CD, Ainia Records, 2006
www.ainiarecords.com
Although X-Sanguis’ “Pavor Nocturnus” only has three tracks, it clocks in almost fifty minutes, which is as long as most albums these days. As a whole, the album has a deep ‘ritualistic’ feel, which is brought out in the first track “Eeli, eeli, lama sabaktani” through the use of ritual sounding drumming along with moaning vocals that seem to be invoking some hidden, evil power that one generally only encounters in those dreams we wish we didn’t remember.
Although the tracks are all long, they have enough variation to keep them interesting through out the disc. For example, in the last track, “Epaonnistruneen Messu” we get some almost, dare I say, “dance oriented” bits: the drums have a very programmed feel in parts and there’s a few synth sounds that would be at home in a lot of club-oriented music. However X-Sanguis did a masterful job of blending it with the chanting voices and dark synths to a point where it doesn’t sound out of place or cheesy. This is also apparent in “Partition 2” which starts off sounding very ambient, with vocals and drones fading in, and layers itself out very nicely with an overall menacing feeling. When the percussion comes in, this feeling is multiplied. The vocals are more subtle and almost blend in, becoming part of the music.
If you enjoy ritualistic music blended with dark industrial synth lines, this very interesting album is definitely for you.
[8/10]
— Charlie Martineau