Wrath of Logarius announce their album ‘Crown of Mortis’

Despite its fiery and contentious spirit, black metal can get stuck in its own ways. But while they emerged from a mystic scene that’s familiar to the well-initiated, Wrath of Logarius aren’t bound by black metal’s strict sense of tradition.

The band’s upcoming debut album officially announces a new realm for the subgenre: formless black metal.  Much like their notoriously hard-to-beat namesake, which approach they take in launching their attack is impossible to predict. But no matter what skeletal form they assume, one thing is clear: Crown of Mortis pronounces Wrath of Logarius as unflinching kings of black metal’s new realm.

Watch the commanding video for the album’s shape-shifting lead single “Keeper of the Spectral Legion”.

Wrath of Logarius hail from the misty forests of Northern California, but it’s fitting that whispers of their supremacy started by spreading through the digital underground. The band’s introductory EP infected the world of extreme metal like a bloodborne virus.  

“To these ears, I hear Cascadian black metal mixed with a blackened form of tech death, with some stunningly beautiful melodic work”,  New Noise wrote about Necrotic Assimilation. “All that is to say, good luck figuring out Wrath of Logarius, and that’s the point”.

On Crown of Mortis, the legend behind Wrath of Logarius has only grown. The album follows in the wake of the band’s viral takeover; each song serves the larger narrative of an accursed king with its lead single rolling out the blood red carpet for his army of the dead.

“Ancient – Power – Cosmic – Legion“, Noctifier growls during the song’s punchy, bone-crushing chorus before his gutturals climb into throat-scraped agony.

Wrath of Logarius summons the full force of their signature formless style on “Keeper of the Spectral Legion”. After another studio ritual at Rapture Recordings with producer Cody Fuentes, the band have leveled up in brute strength and hair-raising skill. Lord Marco‘s flying fingers still pound with technical precession while Urath and Vastador churn chunky death metal riffs into blackened reams of shredding melodic dissonance. 

Despite its contentious spirit, black metal can be awfully rigid. But Wrath of Logarius aren’t bound by the scene’s strict traditions. Their first album officially coronates a new realm for the subgenre: formless black metal. Much like their namesake, the band’s next move is impossible to predict. Yet no matter what skeletal form they assume, Crown of Mortis pronounces Wrath of Logarius as unflinching kings of this new realm.    

Though they hail from the misty forests of Northern California, it’s fitting that whispers of Wrath of Logarius began amongst the digital realm. After all, the band are named after a notoriously difficult video game dungeon master.  When their cryptic debut “1897” dropped out of thin air during the pandemic, the song burned up message boards so quickly that the flames could be seen from the South of France. After signing with Season of Mist in 2023, they formally introduced formless black metal with an EP that spread through the world of extreme metal like a bloodborne virus.  

“Creating a new subgenre label and having it work? *Chef’s Kiss*”, New Noise gushed over Necrotic Assimilation. Meanwhile, Teeth of the Divine were nearly knocked unconscious by its brutal assault on the senses. “Lord Marco’s drum work is ridiculous here and is almost making my vision vibrate”.   

Many hunters would’ve reaped those rewards while resting their bones, but the lore behind Wrath of Logarius continues to grow. This band of skeletons were already busy fleshing out their first full-length before Necrotic Assimilation had even swarmed streaming services. Crown of Mortis follows the immediate aftermath of their viral takeover. Each song twists into a uniquely horrific tale that serves the larger plot of its accursed king. “Unfathomable” opens as if trapped in another nightmarish dimension, though its narrator’s ominous transmission can’t stop “Keeper of the Spectral Legion” from summoning an army of the undead.    

With Crown of Mortis, Wrath of Logarius build on their throne of formless black metal. Though possessed by a mournful melody, “Long Dead the King” marches to Lord Marco‘s blistering blasts. The flays from his flying fingers are so precise in their pounding that they erode the mind. But while the band have leveled up in brute strength, the album also ups their chilling sense for atmosphere with hair-raising skill. With the curl of each blackened tendril, “Of the Void” embraces transfiguration by fire and ice. “Open the gates and let revision in“, Noctifier beckons amidst swirling dissonance. “Slowly dismantle every part of you“.   

Wrath of Logarius also encrust Crown of Mortis with deadly new jewels. Another woodland specter comes to join their ranks on “The Ethereal Mist”. Beneath its slithering stomp emerges Vilhelm of Grima with freshly rotten snarls. “Lurker’s Tomb” crashes down with knuckle-dragging riffs and brutal double bass kicks, but its trap is sprung by a solo that’s treachery lies in its maze-like technicality. “The fear subsides for now I breathe again“, Noctifier shrieks as the album’s dread-inducing closer ascends into the astral plane.        

On Crown of Mortis, Wrath of Logarius bend black metal to fit their formless rule.   

Line-up
Noctifer – Vocals
Urath – Lead Guitars
Vastador – Guitars
Lord Marco – Drums