No longer dormant in their search for suitable daimonian catalyst and readied to surge the endtyme poison through all veins the Qliphotic death-worshippers within Brasília, Brazil-based black/death metal entity AIN SOF AUR heretofore enact their final rite of dissolve, the all-void’s incantation via their third full-length album. Through imbibe of the venom of dissonant atmospheric death and orthodox black metal precepts ‘Theos-Vel-Samael‘ pursues three acts detailing the procession of envision ’til enaction, the final stairway to inconceivable darkness’ enlighten. Having undergone a seeming decade plus of revision, scrapping and refinement this work is both well-considered and entirely economical in statement, a feat which presents linearly struck spiritual path set to intensify toward singularly transformative grand finale.

Ain Sof Aur formed two decades ago having been inspired by the intense spirituality and performances behind orthodox black metal’s French and Swedish prime movers alongside interest in classics of esoteric black and death metal otherwise. Throughout those first six years they’d accumulated a series of fairly hard to find demos and seem to have discovered own spiritual ideation centered around study of adversarial teachings. This was directly reflected in the themes of their intense and compacted debut LP (‘Atra Serpens‘, 2012) where their namesake reflected the pursuit of apotheosis, an inversion/denial of the divine unto dark enlightenment that’d been seeded by that initial viper’s strike. In more practical terms it was a short yet engrossing record inspired by the occult black/death metal of the time. Some of that compositional modus translates directly throughout most all of their work since.

If their debut was an intense wall-to-wall initiation then the follow up (‘Ophis Christos‘, 2014) was comparatively sprawling in both spiritual and musical exploration, a work which was oft laid back in its pacing and concerned with soldiering unsteadily through the wilderness depicted. This’d followed some of orthodox black metal’s interest at the time in that they’d incorporated extended ritual ambient composition throughout amidst longform pieces. It was an ambitious record, barely able to contain its ideas and especially within its extended wanderings, generating an almost psychedelia-charged entrancement. That new standard was necessarily upheld, or, usurped by future releases and perhaps that is part of the reason it took a dozen years to follow it up.

In the interim Ain Sof Aur was not fully dormant having released a split LP (‘Qliphotic Death Worship‘, 2018) with São Paulo-based Satanic black metal band Vulturine a few years later where they’d extended the ritual/dark ambient side of their work contemporary with ‘Ophis Christos‘. Any expectations for this third LP should revolve around extensive reconsideration for how to vault off of their 2014 and 2018 releases; From what I gather per interviews their efforts were initially centered around creating an EP contemporary with their previous LP but this but saw years of drafts, interruptions, and reconfiguration until ‘Theos-Vel-Samael‘ established the right standard and suitable tone.

Comprised of three distinct numbered acts which descend in length the general theme of ‘Theos-Vel-Samael‘ enacts along the guidelines provided: The first piece gathers vision from divine consciousness, the second moves toward praxis by way of violent force, and the finale enacts this in destructive reveal. The core empowerment available to several “left hand” spiritual paths is described herein as thought is manifested into action and how this translates via Ain Sof Aur‘s musical prowess is a richly atmospheric and eerily pensive induction. That is to say that there is a deliberate progression of action here and this should feel far more unconventional than prior works, less a statement of brutal violence or vacillating action and moreso a linearly set illustration of personal spiritual transit.

You’re better off treating ‘Theos-Vel-Samael‘ and its segments as confluent movements within one greater step, at least in terms of consumption as all ~45 minutes here bleed together necessarily despite the natural pause in between. The first piece “I” won’t serve any sort of harried occult blackened death ordinance but rather reflects the band’s past works often taking in dissonant and doom-sowing steadiness to warm their efforts. There is a sort of grinding, sludgy persistence which characterizes the ~21 minute opener to the point that I’d felt the first ~8 minutes almost resembled something like The Funeral Orchestra but beyond that point it’d make more sense to point toward a band like Altarage in how they’d wield atmosphere, aggression and virtuosic movement. My favorite part of this opening piece is actually somewhat inaudible much of the time but you should get glints of the underpinned basslines which help to direct the action. We are obviously far but not that far from the rapt orthodox/occult black craft of the past here and arguably closer to a blackened death sound upon first impression.

From that point Side B naturally slinks toward a more active result with “II” taking more than half of its ~14 minute length droning through dissonant-wrung chords and narrating Luciferian transformation, digging treads into a couple of harder struck points of exclamation. With consideration for Ain Sof Aur‘s past work some logical combine of dark ambient/ritualistic practice and orthodox black metal’s ulterior step seems to apply here, generating atmospheric black/death pieces (or, one larger piece) given relation via extended, almost post-metallic escalation. It will likely be the piece to tax the patience of the riffs-first listener most but ‘Theos-Vel-Samael‘ is a far evolution beyond ‘Atra Serpens‘ in this way.

The suggested finale, “III” is the reward for the listener’s patience in some sense as we eventually find the ten minute closer hammering away rather than crawling and striking along the mount. This is exciting enough work, a great burst of riffcraft in irregular step which (again) expands upon many of the techniques and phrasing the band’ve explored since their first LP. Here I’d say the most “new” development in their work is how abstract death metal, dissonance and more melodic sections (re: ~5:14 minutes in) are expertly strung together in running phrase. The effect of hitting that point of dissolution and death while reveling in the kinetic charge of Ain Sof Aur‘s rhythms isn’t immediately mind-blowing in pace or technical showmanship but instead gains its value as a meaningful endpoint to the greater summon provided by the full listen. Again I’d suggest that one take the full listen in without pause if possible as this is where, given a decent attention span, its potency is most impressive.

There is yet more depth to explore via the prose of Ain Sof Aur‘s exquisite lyrics, the immense detail of the Dávid Glomba illustrated cover art and deeper points of the tempo map overall but you’ve gotten the idea that their work here is both deeply spiritual in its activation as well as ambitiously atmospheric in its generation. Though the full listen should prove demanding (or, most rewarding) for the active listener intending to diffuse into ambitiously stated work ‘Theos-Vel-Samael‘ may just as well impress folks seeking a borderless vision applied to atmospheric black/death metal fusion. In either case I’d recommend it most heartily to those who’ve both patience for developing the bigger picture and inquisitive nature enough to find meaning in the details. A high recommendation.

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