"Dimidium mei" didn't turn out to mean anything superbly evil, as it translates to "half of me". Anyway, the Polish Luciferian black metal band's second strike, and another full-length one, 'Devil's Tales', provides loads of evil to any listener who craves for it. I guess the other half is huggy bear type, then?

However, here the guys are in their beast-modes. No hugging allowed, because this will rip you another one. After the rather stupid intro with Brahms' lullaby being perverted, it's the real deal. Aggression-level is at the top and so is dirtiness. Thrashing black metal with sharp tremolo guitars and melodious cold breeze in Swedish way is how the album gets going. 'It's a Sin' ain't a fucking Pet Shop Boys cover, but compared to the opener, a more barbaric venture into second wave of black metal ethics. Some heavy-handed palm muted riffs add hefty punch, yet there are memorable melody patterns also. At times slowing to mid-paced tempos and keeping things interesting. Double kick drum parts between blasting can work miracles, and there must be some open-string evilness on a black metal platter, right?

Mainly, the band fluctuate between these two styles, and were able to conjure some really tasty stuff, but some parts do not raise to that commendation. Still, the songs are hardly overly long and are presented with cruel demeanor and drive. There's an occasional speed metal riff or something like that, but more small things like that could have brighten up the compositions.

The vocals are insane distorted shouts, with lower and higher styles happening at the same time every now and then, creating that demonic effect. Loads of "ugh", "yeah" and such are heard, giving this a live vibe. The production job also goes for live environment feel. While there's some echo, it's not cavernous, but more like rehearsal place or a small club ambiance. Every element is audible in the mix, even though it is unpolished.

Their weird name and therefore almost unreadable logo, plus ugly front cover art make this look rather bland, but Satanic imagery with Devil statue and sigils et al look fine and suitable, giving good hints about the music. This is like early 1990's stuff, pretty much. So, inspect if modernism in black metal isn't your thing.

Rating: 7+ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
12/01/2022 18:36