SHIBALBA
Nekrologie Sinistrae (Orchestral Noise Opus I) AGONIA
Trance-inducing rites from the Greek and Swedish shadows
Shibalba’s new rite is adorned with the baroque painting, At The Gates Of Hell, by the gifted 17th-century Italian artist Giacomo del Pò. Such a demonically charged visual requires music evoking a complementary other-worldly response. Shibalba achieve this through sinister shamanic repetition. Embellishing industrial, electronic and ambient drone with an array of traditional instruments including Tibetan horns, singing bowls, ceremonial bells, gongs, and mysterious musical objects hewn from bones and skulls, there’s an enticingly eerie construct here that will appeal to fans of horror scores or avant-garde world music, albeit still falling within the vast parameter of extreme metal. It’s made for a niche audience, sure, but it has the innate power to draw you into an ayahuasca-fuelled vision quest from the comfort of your candlelit living room.