![Titaan – Itima titaan – itima](https://www.vm-underground.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Titaan-ITIMA.jpg)
Info
- Band(s): Titaan
- Label(s): Aeternitas Tenebrarum Musicae Fundamentum
- Release Format(s): 12" vinyl, CD
- Release Year: 2020
- Review Date: April 2, 2020
- Author(s): Black Mary
Black Metal is certainly the genre going against popular standards. Instead of building a personality cult out of a musician based on their ability to promote themselves in wider audience, it is trying to build a devoted following based on the music, sometimes not actually knowing who stands behind such of a project. Titaan is one of those projects, as not many people know who’s hiding behind the musician bearing the name Lalartu, the sole member of the project, who is named after a Sumerian she-demon who is caught between the world of the living and world of the dead, trying to find an entrance to either one with the help of slaying mothers during childbirth and devouring their babies.
This short description should tell you a lot about what kind of music and themes discussed to expect (you don’t get this kind of names in, for instance, smooth jazz artists) from the artist / project Titaan. “Itima” takes the foundation of Titaans debut album “Kadingir” (released in 2016), a dark masterpiece on its own, and adds even more violence and atmosphere and takes both into an even darker parts of experimental yet cinematic Black Metal, which is actually capable (if you listen to it correctly) of leading you to the darkest corners of yourself, the ones you’re usually not in contact with.
Ritualistic soundscapes start to build up the sinister atmosphere and with the help of several avantgarde and experimental elements in form of synths, acoustic guitars and even classic string instruments this heavily layered album maintains the atmosphere even within the exchange of its several paces. Occasionally this atmosphere is enhanced with the help of shrieking vocals, sometimes the clean vocals and even spoken word adds a bit more ritualistic feeling to it. Besides the atmospheric violence upon the listener, violence is more directly expressed through the use of blast beats and occasional tremolo picking, which also help to explain the concepts of misanthropy, human futility and divine vengeance the album presents.
Welcome to the house that knows no daylight, the house of darkness, the most sacred, private, secluded part of the temple, sometimes considered the divine sleeping quarters, the ominous point where past, present and future collide. Welcome to Itima.