OPERA IX

 "VENEFICIUM" (2026)

Comentaba hace unos días al reseñar el nuevo álbum de Dimmu Borgir, que parce que algo esta moviéndose en el black sinfónico en los últimos tiempos, a la par que nuevas bandas surgen al amparo de un terreno favorable para el estilo, lo grandes colosos de los noventa no quieren dejar pasar la ocasión de recordarnos que ellos fueron los que contribuyeron a definir el estilo. El comienzo de Opera IX en los noventa son del todo proféticos, con la edición de sus tres primero álbumes del todo recomendables, sin embargo con el comienzo del nuevo milenio su trayectoria comenzó a languidecer de una manera similar al estilo que practicaban. Manteniéndose a día de hoy Ossian como único miembro fundador, ha conseguido sobrevivir a estas anodinas dos década y media hasta poder editar este "Veneficium" que puede volver otra vez a mirar de tu a tu al legado de Opera IX. Un álbum con diferentes alicientes que lo hacen más que disfrutable a lo largo de sus once temas, más allá de la ambientación, del trabajo de teclados y de la variedad de recursos, creo que lo ajustado y la credibilidad de lo expuesto está por encima de las formas. Ese arranque con "Gratidia", en donde sus voces limpias y freseados solo logran sumergirnos en un ambiente sombrío, oscuro y hasta cierto punto gótico, al mismo tiempo que nos trasmite la sensación estar transitando por terrnos conocidos en clara referencia al black sinfónico de los noventa. A partir de aquí el álbum solo hace acrecentar su registros ofreciendo secciones que son puro black directo e infecto en donde guitarras y sintetizadores logran tejer un entramado difícil de poner en entredicho, sembrándolo todo de un halo de oscuridad, terror y muerte a la altura de la época dorada del género, sin que ello se impedimento para que Opera IX busque y logre el equilibrio entre las secciones más directas y agresivas y la melodía y grandilocuencia inherente al género. Un trabajo de sintetizadores más que correcto, logran dar mayor atmosfera al conjunto, trasmitiendo cierta grandilocuencia, oscuridad, magia oscura o paganismo, todo ello perfectamente integrado con guitarra y batería para que formar un único ente perfecta engrasado y destructivo. Con las voces asistimos a un despliegue de recurso y formas realmente enriquecedor, de la propuesta con un tono profundo, oscuro y agresivo, que se solapan con secciones de voces femeninas mucho más marcadas, que dotan al conjunto de cierta emotividad. Es cierto también que el álbum parece querer dar muestra de cierto agotamiento a su parte final, pero la versión de Black Sabbath que sirve para cerrar este "Veneficium" vuelve a despertar nuestro interés. Un álbum a la altura de una banda como Opera IX, un álbum que podría haber sido editada en las noventa sin desentonar en ningún momento y que editado ahora vuelve a poner el foco sobre el black sinfónico y sobre una banda que es historia en si misma. (8).

Edged Circle Productions

1. Gratidia 00:54  

2. Vocatio Mortuorum 03:15  

3. Saturni Arcanum 05:27  

4. Saltatio Corvi 03:53  

5. Hortus Sagae 05:07  

6. Sagana 01:12  

7. Defixiones 03:56  

8. Veneficium 05:56  

9. Asphodelios 02:58  

10. Veia 01:50  

11. Black Sabbath 05:14  

  39:42

Gryftigæn ‎– Fehunðyrdauðr 37,99 €

Vinyl, LP, Album

OPERA IX

THE BLACK OPERA: SYMPHONIAE MYSTERIORUM IN LAUDEM TENEBRARUM (2000)

Último álbum de los italianos que contó con la participación de Cadaveria a las voces, es reseñable este aspecto por que el apartado vocal fue siempre  una seña de identidad de la banda. Musicalmente hablando estamos ante otro álbum variado que en su plano sinfónico si que podríamos incluir dentro del black sinfónico, pero con suficientes elementos para también acercarse al metal extremo y al gótico. Un aspecto  muy logrado en todos los álbumes de los italianos es la ambientación, mágica y ritualista que en este álbum esta menos cargada debido al buen hacer a las seis cuerdas en cierta partes que permite que su música transite por derroteros más metal. También se ha rebajado la presencia del doom, más presente en el pasado y que ha quedado en este álbum como un mero vestigio de obras anteriores. Cadaveria sigue ofreciendo todo su repertorio a las voces, rasgadas, agresivas melódicas y casi limpias, una baja sensible en la formación a partir de su marcha. En definitiva más de cincuenta minutos de black épico y sinfónico, no del todo cargado pero en la línea más previsible deentro género. (7,9).

