Magnum Itiner Interius – Departure at the Betrayal of Life
Grief affects everyone differently. Intense feelings of sadness and loss, especially when someone close to you passes away, can have a suffocating effect. Many, including myself, just want to withdraw from humanity and try to come to grips with the void and depression left behind. Thankfully for followers of his amazing musical output throughout the years, mainly The Chasm, Daniel Corchado pours his sorrow into his art instead of letting grief tear him apart after enduring the loss of his father.
Having never heard the debut release from his solo project, I had no preconceived notions on what I was about to hear, but with “Departure at the Betrayal of Life”, Corchado continues to show the world his genius when it comes to song composition, his advanced guitar work, and the dark uniqueness that lurks at the core of his metal song smithing skills. “Departure…” is an instrumental album, but possesses so many nuances and interesting emotions musically, it never comes across as boring, or reaching to flood in gaps with unnecessary filler. Even the non metal segments that exist between the main tracks are interesting due to the right choices of synth sounds, and the fact that they never drag on too long. They range between the militaristic march of “Avoid the Light” to other more dark ambient/electronic based tracks, deepening the unique mood that permeates this CD. The harmonies on “A Wall of Memories” rejoice with an exuberant love of life one moment, only to dig down much deeper to seemingly weep with despair the next. I find it amazing and truly inspiring that an artist can carry the listener through a lifetime of feelings within the scope of 1-7 minute song. The background keyboards help to ferry these emotions across this audial ocean of ones lifetime very effectively, and pile on the atmosphere for Corchado’s excellent guitar work and atypical riffs to work their magic. At times I am reminded musically of The Chasm, which is to be expected, but Magnum Itiner Interius does establish it’s own sonic identity, somehow melding an underlying prog element with the cult metal of death that Daniel has been so expertly sculpting his entire musical career. All of this is held together by a solid and smooth production where all the instruments (everything was played by Daniel himself) can be heard. The drum programming (this is an assumption) sounds exact to a human drummer. From every note, to sound captured, you can hear all the work and dedication that went into this well considered labor of love and loss.
It isn’t often that I can relate to, or have the patience for an instrumental album and this is why “Departure at the Betrayal of Life” has been such a surprise and all encompassing listen for me. There is so much emotion and passion coming out of this release, it is hard not to be affected by the journey. Definitely better suited for late night listening sessions, Magnum Itiner Interius is hypnotically charged music perfect for travel beyond the confines of this world.
For those of you who have somehow lost track of The Chasm and Daniel’s other labor of musical worship, his label Lux Inframundis, both are still very active. Daniel’s mentality after roughing it out for years in a corrupt/broken music industry, has adopted a DIY aesthetic. Everything is now done in-house, from the design, the recording, everything… resulting in limited press runs for the love of making and releasing music, and for the true fans of his craft. To be brought up to speed, be sure to check out http://www.luxinframundis.com and the bandcamp page. Hours of superior metal awaits you! -Marty
Lux Inframundic/Vic Records
Worm Gear 