Born from stone and channeled hand-to-hand by divine bloodlet the spiritus of Mitra lives on within admirably inquisitive, studied archaeo-spiritual minds no longer confined to caverns of secretive doctrine as Yerevan, Armenia-based black metal quartet ILDARUNI muse upon their own channeling of ancient mysterion per this inspired sophomore full-length album. Though some occasional strand of folken trait persists in their muscle memory the band’s expression via ‘Divinum Sanguinem‘ loosens into increasingly grand atmospheric climes as harried rushes of melodic black metal device bolster a high-detailed yet freely flowing feature. In the process of stylistic metamorphosis and refinement these folks’ve managed to suit their subject in an above-average way while delivering a largely memorable experience.

Ildaruni formed as a trio circa 2016 but soon expanded to a quartet as they’d released a very well formed demo soon after. From my point of view their early style resembled ‘Theogonia‘-era Rotting Christ with some clear inspiration taken from ‘epic’ pagan black metal a la Kawir circa ‘Isotheos‘ or nearby and much of this carried over to their impressive debut LP (‘Beyond Unseen Gateways‘, 2021) which I’d given favorable review of at the time. Rather than pull from Hellenic cultural reference and mythos as far as I understand their work naturally pulled from Armenian, or, Urartian legendry for its theme and lyrics as well as additional folken instrumentation to help differentiate from an otherwise Scandinavian/Hellenic musical base. For this latest album the band’s sound contracts away from folk metal specific leading melodies and instrumentation, instead now leading with a sound I’d describe as outright melodic black metal with an emphasis on their own ‘epic’ atmospheric unfurl and some additional study of mid 90’s Norwegian trait intertwined.

The full reveal of what is new, what remains constant, and what fresh skills had developed when ‘Divinum Sanguinem‘ was recorded (around 2023?) comes within standout “Of Nomos and Flaming Flint Stone” where all of their suggested traits express within the Swedish melodic black rouse of its opening riff, the trade between snapped-out grooves and chorale assisted loft and of the song’s middle third, and how those elements trade between epic melodic leads you’d expect to follow ‘Beyond Unseen Gateways‘. Before that piece makes it most clear what the breadth of the experience will contain in terms of style and structure “The Ascension of Kosmokrator” first showcases a more resolutely atmospheric/melodic black metal style as a strong leader into this often tuneful and dramatically stated muse. For my own taste these opening moments were surely familiar in shape and voice, still fairly obvious where they are coming from taste wise, but this didn’t detract from the effect of Side A resembling some profound change for the band’s directive as their vision expands.

Previews of ‘Divinum Sanguinem‘ have generally focused on the core intensity of the full listen, lining up “of Nomos and Flaming Flint Stone” beside the fiery “Forged With Glaive and Blood” and this is where the “pagan” heart of the album begins beating loudest before the ‘Storm of the Lights Bane‘-era intrigue of “Zurvan Akrane” begins to flesh out Ildaruni‘s own ghostly yet stoic atmospheric carve. As Side A closes it feels as if we’ve finally arrived upon the castle beyond the gates, that their work is fully alive and thankfully that moment is girded by a throng of well innervated riffcraft, a sort of Swedish/Norwegian conglomeration. From that point Side B begins to emphasize the band’s “epic” station alongside this intensified melodic voice while incorporating choral arrangements (see: “Arcane Sermon”) where appropriate.

While it would be fair to view ‘Divinum Sanguinem‘ as a general upgrade to Ildaruni‘s sonic lustre as their stylized sound begins to expand into broader expressivity the same general directorial hand persists. Beyond those more practical points of evolution I’d point to theme, as this is a concept album, as an additional point of mastery developed herein. The mystique surrounding Mithraism, the “occult” connotations of the Indo-Iranian mystery religion, is the focus of this work and it is a fascinating subject which has lost and regained perspective in study over the last several decades: I would recommend Andrew Fear’s book Mithras (Gods and Heroes of the Ancient World) as a prime, at least somewhat scholarly and properly contextualized source of information. I mention this because I believe these folks have done well to generate a level of atmosphere suitable for a mysterion with such striking symbolism and intriguing purposes, this of course translates directly with the locus of style suggested prior where Hellenic black metal and various Scandinavian influences speak well to both mythological and “underground cult” subjects. Otherwise the lyrics speak directly to much, much more research than the usual cut-and-paste of talking points from Wikipedia articles we too often find in black metal thema. Cover artwork from Khaos Diktator does an incredible job of representing both iconic imagery and a fantastical vision of their followers served by the bands work.

The height of this glowing spiritual heat is probably found within “Scorching Pathway to Samuchi” as the heaviest use of synth/keyboard voicing (and qanun) though it helps that “Immersion into Empyrean” walks us up the ladder to get there first as one of the more mid-paced, steadier built pieces on the way out; Though I’d iterate that it is yet fairly obviate what has inspired the general shape and voice of Ildaruni‘s songcraft within ‘Divinum Sanguinem‘ I believe the full listen should prove immediately connective for fans of melodic black metal old-and-new with an emphasis on traits found in epic heavy metal inspired work which would just as well appeal to folks keen to some of the more forceful acts found on AOP Records or nearby who wield atmospheric lack metal away from its maudlin tonal connotations. It is a fine sophomore album from an already promising band, an overall leap made in embodying both subject matter and personal directive, and perhaps more importantly to the average melodic black metal listener: It is a pleasure to immerse within the glowing subterranean intrigue of the full listen. A high recommendation.

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