Avantgarde music

1. Act I: The First Seal 09:39

 Dark and forgotten the times of these writings

Timeless stones shape the walls of this site

Arcane and powerful symbols traced on them

May the moon lead my steps

In the sacred search of supreme knowledge

Waiting for his coming

And it was gloom

Somewhere in time

In unknown lands ruled by an ancient magic

In titanic forests

6 towers of power were built

They guarded 6 sacred heirlooms,

Protected by 6 seals

They show the effigy of the god

Who sits on the big black throne

I mesmerize my soul

To fly along the dusty paths of

Acheron

Looking for the magic circle of the black ring

Toth Amon, prince of enchanters

Tell me your secret

Or I will tear it from death to death

Running on a human blood river

He feeds on blood

The blood calls him

His strength glows if the hands

invoking him are stained with blood

Where he shines, the blood is shed

There the light's kingdoms wobble

There nature forces are shaken

Thoth-Amon, give me the sword of sacrifice

And the sacred cup I am gonna fill with lifeblood

Give me the lance of almightiness

And the potsherds of the black stone

I'm gonna place on the altar of Dagon

Entrust the sixth heirloom to me

And so be it!

And then a whirlwind struck my 

breast, freezing my soul 

The candle flames vanished 

announcing his coming 

5 the tips and 5 the elements 

It is the blood in which I annihilate 

The sixth is the knowledge the 

supreme god, the bringer of light 

Engraved in the sixth heirloom 

The sacred book ordained to the devotee

2. Act II: Beyond the Black Diamond Gates 07:14

Dancing flames reflect a purple light

Dyeing the room with a

mysterious stillness

Wrapped in the ineoriating haze

of the fumed incense

We were sitting at the table

pleasantly stunned by the sweet

pungent smell of storax

Martyrized with ircos, oleum

libani, commiphora

The white goddess was ruling the night

And the old bell heralded the 

arrival of Kephra

Our fingers were riding the

ethereal dimension which

embraces everything 

"I'm the guardian of the east

gates, master of the whirling air 

I am him who opens the threshold 

The portal is opened to you, 

holders of the ninth key" 

I think their sound and technique

In the intensity of powers 

The ninth evoked energy was 

waiting for us 

Beyond the black diamond gates 

it sounds great, and for me it's 

"My name is Astharoth-Astarte" 

it hurled

"I am him-her who walks in the dark

Who will lead you to ecstasy

I will give you the power of revenge

'Cause you are my sons

May the power of evil be with you

So that your souls can prepare for the call

In a place, sacred to you,

celebrate with dances, chants and fires

You will couple in rapture

And I will enjoy your lust

I am the ninth key, the ninth flame of hell

Young, chaste with innocent fleshes

You will fetch her to me"

Magic resins have worn out

Scents have faded

Tum, patient, is waiting

But He-She is still walking with us

3. Act III: Carnal Delight in the Vortex of Evil 06:13

The way leading to him is unknown and steep And the bodies rests of those who didn't deserve him make it slippery But it is at the borders of my soul, so I know the secrets to walk along it staying unhurt The threshold of his abode is barred by a tangle of infected thorns But my soul keeps its key His throne is shielded by 12 servants' stare But he has called me, I felt him calling me And he has given me the power to bewitch them His rooms are icy But he warms my naked body with his breath The throb and the blood flow suspend In the presence of him His eyes, diabolical larvas his pupils, scan me His glance captures me and penetrates my breast Goblet of delicious vermilion wine I give myself up to his grim embrace Throb of death He is the storm He is the breeze He is the aurora He is the twilight He is the everlasting mind in the timeless abyss He injures and sates my lips He lessens my hunger He appeases my thirst He is fire burning my flesh He is icy snow settling in my womb Rod of viscid serpents Death and blood excite him And my blood is the balm for his ecstasy and his voracious delight Putrid carrion with burnt seales Obscure seducer with smooth scented skin of infant Now I know you But he has always known me

