Very few details are known about Hic Iacet, apart from their Spanish nationality. It’s not even clear if this is the work of a gathering of musicians or of a lonely (dark) soul, though the harsh arrangements and sonic aesthetics tend to suggest the latter.
Yet, after a high-profiled demo re-released on LP by Hells Headbangers and one less satisfactory EP, this new recording does a pretty good job of capturing that particularly cryptic collusion of black and old-school death metal.
While The Cosmic Trance… uses the latter’s cavernous sound and mammoth, stomping tempos, the tremolo guitar attack, on-purpose-primitive sound and overall heavily occult-charged vibe are more spiritually connected to the likes of Beherit and Archgoat.
Nevertheless, as great as this humid, cavernous and atmosphere-drenched first proper full-length is, it also has a prominent flaw as most of the effort was put into sneaking Gregorian chants and ominous subtexts rather than actual memorable riffing or a truly solid performance. The pitch-black vibe is spot-on, but in the name of Satan, where are the songs?/o:p
