Délétère - De Horae Leprae (2018)

The Canadian Black Metal scene is now flourishing with intense Black Metal bands that easily rival their counterparts from any part of the world. Today we have Quebec’s Délétère and their sophomore release “De Horae Leprae”, and it is quite a strong showing for this young and promising outfit. Delivering over 60 minutes of intense riffing, bestial drumming and an overall impressive sense of destruction, this release is geared for those of us that love relentless BM with a sense of melody and brutality.

Quickly steamrolling through the listener with the opener: “Teredinis Lepra” the band sets a fierce pace while adding some enticing atmospheric elements that keep things fresh and quite crafty. The band’s brutality is unquestionable after the brilliant “Sagina Caedendis”, where the sinister guitar layering works wonderfully well with the harsh and punishing vocals. With member Thorleïf handling the vocals, we are treated to an intricate mixture of traditional BM screams and deeper somber passages that perfectly contrast and create very unique haunting atmospheres as found in “Ichthus Os Tremoris”.

The band continues to demolish the listener’s psyche with pummeling tracks like the intense “Inopia et Morbo”, the more melodic “Figura Dysphila” and the eerie atmospheric duo of “Barathra I” and “Barathra II”. With Atheos, of Monarque fame, handling all the guitars, the album features some of the most intense BM riffing ever to come out from Canada and also some very crafty melodies that break out from the monotony of traditional BM releases.

Closing with the macabre “Oratio Magna”, we are left completely destroyed after such a brutal release. We particularly enjoyed that Délétère does not only just focuses on ravaging BM, but also adds a great deal of melody in their songs. “De Horae Leprae” is definitely one of the craftiest and most engaging BM releases of 2018, so be sure to not miss out on this gem out on Sepulchral Productions.

Label: Sepulchral Productions

Release: June 15th, 2018

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Canada