4. Act IV: Congressus Cum Daemone 10:24

The sacred fire burns in the

stone circle

In the centre of the all I'm

waiting for the guardian

Powerful thunders rumble in the air

And lightnings herald the storm

Darkness turns into light and

light grows into darkness

While the salamanders are

continuing to dance in the heart of fire

The moon stops growing

She stretches the fronds shades

as spectral witnesses

And Eurus, the east wind, gives them life

6 are the towers, 4 are the

revealed seals

And now I am waiting for the

next one

Thunder is rumbling again

Like the dragon's awakening from

the deep abyss

I honour the dark simulacrum of

the depth's gates

That is silently waiting for the

event's completion

I desert the realm of chaos and

I liberate over the infernal rivers

I follow the way of the red snake

Ancestral flight

...into the depth

I will celebrate the umpteenth passage ritual

A new baptism in a space without time

Tisipnon, fury of the occult

power, is waiting for me

To deliver me the black book of

the supreme knowledge

I cross the hidden paths of

Shaytan to violate the ayernus gates

That raise from the deep abyss

up to the horrid vault

3 are the bronze doors and 3 of

iron and 3 of diamonds

They are wrapped up by an

eternal fire

That makes all red-hot but

nothing destroys

At the sides of the awful

passage 2 guardians are waiting for me

[First guardian:]

"Be aware of your virtue, oh

animal, and the abyss

With its spectres will be overcome

Rejoyce as a new spirit and the

barking of the

Infernal beasts will become

silvery chant

Beyond these portals you can

join the perfect lightof the

space without time"

"I am Angelikos Phosphoros,

Lucifer, Morning Star"

[Second guardian:]

"Welcome spiritual warrior who,

conscious and daring, utters the

secret name

Before the black diamond gates

Welcome ensign of light

This pathway knows the steps,

dreads and triumphs of your

search

Welcome insane hero, the only

one who has descended the stairs

of damnation

You, blazing sun, dare-devil who

faces the hades to win yourself"

"I greet and thank you, obscure

guardians, who allow my passage

Without rending my flesh. I,

brave rambling being, go and

reveal the fifth seal"

5. Act V: The Magic Temple 04:16

Io metto il mio sangue nelle mani di Shaytan La forza che sta nell'essenza degli dei Che crearono il cielo e la terra Benedicete onnipotenti questo luogo Affinche sia puro e possa contenervi Innalzatevi o potenti fiumi e purificate questo mio tempio Scorra lento il sangue per nutrire il cuore del cerchio E ora giura!

6. Act VI: The Sixth Seal 07:50

Fall low into silence and fill

up your mental calix with black

substance of nothing

Burn 3 blood candles and breath

the dense fumes of Gorgio

Enter the sacred circle and hail

the altar of the dying sun

8 silver tinklings to hear the

secret name

Rise from silence, open your

eyes and vibrate

Gorgot, Assai belem

I invoke you timelessness

Who visits earth and skies

You, who lives night and day

Who knows darkness and light

Asar Lin-Nefer

No one ever saw you, in any time

You are jabas, you are japos

You are the right, and the

unfair

You are the female and the male

You are seeds and fruits

I am the ancient to whom you

entrusted the mysteries

Listen to me cause I'm the angel

of Shaytan and this is your real

name

East air

Listen to me and subdue all

demons to me

So that all spirits of external

spaces and seperate dimensions

All spells and gods scourges

obey me, on and under earth

In the great water, in the

whirlwind, in the burning fire!

South fire

I invoke you, terrible and

ivisible god who resides in the

empty of the spirit

West Water

Listen to me.

