Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Mater a Clivis Imperat — Carmina Occulta
(Black Widow BWR 267, 2023, CD / LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-06-11

Carmina Occulta Cover art

Based on their last album Atrox Locus and the cover art on the new album I was expecting a continuation of the doom-laden, gothic Italian prog rock of the first album. This second album, Carmina Occulta, extends this ritual magic Italian occult project beyond the Italian 60s and 70s horror movie soundtrack genre not only in its composition and length (Carmina Occulta is almost twice as long as Atrox Locus), but also in the number of contributing musicians. The Mater a Clivis Imperat Orchestra now includes:  Isabella (lead vocals), Samael von Martin (vocals, guitars, bass, flute, lute, percussion, and chains), Simòn Ferètro (lead guitar and vocals on “Chori Tragici” and “Animi Errantes”), Wally Ache (bass), Elisa Montaldo (invocations, vocals, electric koto, Chinese hulusi, Bawu bamboo flute, and piano on “Peste 1347/2019”), Vittorio Sabelli (clarinet and bass clarinet), Alessio Saglia (organ, Hammond organ, Moog synth, keyboards, and orchestration), Ventrenero (drums), Elisa di Marte (soprano), Nequam (narration), The Nun (female backing vocals), and Natalija Brankoviç (piano on “Nero Segreto (Funestum Drama)”, organ on “Ago e filo,” and violin). Quite an impressive lineup! The nineteen tracks are heavily dominated by cathedral and Hammond organ, semi-classical interludes peppered throughout, as well as cinematic themes. The tracks that stand out for me are the acoustic dark folk track “Edorado II,” the haunting “Animi Errantes,” and the cinematic danse macabre “Mellicum Brevius.” Even with the witchcraft emphasis (why are the Italians so enamored with black magic?), especially with the evil wild abandon on “Strigarum Dominus,” Carmina Occulta is not as sinister as Atrox Locus or even fellow occult prog musician Antonius Rex. Carmina Occulta is a step forward for Mater a Clivis Imperat.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Elisa Montaldo, Mater a Clivis Imperat

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.