Band: Ipsissimus
Title: The Way Of Descent
Label: Metal Blade Records
Distribution: Rough Trade Benelux.
Release date: May 23rd 2011
Review: CD

When I first read about Ipsissimus’s history, I couldn’t help laughing. The founding members Haimatokharmes (d) and His Emissary (g) met on 06/06/06. Yeah, what a coincidence, the Dark Lord must have been involved… Sorry, but this kind of information is oh so necessary that I really need to try to self-control my cynicism.
Anyway, a few months later, Tichondrius (b, v) joined the duo, he completed the unholy trinity (damn, now I’m doing it myself). Ipsissimus played lots of live gigs, they did share the stage with acts like Dark Funeral, Watain, Eyehategod, Krallice, Enslaved or Nachtmystium, and both the demo Trampling A Host (early 2007) and the Three Secrets Of Fatima EP (2008) were positively reviewed all over our sick globe. When the trio signed to Metal Blade at the end of Autumn 2010, the band had just started recording new material at the Sonic Environments Studio with sonic alchemist (read: producer / engineer) Jeff Weed. Actually, recording ‘new material’ isn’t quite correct, for this album consists of the three tracks from the 2008-EP (but re-recorded indeed), and three new ones.
The six tracks on The Way Of Descent last for forty five minutes (they have duration in between six and ten minutes each), yet this long duration certainly is a surplus in this case. Actually, Ipsissimus’ Black Metal isn’t that original, yet such long compositions with some necessary variation (tempo-changes, breaks, differentiation in melody and intensity) and a wonderful grim sound stand out for turning these hymns qualitatively into a colossal Nordic journey. Especially the contrasts in speed, balancing in between deadly slow (he, listen to that pronounced Paranoid-riff in The Second Secret Of Fatima!) and mercilessly blasting, are very nice.
In case you’re possessed / obsessed by grim and icy Nordic Black Metal with an early nineties-spirit (let’s mention Taake, Svartsyn, Gorgoroth, Judas Iscariot, Nachtmystium, Watain or Massemord as comparisons), then this album is a highly recommended item. As said: nice quality but lacking originality (again).

83/100

Ivan Tibos.