Review: 1782 ‘Clamor Luciferi’
I’ve never been into 1782, but that changed after hearing Clamor Luciferi. Much like the bands that we all love, my musical preferences are always evolving and bringing new things for me to dive into. This brings me to the origin of the band’s name, ‘witch’ is inspired by one of the most ignorant eras in human history; the witch trials and murders that accompanied them.
The description they give says, ‘In 1782 Anna Göldi was condemned, she was tortured and killed, this was the last witchcraft trial in Europe. Marco Nieddu and Gabriele Fancellu have formed a Doom band called 1782 in honor of all the witches murdered by the bigoted minds of many generations.’
The album’s title, Clamor Luciferi, is defined as the scream of Lucifer, a hostile scream but it also means noise and uproar. This fits right in with 1782‘s occult themes, and their Bandcamp profile proclaims the band…
‘have taken out the most powerful and evil songs they have ever made. The album opens with an organ piece that conveys anxiety, suffering and melancholy. From the second track onwards the heavy and fuzzy riffs start, followed by powerful and hypnotic drums. As always, the themes are occult and legends of their land. An album that will drag you into the deepest and most deafening darkness.’
So, without any further ado, let’s jump into what I feel are the standout tracks.
A Merciful Suffering is an organ piece that opens the album up with haunting religious overtones. It is like the type you may hear in a church, with beauty that hides an undercurrent of hate, ignorance, and a total lack of acceptance for anything deemed immoral, which I think is the point 1782 is attempting to convey.
Succubus is full of filthy fuzz tones, has a dirge like tempo, and is as heavy as the Tsar Bomba was destructive. I dig the echoing reverb used on the vocals, as it subtly adds that church idea, as the vast majority are full of reverb when empty. There also seems to be a serious sludge influence added to their occult leanings, which helps the song feel powerfully heavy.
Black Rites is another that I found to be pleasing to my ears. It has the same fuzzy tones as its counterparts, but it isn’t quite as crushing as them either, which is a large part of why I liked it as much as I did. There was also a much more prominent groove, it’s a slow groove, but it’s there and more powerful than the other songs.
River Of Sins has the coolest title on the record, conjuring mental images of a bloody river full of the twisting and contorting bodies of sinners. Like Black Rites, this track seems to have its own persona, and the quicker tempo is an additional bonus.
The remaining three songs are similar to the ones that I covered here and are very cool in their own right, making Clamor Luciferi a killer album from beginning to end. So, head over to Bandcamp to listen to the first two singles, Succubus and Demons, and the third single, Black Rites, below, then pre-order this kickass album which releases on April 14th via Heavy Psych Sounds. Enjoy!
Label: Heavy Psych Sounds
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
Scribed by: Tom Hanno
