{"id":196060,"date":"2025-11-23T13:52:34","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/196060\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T13:52:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:52:34","slug":"ildaruni-divinum-sanguinem-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/196060\/","title":{"rendered":"Ildaruni – Divinum Sanguinem Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The mystic, the subliminal, the macabre: the fixings of good black metal and the bread and butter of Armenian pagans Ildaruni<\/strong>. Four years ago, they entered the blackened sphere with their debut Beyond Unseen Gateways, a folk-infused take on black metal that, while promising in several regards, felt bloated and unfocused. Its pagan, medieval-y acoustic passages felt tacked on, lethargic and a bit hokey, and I think Ildaruni <\/strong>agree with my assessment, as this year\u2019s Divinum Sanguinem ditches the lutes and stuff for \u201ca more tenebrous and ferocious black metal path.\u201d At nine songs and 53 minutes, Divinum Sanguinem is yet another considerable offering from Ildaruni<\/strong>. Will this one prove more vital than the last?<\/p>\n

This time, Ildaruni <\/strong>ain\u2019t faffing about; Divinum Sanguinem is out for blood. Second-wave styling permeates Divinum Sanguinem, but without its typical murk. Utterly furious tremolo riffs and blast beats abound, wrought to vicious effect on songs like \u201cForged with Glaive and Blood\u201d and \u201cThe Ascension of Kosmokrator,\u201d while Narek Avedyan\u2019s burly shrieks command the calamity into a lean, focused undertaking. This is black metal of a riff-centric nature, Immortal<\/strong>-like, but with the odd Bathory <\/strong>military march (\u201cThe Ascension of Kosmokrator\u201d) and chant (\u201cZurvan Akrane\u201d) to instill a greater sense of grandeur into Iladruni<\/strong>\u2019s palette. Riffs are a\u2019plenty, but it\u2019s drummer Arthur Poghosyan who steals the show, just crushing the blasts on every song and layering everything with impressive symbol work. Divinum Sanguinem is a hefty record, but unlike Beyond Unseen Gateways, it isn\u2019t bogged down with momentum-killing diversions. Exemplified on \u201cDivinum Sanguinem\u201d\u2014where all eight minutes of imperial procession, bombastic dynamics and eerie bridges feel critical and purposeful\u2014Divinum Sanguinem is lean, mean and blackened as anything.<\/p>\n

Ildaruni <\/strong>hold a workman-like commitment to evil. There\u2019s an Emperor<\/strong>-like dark majesty to Divinum Sanguinem, though Ildaruni <\/strong>forgo synths and orchestras for grandiose guitar leads to accomplish this (\u201cThe Ascension of Kosmokrator,\u201d \u201cDivinum Sanguinem\u201d). Thrash riffs grace \u201cZurvan Akrane\u201d beside metalface-inducing chugs on \u201cForged with Glaive and Blood\u201d and \u201cArcane Sermon,\u201d and even instances of Qanun (\u201cScorching Pathways to Samachi\u201d) and bagpipe (\u201cForged with Glaive and Blood\u201d) add to the sinister feel of Divinum Sanguinem. Similarly, the various instances of choir (\u201cOf Nomos and Flaming Flint Stone,\u201d \u201cArcane Sermon\u201d and \u201cScorching Pathways to Samachi\u201d), chant and clean singing (\u201cDivinum Sanguinem\u201d) add dimensions to the vocal front of Ildaruni<\/strong>, breaking from the incessant shrieks but not from its malignancy. Pagan folk elements from Iladruni<\/strong>\u2019s previous work remain, but are relegated to folkish distorted guitar leads (and bagpipes) to keep from clashing with the breakneck nature of Divinum Sanguinem. Sometimes ritualistically ominous (\u201cDivinum Sanguinem\u201d) and frequently hostile (\u201cThe Ascension of Kosmokrator\u201d), Ildaruni <\/strong>crafted something pointedly dark with Divinum Sanguinem.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But Ildaruni<\/strong> play a limited, well-trodden style, and Divinum Sanguinem is stretched too thin to inspire frequent replay. While Divinum Sanguinem\u2019s songs feature brief moments of differentiation, the near constant tremolos, blast beats and shrieks that encompass the majority of most tracks lose their lustre with use. If a song doesn\u2019t immediately open with trems and blasts, like on \u201cOf Nomos and Flaming Flint Stone\u201d or \u201cZurvan Akrane,\u201d rest assured that they\u2019ll reemerge before the verse, still competently played but with little melodic variation between them all, losing effect with overexposure. The near-uniformity of Ildaruni<\/strong>\u2019s track lengths adds to this sense of sameness, as songs seem to go through the same or similar motions for similar amounts of time, which doesn\u2019t bode well for memorability. An exception to this trend, \u201cImmersion into Empyrean\u201d\u2014 with its mid-paced tempo and open arpeggios\u2014is borderline catchy and provides a stark illustration of how one-note much of the rest of the album is. Ildaruni <\/strong>are all business here, but there\u2019s too much business on Divinum Sanguinem and not enough variety, novelty or abundance of hooks to make getting through it consistently engaging.<\/p>\n

Though Divinum Sanguinem is marred by considerable songwriting issues, it still marks considerable improvement for Ildaruni <\/strong>and proves there\u2019s a future for the band. When it works, Divinum Sanguinem is a powerhouse of a record, both atmospheric and immediate. When Ildaruni<\/strong>\u2019s tricks run dry, however, it becomes too easy to let the music slip into the background. Perhaps genre diehards will get more out of the album than I did, but I found myself losing interest too often to offer it high marks. Still, if you\u2019re in the market for black metal that riffs hard, you could do a lot worse than Divinum Sanguinem.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: Mixed
DR<\/strong>: 6 | Format Reviewed<\/strong>: 320 kbps mp3
Label<\/strong>: Black Lion Records<\/a>
Websites<\/strong>: ildaruni.bandcamp.com<\/a> | facebook.com\/Ildaruni<\/a> | instagram.com\/ildaruni<\/a>
Releases Worldwide<\/strong>: November 7th, 2025<\/p>\n

\n\tGive in to Your Anger:\n<\/p>\n