Reviews list for Spectrum Mortis - Bit Meseri - The Incantation (2022)

I stumbled across Spectrum Mortis in a mag I was flicking through the other week.  In the interview with the Spaniards they stated, "Our Intention is to go beyond musical creation itself; we try to capture sensations, feelings and create reactions in the listener."  A bold venture indeed then, yet one that they immediately lived up to the expectation on when I began to listen to their debut full length release Bit Meseri - The Incantation from last year.  Deploying the ritualistic style of say Grave Miasma to their sound (the album name refers to an ancient ritual intended to cure the sick) the album does have a sense of the tactile about it; tracks do indeed play out like incantations with chanted chorus' and a foreboding atmosphere looming across all eight tracks. 

At times the band have a less epic sense of Necros Christos about them also but they manage to deliver their message in perfectly concise tracks that deploy mining riffs alongside a no nonsense vocal style that echoes in the cavernous the soundscapes that the band creates.  The drums are mixed into the shadows somewhat but they hold enough presence for me to be able to acknowledge their excellent contribution.  The flurries of eastern sounding acoustic strings every now and again is also a great addition to proceedings in terms of applying some variety for the listener.

Clearly skilled at balancing their aggressive and heavy component parts with that atmospheric density whilst also showing a deep lying spirituality to their music, Spectrum Mortis are certainly an outfit I will be following for future releases.  For a debut album (after two EPs and a split release with Mexican blackened death metallers, Hacavitz) Bit Meseri - The Incantation is strong and my only criticism is that it perhaps leans a little too heavily on representing the best of the sub-genre as opposed to doing anything to make them stand out as a truly individual group by themselves.  I would suggest some further expansion into the blackened elements of their sound could help them standout better from the death doom space they largely inherit.