Marspiter

[SC015] Available from Somnambulant Corpse Recordings, PMB201, 15127 NE 24th Street, Redmond WA 98052, USA.

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THIS release is grounded in warfare and chivalry or, as Marspiter themselves like to describe it, 'an offering of instinct awake'. Like an image from the pages of Junger's evocative 'Storm of Steel', the CD contains Zdzislaw Beksinski's illustrative depiction of a landscape smeared with smashed and broken trees, the large insert covered in a profusion of ancient warriors and combatants. The word 'Marspiter' itself is taken from the name of the Roman war deity, Mars (Greek Ares), and the month of March was also named after this well-known God of the sacrificial bull.

Amounting to a total of six tracks and lasting just over forty minutes, the first of them, 'Armilustrum I', concerns the celebratory feast that was conducted in honour of Mars during the month of Octobris (October). The minimalist atmospherics build very slowly, punctuated occasionally by a gentle drumroll. A disguised Gregorian chant can be detected in the background, as the drums become increasingly lively and create a mixture of the passive and the contemplative, the active and the aggressive. It's mellow and reassuring, but both threatening and ominous at the same time. 'Picus Martius', named after the Roman war god's favourite woodpecker and perhaps similar to Huginn and Muninn in the Norse pantheon, is a blowing gale pierced with deep groans and shrill birdsong. The guardian of sacred groves, Picus Martius represents a figure of calm sanity in the face of a musical storm. A storm, incidentally, that becomes slightly more musical as it goes on. It's like a plodding foghorn squeezed through Roman panpipes, the perpetual cries of the woodpecker making this a meeting of the awesome and the ornithologist. There is an unusual sadness to it, in fact, it's the storm before the storm itself. 'Armilustrum II', on the other hand, is a second helping of orgiastic gluttony. Shorter than its predecessors, an initial ringing tone and trepidatory bassline is turned into a hollow ambience in which scattered drumrolls and a beautiful humming remind me of Remanence at their very best. 'Cerfus Martius' kicks off with a distorted voice sample, an echoed cry of death or glory sandwiched between heavy rumbles and a dark orchestral soundscape. Something to fight for. Something to die for. A theme tune for the unstoppable march of the Roman Empire. An invocation in the midst of battle. At one point it almost becomes Wagnerian, but the pedestrian tempo bears a more restrained sense of drama than its Germanic equivalent. It's the 'Ride of the Valkyries' in slow motion. Before long, it's time to return to the triclinium for the third course. Now I wouldn't say that 'Armilustrum III' is gentle or laid back, but you do get the impression that it's on the verge of evolving into something more ostentatious. Almost like the Colosseum prior to the arrival of the Emperor himself, the steady drumbeat creating an air of expectation and suspense. The title track, 'Vigila', refers to the sacred ritual of retrieving the sword and shield from the Temple of Mars and shouting 'Mars Vigila!' ('Mars awake!'). If the weapons were seen to move in any way, without human interaction, it was seen as a bad omen. This is easily the best track on the whole album. It's the ultimate fulfillment that the previous five tracks were steadily working towards. It's gloomy and oppressive, menacing and tenacious. It's a mixture between Endura's 'Great God Pan' and Lustmord's 'The Monstrous Soul'. You can feel the power flooding up through the headphone wires and down into your ears. I'm really impressed with this Marspiter album. Buy it. See for yourself.