Locus Titanic Funus-Castus Lacrima

Metal Scrap Records
2013

Having just recently reviewed an album from Ukraine's Metal Scrap Records (EDVIAN'S rather stellar release,"2012") I was pleasantly surprised to find a new e-mail from them in my inbox that contained a huge assortment of promos of various genres. This oddly named lot was sitting atop the bundle so, faced with an open afternoon, I decided to do a little exploring, at least music-wise, and see what this Moscow-based band was all about. From the looks of it we're talking about a pair of musicians in guitarist Alexey Mikhaylov and vocalist Mila Ionova (Mea Vita) who, bound together by a shared love of darker music, made the most out of what was, by all intensive purposes, a studio-only project. Or at least for now as rumor has it they would very much like to pull it all off live. With that "Castus Lacrima" is the pair's debut-release and it's a fine thing indeed! Alright, so there's both female and male vocals. That works well in conjunction with the softer, more subtle passages, and the more gruff (and frankly bleak) black metal moments/movements. Joined by studio enhancements (ie: electronic elements such as synthesizers and drum machines), our pair of  musicians set their sights on provocative (or is that pervasive and punishing?) goth-tinged, occultist metal. While the group's name reportedly has to do with disaster of one sort or another what comes roaring out is anything but a disaster. Instead we have before us what, previously (in another life-time) at least, would have just been dubbed "alternative" music, but here it's like black metal with a twist. As hinted that's a goth twist and, when some sorrowful doom is unleashed upon the mix as well, it's quite the challenge to just say that Locus Titanic Funus sound like so and so when the reality is, as warped and bloodstained as it is with this type of morbid metal, this guy and girl combo is onto something decidedly different. It's not a release for everyone in you're household (unless you live in a hellish haunted house!) as it's dark and does bear some of the tell-tale trademarks of traditional black metal (usually a love it or loathe it genre to begin with), but as I step back and look at "Castus Lacrima" I'm quite glad that I reviewed this one particular release from Metal Scrap Records first as it's likely to stay with me for awhile!