Ru-Abra-Iao-Mariodam

Babalon-Baoth

Assal-Ou Ai Aphaniao I thothe

Abrasar Acooi Ischure

Powerful and timeless

North earth

I invoke you, Ma Barraio Ioel

Kotha Athor-E-Bal-O Abraoth

East spirit

Listen to me

He's the gods' master

He's the god of universe

Winds fear him

It's him who uttered the word

He's the master of everything,

king, ruler, succourer!

North spirit

Listen to me

I'm the timeless spirit, strong

immortal fire

I am the truth, I am him who

shines and thunders!

I am him whose mouth blazes

eternally!

I am him who begets and shows

the light

Heart and serpent are my names

Iao Sabao, those are the words

Now burn up 3 blood candles and

wait for the empty time

Gorgot Necrod Belem

I dismiss you, threshold

guardian, unfathomable Gorgoi!

And go back to your dimensions

secording to your law

I will not suffer any pain!

7. Bela Lugosi's Dead (Bauhaus cover) 05:28

 White on white

translucent black capes

back on the rack.

Bela Lugosi's dead.

The bats have left the bell tower,

the victims have been bled,

red velvet lines the black box.

Bela Lugosi's dead.

Undead Undead Undead.

The virginal brides

file past his tomb,

strewn with time's dead flowers,

bereft in deathly bloom,

alone in a darkened room

the count.

Bela Lugosi's dead.

Undead Undead Undead.

Oh Bela, Bela's undead.

  51:04

 

OPERA IX

Origen: Italia, Biella

Formados: 1988

Estilo: Black melódico

Temática: Brujería, leyendas, magia negra, ocultismo, paganismo y tradiciones

Enlaces: Facebook, Opera IX.

Miembros:

• Dipsas Dianaria Voces
• G.G. Bajo
• L.P. Vault Batería
• Ossian Guitarra
• Velum Teclados

Discografía:

• Gothik Demo 1990  
• Demo '92 Demo 1992  
• The Triumph of the Death EP 1993  
• The Triumph of the Death Video 1994  
• The Call of the Wood CD 1995
• Live at Babylonia Video 1998  
• Sacro Culto CD 1998
• The Black Opera: Symphoniae Mysteriorum in Laudem Tenebrarum CD 2000
• Maleventum CD 2002
• Anphisbena CD 2004  
• The Early Chapters Recopilatorio 2007  
• Mythology XX Years of Witchcraft Video 2008  
• Strix - Maledictae in Aeternum CD 2012
• Sabbatical Live Video 2013
• Back to Sepulcro CD 2015
• The Gospel CD 2018
• Necromantical Sacraments / Samhain Split 2020
• Samonios EP 2022
• Back to Sepulcro MMXXV CD 2025

SACRO CULTO (1998)

Tal vez el segundo larga duración de los italianos no sea una obra muy apreciada dentro de la escena y haya pasado sin pena ni gloria por más de un reproductor pero no nos llevemos a engaño, aunque no es una obra sencilla de apreciar considero que su influencia en el metal extremo ha sido más que importante. Hablo de metal extremo para definir su música, porque son abundantes los diferentes estilos que podemos apreciar en sus setenta minutos de duración, manteniendo siempre como base un metal pesado de características doom, pero que se mezcla con aspectos melódicos, con la incorporación de teclados que por momentos rozan el gótico, pero que acaban por conseguir una ambientación pagana, fría y ocultista a la cual contribuye en sobremanera el excelente trabajo realizado por Cadaveria a las voces, apartado en el que se expande todo su repertorio de voces agresivas y rasgadas a la par que las enfrenta a otras más limpias y melódicas. Se puede criticar ciertos aspectos como la extensa duración de los temas, no creo que sea el caso ya que en esa extensión se nos permite variar de registros, bien es cierto que en determinados lugares los riffs no acaban de convencer al cien por cien. Un álbum como comentaba que si no se le ha dado una oportunidad se le debería por lo menos permitir una escucha. (8).

1. The Oak 10:40  

In the whirls of time,

turning their eyes

toward the shadowy monumental

symbols of the past,

following the lines up to the places,

where power and mystery reign

some people raised many stones to the sun

in their imposing silence.

