Apolokia
Kathaarian Vortex

Von Blackfrost (Alex Catania) and Lord Veerminard (Francesco Morese) are the two minds behind the Apolokia project, an Italian band founded in 1994 in L'Aquila (Abruzzo) that officially debuted with their first full-length album in 2013, after 19 years consisting only of 2 DEMOs (Frozen Evocation '95, Fields of Hatefrost '97) and an EP released in 2009 "Immota Satani Manet." These were the early '90s (1991-1993), and they, alongside three other bands (Dungeon, Brisen, and Ugluk), represented the first whispers of Black Metal in our country. A handful of demos, a bold attitude borrowed from the Scandinavian imagination, a touch of personality, and there it was, the primordial and hard-nosed foundation of Tricolor Black Metal also began to form in Italy.

Let’s clarify one thing: Von Blackfrost no longer lives in Italy but moved to Norway some years ago. This, along with a voluntary state of hibernation of the band, likely contributed to further extending the timeline for the creation of "Kaatharian Vortex."

Essentially, distance yourself from any Black Metal production in recent years to understand the idea of Black Metal hidden behind the name Apolokia. Distance yourself from everything. This album is not easy to absorb, indeed. It likely represents everything today's music market tries to avoid. If you are not open-minded, if you don't want to listen, avoid any contact with this work.

Imagine the cold and slicing sound of Abbath's guitars from "Battles in The North," the sulfurous voice of Attila from "De Mysteriis...", mix it all with an inhuman drum machine and synth blasts reminiscent of MZ412... these are the coordinates through which you can imagine the ground Apolokia tries to throw you onto.

The production is crushing, intentionally chaotic, and flat. It lacks melodic dynamism. No concessions or dedication to the listener: the listener is a victim. 9 tracks for a little over 41 minutes of "music" (music?!? - intentionally quoted), push the listener to annihilate their senses, projecting them into an imaginary that leaves behind the canons of Black Metal in favor of Industrial. There is little to say in this regard, in some moments it genuinely feels like listening to an Industrial record, as much as it is difficult to follow the lines of each individual instrument and categorize what it is actually doing. Everything overlaps, everything is whirlpool-mixed until the very concept of musicality is lost. There is a tangibly suffocating atmosphere throughout the duration of the listening experience.

Beware, what I'm talking about is not pop culture Industrial, but that extreme slice of Industrial that puts the rot within you, hypnotizes you, disorients you. This is deliberately not a Black Metal album for those who listen to Black Metal superficially, it is an album of Black Art for the few. An elitist album. Those following Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, and their ilk should stay away.

In rare cases, like the track "Order of The Nine," it’s possible to understand what the guitar is doing, as well as the voice: sulfurous, distressing, sick, subdued but declamatory. Occasionally some background choir, as if to emphasize that there is still something "human" in this hellish cauldron. I've never heard Italian records like this. I could bring up Aborym, but they would never withstand the comparison facing a track like the title-track "Kaatharian Vortex".

I do not love the drum machine, in fact, I hate the very idea of the drum machine. But in this context, and only in this context, it was indispensable. The speed through which the tracks interlace is devastating. I assure you that one listen is not enough to understand what Apolokia had in mind, I myself have never loved the concept of "growing to like it over the long haul," but here, it is necessary to dig deep, immerse yourself in the duo's imagination and follow the lyrics in the booklet to complete the picture. An entire work dedicated to pursuing a personal and hardly classifiable idea, only those who have ears to understand can begin this long journey, based on an album that once made yours will scarcely tire you.

Negativity, the maximum concentration of misanthropy, and the vulgar breaking of the boundaries imposed by the genre are the cornerstones of this "Kaatharian Vortex". For the next full-length, we only hope not to wait another 19 years...

As someone once said, BUY OR DIE, for the others, stay clear.