effective enough after five or so pieces, yet it doesn’t evolve wildly while carving the greater shape of the album… The moment we’ve hit a ten out of ten impactful strike the band (or, the vocals in particular) do not relent into nuance beyond that point. While it would be fair to suggest that that is the nature of their major points of inspiration given to expression… to my ear it ends up reducing the impact of their words. This also finds some reduction of the industrial black metal ideas found on earlier releases where I’d found only “The Destroyer of Worlds” seemed to embrace those ideas beyond an average black metal groove and this was a small disappointment as it’d colored in some of their previous work. At any rate I’d felt they’d made their point by the fifth song sans any compelling pivot point.

Though I see the vision, hear their words, and will readily suggest that ‘Signum‘ is the best release from Hammerfilosofi to date I’m not sure that they’ve achieved more than a solidly above-average result on this second LP. Production values and curation of artwork (incl. a cover image from Manuel Scapinello) are universally on point in terms of providing a presentation which enhances the listening experience… and it is solely by rearing up to those high standards that the band’s vision is animated. Otherwise their execution and performative ouevre is less impressive beyond all things coming into clearer focus this time around. The appeal of the duo’s work is nonetheless there and should be obviate enough for fans of the perceived sector it emanates from. A moderately high recommendation.

---