From Bandcamp, “The second chapter for ASCALAPHIA is here. “Somber Vampyric Night” is the first full-length album followed by the debut EP "A Frigid Spectre.” A somber creature of the night. Full of anger, despair, and remorse. Forced to take a path they have no control over in a mournful life with no end. Piercing memories. Driven by obsession, they take the lives that remind them of what they never had.” The album has nine songs. “Dark Moon” is first. The music is somber, and some might even call it hopeless. Under the dark moon, there are a lot of things that stir, and the magic of the night comes to life when the sun goes down. “Ceaseless Drought” is another deeply disturbing and depressing sound, and so far, this is fairly standard, proto-type Black Metal, from the riffs, to the production, to the vocals screams, and the drums. The title track veers off the path just a bit to focus more on the horrors that fill the night. As a listener, you close your eyes and imagine what you see…and it’s all pretty bloody.

 “Our Lives Intertwined” is a short, two-minute, seemingly there to provide a brief reprieve from the madness…but does it draw you even closer? “Noche Sombria” translates to “gloomy night.” Add in some heapings of depression and despondence to that phrase, and that is what we have here, although the vocals lash out with anger at times. “Una Vida Que No Es Mia” is dreadfully sober sounding, even mixed with some moments of melody that make your heart ache. It shows another side of the band and album. “Remorse” is perhaps the crux of the album in terms of a theme, and the music is faster and motivated about what this feeling can drive a person to do. “Nightbringer” is what happens after all of the lives are taken. You just feel empty.  In this case, the themes of the album work very well with the music. I can picture these creatures roaming around at night, despondent, hateful, and they have lost control of their bearings. Ultimately, they are driven to kill, but it doesn’t lessen any of the pain like they imagined.