Welcome the darkness of Imha Tarikat.
For his fourth album, Confessing Darkness, Kerem “Ruhsuz Cellât” Yilmaz (all instruments/vocals, Arkan Azid) – accompanied by Jerome Reil (drums, Exhumer, Destroy Them) and Marvin Giehr (guitar, Hexer) – renews his partnership with Prophecy Productions.
The journey begins with Aufbruch, a mysterious first approach made of a few claps and the crackling of a fire, but the visceral vocal parts appear on Wicked Shrine, coupled with a raw impressive Old School rhythm. Riffs are quite rhythmic, allowing for wild acceleration while including a few touches of dissonance or screeching harmonics, as on Another Failed Ritual, which sometimes takes on rather ominous tones to complement the brutality. Leads reflect a melodic approach sometimes borrowed from heavy metal, as the introduction to Voices of Bitter Epiphany seems to confirm, while remaining rooted in rage, aggressive patterns and touches of Black’n’Roll. As for the vocals, Ruhsuz Cellât keeps to his beastly vociferations, even when the sound becomes mystical again, as on Excellent Grief, which never ceases to blaze under his command, revealing occult melodies. The final offers a moment’s pause, but Confessing Darkness shatters it into a thousand pieces with a wrenching scream followed by an almost unstoppable surge of darkness that the musician masters with all his infectious hatred. Everything on this long track is pushed to the extreme, not hesitating to take a slightly crazier approach to the guitars either, but the tempo gradually slows down until Chamber of Sin returns to more epic passages with various lighter influences. The contrast with the more direct passages is clear enough, as are the melancholy additions that follow, before Horns in the Smoke take up the charge with furious roots unleashed at full speed, lacerating us mercilessly. Memoria Dei – Profanity and Devi returns with its airy, morose touch, but once again the creator gives in to the dark forces and draws us into his frenzy, taking us as much by the guts as he puts into his music. Brutality returns at full speed on Pitch Black Reflection, a fairly constant track that lets its rhythmic drive carry us away in its cascade of darkness, with more melodious lead interventions, but the album’s climax is reached on The Day I Died – Reborn into Flames, the final composition that brings us face to face with the musician’s complete despair, in which he gives himself body and soul right up to the last second.
The mysterious Imha Tarikat project has not remained inactive, and celebrates its tenth anniversary with a fourth album of palpable darkness. Confessing Darkness seems to be one of their most virulent, but also most diverse works.
85/100