Today we have the privilege of sharing an early stream of a split album from Norwegian blackened funeral doom duo NATHR and Mexican/South Korean black/death doom metal duo ORDO CULTUM SERPENTIS ‘Shadows Crawl‘, which releases this Friday, February 4th on cassette tape, CD and (later) vinyl by way of cult Portuguese label Signal Rex. This pairing will prove cruel sense overload for fans of heavy atmospheric extreme doom metal sourced from darkest rituals, starting with Trondheim-based Nathr leading us by ghostly hand in procession unto death by way of “The Burial”, a single ~20 minute piece that escalates to ranting sermon and fades in tragic recension. Ordo Cultum Serpentis, whom we’ve had the pleasure of interviewing for the premiere of their first EP in 2021 have continued down the path of spiritual destruction with their uniquely ambient-laced sound bolstering the hallucinatory, lumbering rhythms that guide the ~17 minute “Filii Serpentis Nigri” unto their own realm of ritual and blackened-deathly conjure, eventually spinning out into a brutal finish. Fans of The Funeral Orchestra, Nortt and the deeper underground worlds beyond should feel entirely at home within this record’s grasp.

Thanks goes out to the artists, their label and their representation for the opportunity to share this fantastic split album. Scroll down to the Bandcamp embed below to experience the whole thing for yourself, as always do your best to support the extreme metal underground and grab a physical copy from Signal Rex‘ Bandcamp or webstore.

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Per the press release:

SIGNAL REX is proud to present a special spilt album from NATHR and ORDO CULTUM SERPENTIS, Shadows Crawl, on CD, vinyl LP, and cassette tape formats. The CD and tape versions shall be released on February 4th while the vinyl version will follow later this year.

Shadows Call comprises a total of 37 minutes and two epic-length tracks, one each from SIGNAL REX’s most striking discoveries in recent years, NATHR and ORDO CULTUM SERPENTIS. NATHR are up first with “The Burial,” a nearly-20-minute track that duly lives up its namesake. Plaintive and placid, yet unsettlingly so, for more than half its massive duration, “The Burial” mesmerizes with a strangely beautiful aspect before exploding into a slo-mo crush akin to the cosmos crumbling away, deceptively peaceful in its resigned oblivion. ORDO CULTUM SERPENTIS are second, with the nearly-17-minute “Filii Serpentis Nigri.” Much like their two celebrated EPs last year, the duo sonically approximate a massive boulder ritualistically opening into an impossibly vast tomb. But, like their split-mates, halfway through the track, they surprise with a jarring-yet-somehow-seamless transition into ritualistic blasting, sealing that same tomb with utter finality.

Simply put, blackened doom doesn’t get much better than this. And NATHR and ORDO CULTUM SERPENTIS together a create a complementary work rather than a split “album” full of throwaway tracks. Feel their Shadows Crawl!

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