CONCILIUM is a Black/Death Metal trio out of Lisbon, Portugal. Surprisingly, this American has actually been to Lisbon and while I didn't get to see any metal shows, I did have some fantastic food. Dinner there starts around 9PM, btw, and just goes on for hours. There you go, a little cultural edification for you. No charge. You're welcome. More cultural edification: CONCILIUM formed around about 2019 and have one EP, one split, and, as of July 2, 2021, one full-length album, "Desecration," under their belt. Musically, I'd say they're about three-fifths Black, one-fifth Death and one-fifth Atmospheric Depressive. Theirs is a lo-fi hellscape that is so distorted and discordant it cycles all the way back around again to actually sounding good.

"Desecration" comprises six tracks and has a run time of just under 30 minutes. What distinguishes CONCILIUM from the crowd is their exploration of tempo. For instance, the final track, "Blood Candles," has a leaden Doomy cadence and Atmospheric tendencies. By contrast, the first track, "From the Chalice," has locomotive riffs set to pace with explosive blast beats. The fact that the album is bookended with these tracks is probably not an accident. Another example is track three, "From Emptiness to Oblivion," which foreshadows its compositional breadth in its title. Guest vocals on this track, btw, are by Imber.

This album is for Black Metal and/or Death Metal fans only. Not anticipating your typical Prog or Stoner fan will be won over with these blokes. But, on the other hand, if extreme metal is your thing, this album is a refreshing break from a world that seems to be getting more and more apologetic each day. In short, CONCILIUM is unapologetically extreme.

Best tracks are the three I already noted. I really enjoyed the shifting landscape of the entire album-even "From the Chalice," which starts off just churning out the riffs, ends up in a totally different space. I would add to that list "Shadow Gospels" which doesn't deviate from its brutal sonic assault until the last few seconds. I should also call out that the artwork by Belial Necroarts is iconic and solidly aligns with and deepens the album's dark theme. While the members of the band remain in relative anonymity by steering away from musical attributions-e.g., who plays what-their output certainly warrants more exposure.