Hailing from Italy, the band refers to its music as "extreme ritual metal." As stated in The Canticle of Shadows album booklet, the name DARKEND was created by anagramming the Sanskrit word "Rekda'dn", meaning "mist of the elsewhere.” “Viaticum” is the band’s fifth full-length release, and it has five lengthy songs. “In My Multitude” is first. The vocals are typical Black Metal in terms of their sound, but the music is more expansive than the genre boundaries usually allow. There are orchestral elements, backing atmospheres, and even some classical chords.

“An Incautious Exhumation of What Lies Beneath Forgotten Ground” begins with a faster pace, rolling drums, and clean harmonized vocals, which are a nice surprise…they show a band who is not afraid to experiment with melody in this aggressive style of music. The lead guitar work is fantastic as well. “De Masticatione Mortuorum in Tumulis” has darker skies within, and a more depressive sound. The band mixes in some subtle elements as well, like piano and audible bass, and the riffs are inventive, and not stale. The ominous tones towards the end followed by bell strikes are also on point.

“An Ancient Plague Has Silently Worn Our Garments as its Throne” has a hasty pace and more of a hardened, aggressive sound that comes right for your throat. Still, amidst the contentious elements, there are also some depressive ones. I’m not sure what the spoken words are about, but they have an air of mystery to them. “In Your Multitude” closes the album, and it’s a 15-minute beast of a track, plenty of time to look around and wrap up the tale. The song has heavy and lamenting tones at first, that seem to linger on your palate forever in shades of grey. Just after the half-way mark, you can hear the sound change as it charges to the finish line.

What I like most about the album is the combination of traditional Black Metal with modern twists. For me, it shows a sextet that is true to their roots, but also not afraid to branch out and use techniques that some of their peers wouldn’t. The result is a winning album that interesting as it is provocative.