PROSANCTUS INFERI is a band that can be categorized as Black/Death Metal.  Forming in 2005 in Columbus OH, the band have released two prior albums.  Signed to Nuclear War Now!, PROSANCTUS INFERI released their latest, "Hypnotic Blood Art," at the conclusion of August.

"Dark Scarp of Hell" kicks things off.  What is immediately clear is how much the music parallels underground offerings from the late 1990s when the line between Black and Death Metal was often more blurred than today.  This is the requisite sound of lavishing in obscurity sadly.  The vocals are very breathy and lack any real diversity mirroring an unamused trifled version of VORPH from SAMAEL circa "Blood Ritual".  The following track, "Pulpit Sycophants," is yet more of the same though with a bit more groove than the last track.  When blasting, the sound simply gets too cluttered as the articulation of the riffs becomes lost in the mire of subpar Black/Death Metal.

While it may seem I'm being a bit harsh on this album, such is my job.  What I would like to note, though, is that having played in numerous bands over the years, I know all about the hard work put into creating an album.  It is a process involving copious amounts of blood, seat, and tears, and as such, I temper my criticism with the prudence acquired from the realization of a band's hard work.  Thus, the point is that I am not one to throw unwarranted criticisms aimlessly out there.

The title track in the fourth position is constructed around a typical tremolo riff.  Yet again, it sounds like the band is just going through the motions.  If the listener has made it this far into the album, he should be commended for his open-minded tolerance.  The sixth track, "Torture Enraped," is yet another foray into material that really seems to go nowhere.  It is difficult to describe how very underwhelmed I have become by this point in the album.

Perhaps were the album to have a better recording quality, it would have fared better.  Alas, though, it sounds much like a budget demo.  The drums are noticeably louder than everything else, the guitar tone is scooped to the point of sounding totally bland, and it is practically impossible to tell one vocal part from another as the album runs through.  Nuclear War Now! Can be hit or miss but largely, their albums have garnered mostly positive reviews from me.  It is practically impossible for me to recommend this album to anyone.  It is uninspired, generic, and lacking any type of dynamics to help the songs flow.  Avoid this!