Sic Transit Gloria Mundi is best described as an absolutely sinister and downright evil offering of modern black metal. With their debut full length album, Norwegian black metal duo Saligia delivers seven tracks of filthy, unpolished, and raw anger in the form of buzzing guitar riffs and blast beats galore. While much of this album is derived from what early Norwegian black metal pioneers offered around twenty years ago, there are a few interesting twists here to keep things interesting. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi is not a flawless masterpiece, but it's a solid entrance into the scene from this promising act.
Most of what is offered on Sic Transit Gloria Mundi can be derived from the likes of Darkthrone and Bathory, but there are also a few traces of the atonal style of the genre pioneered by Blut Aus Nord and Deathspell Omega. Ghastly's shouting vocal style is also radically different from your average black metal shrieks, so even though Sic Transit Gloria Mundi is far from anything too unique, it does have a voice of its own in the modern black metal world.
The songs rarely (if ever) leave an opportunity for the listener to breathe; this is dense and extremely heavy black metal from beginning to end. Although there are some nice changes between the tempo of the riffs, many sections still remain indistinguishable from each other. A bit more variation could've made the album feel a bit more memorable; as it currently stands, Sic Transit Gloria Mundi leaves little of an impression once its playing time is over.
Though Sic Transit Gloria Mundi may not be the most memorable debut out there, it shows that Saligia is a band capable of crafting some competent black metal music. I'll be curious to hear what they offer in the future, and in the meantime I can recommend this to fans of dark, sinister, and evil black metal. Still, Saligia will need to learn how to write more memorable compositions until I'm truly impressed. I'd say a middle-of-the-road 3 star rating is fair here.
Track Listing:
1. Casus Gloria
2. Sar Ha-Olam
3. Womb Caverns
4. Orb of Flesh
5. Shed Old Skin
6. Blood Staineth
7. Upon the Altar
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