Hesperia – Fra li Monti Sibillini: Black Medieval Winter over the Sibylline Mounts
I always try to give something a chance even if I think it will kill me. Italy’s Hesperia is an example of this. All the black metal trappings on the damn cover that usually lead to total shitpuke. I’ve seen it too many times. And that’s just the thing. We’ve got boots in snow. Spikes, hell even a, first time for this I think, stick with spikes. We got cloaks. We’ve got Old English font for the logo, with spiked morning stars aplenty. Speaking of morning stars, we got one in dude’s belt. And are those gauntlets? Of course! Actually, correction on the stick, because it’s just a gauntlet behind it, but let’s pretend the stick has spikes as we get into Hesperia’s latest, and thus far, imo, greatest album, Fra li Monti Sibillini – Black Medieval Winter over the Sibylline Mounts – (fuck that’s a lot of words). Now that you know I’m all on board for this one and about to buy the fittingly designed clear, icy double-LP, let’s find out why.
You see a long album title like that, you know the band or musician is not fucking around. Clearly a seasoned veteran and arguably one of the most important names in Italian black metal, Herperia’s been chanting in snow for nearly as long as the genre. Expect two things out of someone like this, if they’re good at it: depth and distance. That’s exactly what you get from Hesperia, and this is his greatest achievement thus far, warranting the coveted Deaf Sparrow 5/5 that no one even cares about. Fra li Monti Sibillini (we’ll stick with the short version now) is absolutely beautiful. Can’t say that about black metal? Fuck you, here we go. Hesperia displays years of tradition behind this album, including both a love of the genre and his particular take on it. Unearthing the long-dead from his home country of Italy with atmospheric pagan black metal, the end result is startling. In spite of adhering to the form, there’s much more value in this release than so many others I’ve heard over the past decade. A wide variation in structures, a surprising mixing of instruments, stage-setting that would make the so-called greats of black metal quit the business, mood-altering effects, perfectly-placed samples and keyboards, fuuuccckkk… This guy’s more than a veteran, he’s a goddamned God. There’s probably no one better in this type of black metal currently, mark my words and set them into law.
Written by Stanley, Devourer of Souls
Hesperia – Fra li Monti Sibillini – Black Medieval Winter over the Sibylline Mounts –
Hammerheart Records
Cover Art: Band
5 / 5
