Description

Black vinyl with printed innersleeve

Norwegian industrial black metal act Mysticum began life as a trio under the name Sabazios and released two demos. The two demos led to an agreement with Euronymous and his record label Deathlike Silence and prior to recording of the scheduled album the name change to Mysticum ensued. The band’s plans were thrown into disarray with the murder of Euronymous. It would take another year before any official release was made and that was a split single with Ulver (a band that Robin Mean Malmberg were involved with at the same time). Their first album was released in 1995 and they recorded a second album Planet Satan the year after but that was never released. Of all the Norwegian black metal hordes Mysticum was probably the most interesting. Overlooked in its day, and the true pioneers of the industrial black metal subgenre, they never truly split in the traditional sense. When we know can witness and listen to Planet Satan we can hear that the spirit of its debut album is intact, yet more polished. Planet Satan is far easier to absorb than its somewhat grating but pioneering debut. Of its competing triumvirate Dodheimsgard, Thorns and Ulver – only the latter remains active as an everchanging entity for its creative force. Mysticum, thankfully, remains consistent with its past output – and has improved upon the formula where needed. In comparison to “In the Streams Of Inferno” the screeched vocals have been largely abandoned. The vocals range from rasps, to grunts, screams and hoarse barks, still shared between guitarist duo Benny Cerastes and Ravn Preben Mulvik (Prime Evil). Like most of the album the vocal lines sound more organic, fluent and natural than the sometimes contrived ones of its predecessor. In the intervening (almost) two decades technology has thankfully catched up with Mysticum, and for the first time the trio was able to fully capture its vision. Planet Satan is a militant, hostile and abrasive piece of industrial black metal that hasn’t lost any of its edge despite a decade plus conception. More conventionally black metal than its pioneering experimental predecessor, and far better produced, Planet Satan proves that Mysticum’s debut wasn’t a fluke. Hopefully it won’t take Mysticum another 18 years to produce a worthy successor to Planet Satan.

Track list:
1. LSD
2. Annihilation
3. Far
4. The Ether
5. Fist Of Satan
6. All Must End
7. Cosmic Gun
8. Dissolve Into Impiety