Ad Baculum (aka Whereabouts of: The original Mystifier vocalist)

Large amounts of Hyoscyamus Niger and Seven Churches are a winning combination.

Ad Baculum - Blackness Doctrine 2011

I saw this CD being touted as ex-Mystifier when browsing through a distro list; that immediately piqued my interest so I went ahead and bought it--sure enough, 20 years after Wicca, Meugninuosoan has resurfaced in Ad Baculum handling all guitarwork and vocals.

There's no real semblance to old Mystifier, and even the vocals are unrecognizable compared to those on Wicca--a heavy accent is more apparent here and they remind me a bit of a less evil/tormented version of the vocal style from the first Necrodeath LP.  They're also pitch-shifted in spots to give a more demonic effect.

Musically this is no-frills, fast-tempoed black metal of the mid-late '90s style.  There are no attempts to be lo-fi, bestial, old-school, overly blasting, or overtly Scandinavian.  There are no detrimental factors here, but I found nothing to get terribly excited about, either.  I was initially optimistic about the mid-paced intro to "Templarian Kingdom of Terror" and was hoping for some old Greek BM worship, but it just segued into the same stuff that's on the rest of the album.

Am I biased due to this man's musical pedigree?  Undoubtedly.  But face it, even for its generic-ness, this far exceeds what could be reasonably expected after such a long passage of time.  The musicianship is decent enough for better things, though, so let's not dwell in mediocrity.  Assuming Ad Baculum is still active, why not slow down and emulate old Varathron and/or pre-Göetia Mystifier?