A warm wind is blowing in my face

melting the ice of death.

Burnt alive victims around the cromlec’h

in honour of my immortality.

Crucified on The Oak.

My blood is trickling down it

no light in this church made of trees

some men in white are chanting their song

to the altar of Cernunnos.

Crucified on The Oak.

Oh you, God of Moon,

sanctify this magis ritual.

In my heart there’s the power of glory,

in my eyes the shine of the sword.

Oh you, God of Death, rescue me from this fear,

I will be your messenger,

rescue me from this light.

Oh Mother Darkness, receive the son of cruelty and wisdom.

Crucified on The Oak, in honour of Esus.

The earth is imbued with the blood of my God’s enemies

and from flames a battle-cry is madly risen.

Far away the death-song is going on with the crossing of the swords.

The fog is hiding our temples made of stones

and the Gods are silently waiting for the event.

The bloody encounter between our Pagan Devotion and the only god.

Ruins around The Oak.

Corpses in oblivion.

Sealed up by the light of reason.

Oh, cursed mortals, which is the right way?

2. Fronds of the Ancient Walnut 12:25

 Feel the breeze on my face

the icy breath of the Goddess.

I raise my hand and touch the illusion.

My mind is powerful and my Ego is high

as the mountain in front of me.

Clouds run fast and silence comes

from the Fronds of the Ancient Walnut:

no scents, no odors, no sounds, no laments;

the cold vanishes...

I get all the colors all around me

and I see the enchanting dance of the branches:

it is the Walnut calling the witches,

it is our dream voyaging through the aethyr.

What was not becomes reality.

I am the deer running to the Sabbath!

I am the crow which observes the silence!

I am the craftsman of myself...

therefore I praise the Horned and the Great Mother!

And where the wind blows, at the mercy of the oneiric,

it is the touch of the world’s spirits

which enhances my magic.

Mind’s spreading, faint voices chant at the moon,

the silvering light of Levanah penetrates the unconscious

and revives the Ancient Knowledge.

I take flight, the dance is over.

Now we are the deer returning from the Sabbath!

Now we are the crow which contemplated the silence!

Now we are the craftsmen of ourselves...

therefore we praise the Horned and the Great Mother!

3. The Naked and the Dance 08:20

The fresh humidity of the green moss wets my skin,

my body laying down, as it suits to who adores a god,

over the sacred stones of the Cromlec’h.

Our bodies clinging each other,

what is of the One becomes of the Many.

The incense smoke dances with the candles flames

attracting the celebrants astral energies.

The choral worshipping of the Black Goddess raises from our minds,

what is of the Many becomes of the One.

The sacred wine shall fill the cup which turned was in the goatish horn,

the fertile lips shall kiss the rod which life and shape took from the

walnut.

An the Nine shall come at the beginning of the dance,

the naked feet shall caress Sheela Na Gog,

the naked bodies moistened by wood’s breath,

the naked minds dancing in the air,

and the shrewd spirits, by sacred fire inebriated, shall turn to whirl,

and once more the Great Spiral shall be Tregenda

one and seven to celebrate the thirteen fullnesses of Levanah,

who of ancient memory made arcane magic mortal.

Simple melodies by “Her Who guides” vibrated,

enchantements of witches for millenniums hand down,

bodies like veils fluttering to paint the Great Dance

offered to the sky as a tribute of the soul drag into oblivion.

May I rejoin the stars, free my astral,

embrace Knowledge and in the All regenerate myself now beast now man,

till to reborn from the effluviums of my ethereal spirit God I Myself,

God among Gods,

deserving of my devotion and of my passion!

Sacrifical victim for those who welcome me

heir and part of the All.

4. Cimmeries 12:42

Gorgot Assai Belem.

May the Great Portal open to me,

my voice thunder in thy name

and for the power of the Lords of the Great Frost.

The whirling air of the North guide my spirit

in the quest for glorious past.

And it was in the mist of time

that the death fires floodlighted darkness

the wind brought the smell of blood,

the air of extermination and the exterminators outcry.

