PONTIFEX were formed in 2024 and they are from Orlando, Florida. They play predominantly Black Metal with symphonic elements. It is the band’s debut album, and it has a length of more than 29 minutes. “From The Pale Mist” is an independent release no official video has been released so far. Mike Smith contributed to the album as a session drummer. After the dark tension-building and cinematic intro, the album really kick-starts with “Festering”, a track at a measured tempo with grim melodies and powerful guitar riffing. The vocals are growls and vary around the medium end of the guttural range with little tonal shifts. The melodies are epic and melancholic for most of the time. There are hardly any orchestral arrangements present, however the track closes with the piano. “Twilight” varies more around mid-tempo with a few shifts in tempo and rhythm. The track is much more aggressive than the preceding track with direct riffing, a lot of double-bass drumming and blast-beat attacks. The vocals are a bit more versatile with tonal shifts towards higher pitched growls. The heat is further increased in “Sepulcher Of Eternal Darkness”, which is a traditional Black Metal track enriched with Death Metal elements. It is a frantic track and mostly played blisteringly fast, with a few twists in tempo. The riffing is once again very direct and aggressive, and the vocals cover most of the guttural range including higher pitched screams.

“Apparition” continues with the crazy pace, the classical Black Metal riffing, the blast-beat thunderstorms, and the mixture of higher pitched screams and deeper lying growls. It is a fast track with a few down-tempo breaks. The melodies have some melancholic features during the down-tempo parts. Highlight is the contributing lead guitar solo. The track finishes with orchestral arrangements driven by the strings and the piano delivering chilling melodies. “Frost” starts with an orchestral intro transitioning into thunderous guitar riffing. The track is an instrumental and driven mainly by the lead guitars. The title track starts at measured tempo, powerful guitar riffs and the deep growls, however, things change quickly as the tempo raises and from there onwards, it is another two-parted track of either insane tempo, aggression, and higher pitched screams, or measured tempo, deep growls, darkness, and melancholy in the melodies. The album closes with “Abyssal”, and it has a slow start, which does not take for long as there are twists and turns between blast-beat driven parts at insane tempo, epic parts at a measured tempo, and some short mid-tempo parts with powerful riffing. The main focal point of the track are the epic parts and that includes an extended and very contributing lead guitar solo. “Abyssal” finally ends melancholic with the piano and the choir.

PONTIFEX deliver a decent album in the tradition of classical Black Metal. “From The Pale Mist” includes all main elements to be expected from a Black Metal album: the riffing, the pace with the blast-beats, the twists between the brute force of a Black Metal hammering and epic parts with melancholic melodies. All is kept together well by the versatile vocals. However, I see room for improvement in the songwriting as songs sound unfinished at times. The album sounds muddy to such extent that it is difficult to listen to the details of the tracks. With “From The Pale Mist”, PONTIFEX announced her arrival in the Black Metal scene as a band, but how they will do in the future and whether they will be able to create their own signature sound remains to be seen.