An encroaching horde devoted to their own distortion of long-forgotten ancient summons calls down a spell of incendiary desecration as Salerno, Italy-based black metal trio PRISON OF MIRRORS dictate the conflagration of the firmament through this latest EP release. Beyond grotesquely textured sound design and sharpened general curation of ‘De Sepulchris Occultis et Igne Profanationis‘ these folks impress via the continuity of its ~half hour ride, an increasingly dissonant and nuanced venture which feeds the ear down into its abyss via a stretch of surrealistic black metal action. While their work and overall vision might be familiar enough to the die-hard niche pertaining to this style of black metal the hollow descent illustrated within those bounds nonetheless proves itself a harrowing vacuum for the despairing mind.

Prison of Mirrors formed circa 2006 obviously inspired by depressive suicidal black metal via the original line-up’s pseudonyms and their name being derived from a Xasthur piece. This was reinforced by their debut EP (‘Nothing‘, 2014) which released quite a few years later. That wasn’t the band’s ultimate destination as they’d followed the mid-2010’s shift toward occult and orthodox black metal inspired muse, taking on a second EP (‘Unstinted, Delirious, Convulsive Oaths‘, 2017) a few years later with a completely different sound. They’ve only improved upon that idea and sound from that point of precedence, notably releasing their debut LP, ‘De Ritualibus et Sacrificiis ad Serviendum Abysso‘, to modest acclaim in 2020. That album could be compared to certain atmospheric shades of Icelandic black metal both for its sonic lustre and the wandering nature of its changeling ~10-15 minute compositions. If seeking contextual contrast I’d recommend listening to “Sigils for the Ritual Exhumation” from that debut LP before approaching this new EP.

‘De Sepulchris Occultis et Igne Profanationis‘ straddles the line between the extended play and the longplayer per its two-sided format and a runtime just a few seconds short of a half hour yet the effect will be the same for most listeners. Due to each side containing its own ~15 minute sole piece it’ll hit like a second full-length album in extremis where a cavernous, chaotic version of Prison of Mirrors stretches across each, purportedly in semblance of Blut Aus Nord and the more recent output from Akhlys. “Chants Beneath the Shunned Shrines” echoes these observations directly, loosening the at-times rigid movement of ‘De Ritualibus et Sacrificiis ad Serviendum Abysso‘ unto a freely flowing, snarling caverne which boils and seethes in waves throughout. One of the finest traits of this work is its hollow suite of clashing guitar tones which resonate with heated incandescent energy, a stymying tone which competes and collaborates with the retching of the vocalist without a crossed wire throughout. Per my own ear I’d liken the effect to that of both third-gen orthodoxy and the increasingly progressive hand of Aeternus around their second album, freely atmospheric wandering muse which has been tightened up and reigned into ambitious forms.

That first half of ‘De Sepulchris Occultis et Igne Profanationis‘ takes its time revving the doomsday engine, holding back on the throttle for the sake of generating is own uneasy surrealistic atmosphere with some help from cold and blood-black production values. The second half by comparison cannot resist the need for a focused deluge any longer as “The Devouring Fire of Demonic Doctrine” resembles the rattling of the jackhammer against the firmament, albeit brief as the song’s first ~minute hails down. This song as a whole is probably the strongest portion of the full listen with regard for Prison of Mirrors‘ evolution into this semi-dissonant, scrambling menace which we find by the end of the piece. To me this is the most “DsO-coded” moment on the album, especially that first minute of the song or so, though the rest of the piece is less repetitious and increasingly finessed in its movements as it burns on.

Our destination at the end of this doomed sojourn doesn’t read as despair so much as hanging uncertainty, a downcast state which wavers somewhere inbetween damnation and realization as a point of closure. That is to say that Prison of Mirrors‘ latest is both cohesive and evocative but not at all prescribed in its gnarled movement from point to point. The effect is disorienting as much as it is impressive via their tangled-together performances which impress throughout. These folks’ve become increasingly capable and expressive with each release and for my own taste ‘De Sepulchris Occultis et Igne Profanationis‘ is a fresh peak for their name though it’d struggled to seat itself in mind beyond a grand sense of diabolic tumult. A moderately high recommendation.

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