The blades of sacrifice deepened in the flesh

and the nerves and the black seers raised

hearts still pulsating to unnamable Gods

for their obscure prophecies.

Prepare now your soul for the embrace of the sacred death,

may water suffocate your breath and flame consume your flesh,

all this so that Teutates, Esus and Taranis protect my people.

Heavy and slow were the treads of the black warriors

in the Aeron’s march, dust rising like whirls

while the horrible Crow turned His eyes to the battle remains.

Morighon was reigning among the stones of the timeless,

where the stars engraved their symbols

and under the brightness of the moon

the initiates were enlighted on the Great Secrets.

I want to reopen my eyes to look beyond the horizon of fear,

My God is in me,

in the strenght of my arm,

in the light of my sword.

Crom.

I raise my arms to Andraste,

so that only massacre be in my eyes.

Crom.

To the threshold of the abyss I kneel,

so that the Three Furies invade my soul.

Crom.

With wine I honour the Gods,

so that inebriation draws me near them.

Crom.

My face I paint of moon

like all the sons of the dying sun lands,

I belong to Her.

Crom is in me.

Remote are now those archaic deeds in the mist of time,

and the Cimmeries testimonials sleep

in the obscure silence of the tumulus

like ancient relics, mighty sigils to fragile ashes.

But the choirs will thunder again Gorgot Necrod Belem.

May the Great Portal close to you.

5. My Devotion 14:59

Under the moonlight, bitter falls a tear over the face of memories. Oh, shining blade! Cut my flesh, so that be the Sacred Fire nourished by my vital fluid. And you! Spirits of the Air, leave smoke as a sign of my rite. Stone after stone, I create my Lucus and so I divide the world of human dimension from the one of Gods. How wonderful falling into this darkness. Blow up the last torches and shut up your eternal chant. Lucifer! Helel Ben Shahar. Shining Master of light, Prince of dawn, wipe the shadows out of my spirit, banish weakness from my body, give me the strangth of Power, let my throat be ripped up by crying My Devotion. In my devotion the sign of Voor. In my devotion the sword of Hathoor. May the four elements become my allies, may the faith of darkness be my weapon and the spirit my temple. Son of time’s forces, deter my mind from the wicked ignorance of the Lambs of god. In my devotion the sign of Voor. In my devotion the sacred Tor. The circle of power be a sacred place, shield and protection from the followers of the nazarene. Light in the light and light in the darkness. I seize my nature, the five edged star adorns my breast and my hands clutch the club. We are wolves in the sacred wood of life. In my devotion the sign of Voor. In my devotion Bathym Belem Gomor. Take me, oh ferryman, through the vision of my death, the heat of the Great Black Veil. My hearse brought in slow procession by the No Named, my reunion with Mother Earth, the keeper of the dreams last turning his clepsydra, the breaking up of the black mirror and The Guardians of the threshold will open the last Portal. Let the candles burn out, darkness consumes light, time divours life. My Eternal Devotion to Darkness.  

6. Under the Sign of the Red Dragon 11:18

I raise my eyes at dead of night

I hear the silence moulding my body

I hear the damp and living ground throbbing

I belong to it.

I'm the guardian of this land,

I'm Dracula, Prince of Walacchia.

My name is synonymous with fear and terror

which I sowed and grew and which I fed on.

I led an army of dead soldiers

that I myself had raised from their graves.

I spread death and destruction.

Stifling smell of blood and excrements,

desperate cries, sobs.

Thousands of corpses rotted in the sun.

Thousands of poles rose as I passed.

My head beheaded and laid down.

The law: my law.

I was Vlad, the Impaler,

nobody could obstruct my path.

And the powerful Turks come in crowds.

And the new forest came up,

forest of fright and blood.

And the sultan of gold and silk

came with his numerous army,

thousand of persons were horribly impaled

and crowds came, crowds of enemies.

And at the end I was surrounded.

Chill, blood, horror of an irrepressible slaughter.

By then I was a prince without land.

And from the ground a whisper,

the whisper of the dead, rose:

"Dracula, please, come back!"

  01:10:24