Portugal’s raw black metal underground, particularly orbiting around its Black Circle, has quietly become one of the most potent international scenes for unapologetic black metal purism. Of its denizens, Mons Veneris is arguably the darkest, most mystery-draped exemplar of this sound: incredibly lo-fi and raw in a most otherworldly way.

After an album and one split, Monte Penumbra returns with “The Black Realm Vigil”. Mixing dark ambient music, dissonant Black Metal and strange rhythmic sections, these three songs show some of the finest atmospheric Black Metal heard lately, with tasteful dynamics and great compositions. A completely analog recording with 21