FATAL EMBRACE hailing from Varberg, Sweden were formed in 1992. After the split in 1998, the blackened Death Metal outfit reformed in 2016 and have now released their second full-length album, the first one in more than 25 years. "Manifestum Infernalis" was recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by drummer Christian Silver and FATAL EMBRACE at Studiomega, and it has a length of more than 50 minutes. The album was released via Swedish Death, Doom, and Black Metal specialists Black Lion Records.

The album starts dark and powerful with "Empyreal Doom". It is a track at a measured tempo with grim melodies, enhanced by symphonic elements. The guitar riffing is a mixture of aggressive and tight riffing and epic riffing. The lead guitars provide the melodic framework, which has in parts melancholic elements. The growling vocals range from the medium to high end of the guttural range and have plenty of Black Metal vibes. "Empyreal Doom" is really a strong opener and sets nicely the scene for the album. "The Black Oath" starts with an atmospheric pre-lude of the guitars intensified by orchestral elements. It transitions into a slow track driven by the guitars and the brass. It is an epic track, almost bombastic during the chorus parts. The orchestral parts are dominant throughout and give "The Black Oath" an extra dimension in terms of a blood-freezing atmosphere. Although the song has a slow tempo, there are some twists and turns in rhythm. The almost seven minutes long "The Black Oath" finishes with a perfectly fitting short acoustic after-lude. "Wolves Of Golgotha" starts with a melancholic and tension-building guitar-driven part that leads into the verse part where the highly pitched growls fit very well to the doom-laden atmosphere of the track. "Wolves Of Golgotha" is a slow track with a few changes in rhythm. There is a back and forth between the quiet guitar-driven parts and the more bombastic parts where the orchestra, guitars, bass, and drums play all together. Near the end, the vocals have choir support and eventually the song fades out with the choir.

It is a common album feature that many songs start with a short pre-lude. In "Prometheus Sermon" it is an introduction to the leading melody of the track. After a slow but powerful start, the track switches between the slow parts and mid-tempo where the latter ones are driven by the guitars and plenty of double-bass drumming. The melodies are again melancholic and epic. Although "Prometheus Sermon" is a guitar dominated track, the orchestral elements play a vital role but more in the background. "Call Of The Dark" is an orchestra driven, two-minute inter-lude with a very short vocal contribution. "Eyes Of Oak" has an untypical fast start with the guitars and the piano which transitions then into a track at a measured tempo. The grim melodies are driven by the guitars and the brass. There are a lot of tempo and rhythm switches between slower parts and mid-tempo parts. The guitars and the vocals lead through the track while the orchestral elements, mainly the brass, provide the backbone of the song. Highlight of "Eyes Of Oak" is the comprehensive drum parts throughout the song.

"Sign Of The Pentagram" starts with heavy and powerful guitar riffs. It is a track at measured pace as most of the tracks on the album, but leans more towards mid-tempo. The guitars and the vocals are the dominant elements of the song with exception of the break that is lead by the piano. Symphonic elements are lead by the piano, but have just very short contributions. "Deus Mail" is introduced by another tension-building pre-lude, which transitions into a heavy verse part at mid-tempo. While the verse parts are relatively direct, the chorus parts are epic and bombastic with guitars supported by symphonic contributions. The transitions between verse and chorus parts are very short while the transitions between chorus and verse parts go back to the theme of the pre-lude, which maintains the spine-chilling atmosphere of the song. The album closes with "The Rot" and it starts with an atmospheric guitar-driven part together with the orchestra, where the brass are the leading elements. The song switches between mid-tempo and a slow and measured approach with a lot of switches in rhythm. The melodic framework has some epic features and is more direct and less melancholic than most songs on the album. Highlight of the track are again the drums, which leads expertly through the track. As the song goes on, the focus of the orchestral elements switches from the brass to the piano and it is the piano which has the final word on the album. "The Rot" is the official video release, and the YouTube link is given below.

FATAL EMBRACE deliver their first album since they reunited and it took them five years of work until it was ready. "Manifestum Infernalis" is a very good album, it is centered around Black Metal with symphonic elements. All songs provide a blood-freezing atmosphere, they have melancholy and epic melodies, and some chorus parts are bombastic. There is a lot of complexity in the song structures and in all songs, the different instruments, symphonic elements, and vocals fit nicely together. The album is well produced. FATAL EMBRACE are back and blackened Death Metal and Black Metal fans will surely dig this album and hope that "Manifestum Infernalis" is only the beginning for FATAL EMBRACE.