Debut efforts, no doubt, are critical pieces of a band’s discography. Often the purest ideas and years of crafting them go into that first formal release; it serves as the primary presentation of the band’s creative force. It must be able to cut through the noise and land with an impact, otherwise, it will simply drown in a sea of countless releases in the underground that come and go each passing day. DAEMONIUM REGNI and their self-titled debut full-length, strikes with a heavy hammer of Black Metal infused Doom. Released through Darkness Shall Rise Productions, “Daemonium Regni” is an eight track effort that covers slightly over 44 minutes of barren sonic landscapes. The artistic efforts of Swedish musician Micke Jansson, who also contributes to BORN FOR BURNING, UNANIMATED and COMTEMPT OF THE LIGHT, are on prominent display here as scathing, rebuking Black Metal meets crawling, death-tinged Doom. Not in the sense of the ‘suicidal’, nor in the traditional clean vocals and traditional Heavy Metal leanings of early Doom, but in a ritualistic stance and atmospheric invocation that is pure forward riff movement paired with the ethereal exploration of slow-to-mid tempo execution, with a special focus on the overall flow of the record from song to song. “Daemonium Regni” feels ceremonial, demonically regal and dark. ‘Mater Daemonium’ opens the record with a crawling progression of simplistic chord shapes and ghostly melodies. Layered vocals contribute to the ritualistic sensation, with deep droning choir vocals mixing with gutturals and scathing Black Metal delivery. It plays like an inversion of traditional Swedish Doom Metal, it possesses the epic dismalness, the aural sense of futility and the crushing riff structures, but it takes everything down a sonically dark pathway. There is no idol worship, there is no adherence to the tropes of the genres, this is the creation of a whole new identity that stands on its own creative merits. ‘Ascendens Tenebrae’ explores faster tempos, including some impressive high-tempo blasting Black Metal mixed within its structure. The layered and multi-faceted approach to vocal delivery is a recurrent factor that is of particular significance to the overall atmosphere. Shifting into different textures and forms of contrast, the song slows itself down into a more mid-tempo approach. Dark progressions serve as the backdrop for dreary single-note tremolo and flaring segments of lead work. Tracks such as ‘Luna Sanguinea’ demonstrate a competent understanding and a calculated execution of post-first wave Black Metal, touching lightly on the elements of Doom Metal but sticking mostly to a scathing delivery braced by mid-tempo blasting and long, winding passages of rhythm guitar coupled with spindly tremolo lead melodies. Deep into the album lays ‘Magica Cultus’, a return to more a Doom themed delivery, also exploring and emphasizing numerous tempo and directional changes in the composition, possessing a bit of everything, ranging from mid-tempo atmospheric phrases to states of frenzied blasting. The guitar work and riff construction on ‘Magica Cultus’ is perhaps some of the strongest on the album. The combination of Black Metal and Doom at work by DAEMONIUM REGNI is calculated and complex, yet open and ever flowing. Their debut effort is a record that is easy to lose oneself in. The multiple miserable shades of the vocal delivery, the functional rhythm guitar paired with the haunting lead melodies and the intelligent complimentary drumming create not only a great listening experience, but it’s a great indicator as to the overall trajectory of the band’s direction. This is a solid first effort, fans of heavy Doom Metal and atmospheric Black Metal, take note. This is not a thin-skinned record, it’s dense, it’s minimal and it’s suffocating, a show of force absolutely worth checking out. www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063739950531, www.facebook.com/darknessshallriseproductions