‘Orthodoxia Mortis’ by Mystagog
Album: ‘Orthodoxia Mortis’ by Mystagog
I love the Christian black metal scene in part because many of the larger Christian metal bands have honed their production to crisp, clean breakdowns. I don't always want my metal to sound so precise, though. I honestly love it when a band sounds like two raccoons fighting in a dumpster. Hence, my appreciation of raw black metal.
In addition to taking the raw approach, there's a particular courage required to take black metal's raw, unhinged vocabulary and redirect it, not toward nihilism or despair, but toward hope and doxology. Mystagog does exactly that on Orthodoxia Mortis, and it's a debut that arrives in a fully formed and sonically uncompromising assault. It’s wonderful.
"Wounds of Revelation" opens with an eerie, piercing synth before giving way to raw chaos. The guitar rolls carry almost a grunge-inflected weight as the atmosphere shifts from contained to overwhelming. It eventually lands with epic Gregorian Orthodox chants. It sets the tone perfectly: the album is liturgical in structure and punishing in execution. "Trinitarian Wrath Upon the Mount of Defiance" opens with howling wind and bellowing growls slamming into classic raw black metal tremolos. The dive-bomb into the verse sections will make any thrash-metal heart happy, and a mid-song marching breakdown proves Mystagog isn't afraid of a little groove.
Forje Favorite:
"Whore" is as provocative a title as a Christian band could choose, and it earns every bit of it. Stripped-back, nasty breakdowns anchor a doom metal march straight through Revelation 17-18, the Whore of Babylon crowned in rot, Abaddon stirring beneath her throne. "Doxology of Ashen Tongues" returns to pure raw black metal, the kind that could've been released in the '90s, except instead of satanic nihilism, it builds toward praise with chants of “Maranatha” and a synth callback to the album's opening. It feels like a worship song rendered in ash and flame. "Sulphurous Shrine of the Bleeding Saint" opens with a remarkable howl before setting a John Donne poem to crushing black metal, a gamble that pays off completely. The album closes with "Mysterion of the Cruciform Abyss," a haunting darkwave synth meditation that slowly opens into a twinkling reckoning with the vastness of Yahweh. Mysterion (the Greek New Testament word for "mystery" or "sacrament") is exactly the right word to end on.
If you find that raw black metal is your language and you want real theological weight behind the chaos, check out this album. Fans of Within Thy Wounds, Dawnbreaker, Antestor, or Crimson Moonlight will find a lot to love here. However, if you need more melody or accessibility to ease your entry into heavy music, or if genuinely abrasive production isn't your thing, you might not dig it.
Orthodoxia Mortis is a standout debut. I’m ecstatic for whatever Mystagog brings next. Keep a close eye on them.
You can follow Mystagog on Bandcamp.
