Track Premiere: Cloak of Altering Unveil Splendid Euphoria of Murdering Ravens

I would write something like "Maurice de Jong (Mories) needs no introduction" but then that's kind of a post-modern introduction, now isn't it? Especially given that we premiered another one of his projects – the death-doom-tinged The Sombre – just a few months ago along with an interview. So, I kind of already introduced him, right? And yet one (me) would be remiss to not go through the usual ceremony of "I can't believe how much amazing music Mories releases at any given moment!" spiel, so let's get right to it: I can't believe how much amazing music Mories releases at any given moment! It is kind of crazy, when you think of, that the man behind Gnaw Their Tongues, The Sombre, Hagetisse, Golden Ashes, Dodenbezweerder, Vetus Supulcrum, and an endless line of other projects, including one of the best albums this year with Grand Celestial Nightmare, has time to breathe, let alone be a productive musician.

But the thing is, as with a select group of other hyper-productive artists (Déhà comes to mind) the fact that boggles the mind even more than the sheer speed and quantity of these projects but their incredible and consistent quality.

Such is the case with yet another of Mr. de Jong's many (warped) faces, his bleak, avant-garde black metal persona Cloak of Altering. I'm very happy to be able to stream the second single from the project's upcoming seventh album set to be released by the wonderful Brucia Records this June. As with most of Mories' projects this too is informed by the convergence of the ruthless and the melodic, the spacious and the claustrophobic, a coupling which really makes up the heart and essence of "Splendid Euphoria of Murdering Ravens." Part melancholic, almost depressive black metal, part night-time jazz club overrun by slithering snakes it both exposes a human fragility as well as crushing it with the sharp veneer of darkness.

So, enjoy the track streaming below and be sure to partake in the other twisted delights offered by this infested website, such as our Albums of the Decade series and interviews more generally, including a series about the great albums of the 90s, as well our somewhat functioning podcast (YouTube, Spotify and all that) and/or our latest compilation album MILIM KASHOT VOL.2. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Spotify and support whatever it is that we do on Patreon, if you like what you see here (for whatever reason).