Deathless Legacy – Damnatio Aeterna

Deathless Legacy
Damnatio Aeterna
Label: Scarlet Records
Out: March 7^th, 2025
Playing time: 59:27

The curse of horror metal

This is delivered by Deathless Legacy from Pisa (Tuscany, Italy). Founded in 2006 as Deathless, they were initially a tribute band for the heavy doom band Death SS, also from Italy. In 2013, they changed their name to Deathless Legacy due to copyright and naming rights issues. ‘Damnatio Aeterna’ is already the seventh work by the masters of theatrical horror dark metal. The concept album tells a satirical story with strong anti-clerical and satanic content. The cover artwork was created by visual artist and band leader and drummer Andrea Falaschi (Delain, Elvenking, Temperance). I was able to experience the sometimes disturbing performance live at Metal Queen’s Burning Night 2018.

‘Damnatio Aeterna’ sounds bombastic with large choirs, extensive keyboard parts and a singer with a beautiful dramatic soprano. The horror is hidden in the lyrics. They tell the thrilling story of a rather insignificant demon called Malchrum. ‘Miserere’ starts with less bombast, but with hard guitar melodies and rhythmic drumming. Later, the riffs are driven by the drums. ‘The faith you greed, will make you heart bleed’. This is a lyric line from ‘Get On Your Knees’. The vocals sound less bombastic. A somewhat quiet song with a slight blues flavour. And the absolute highlight is the solo of the wavering Hammond organ. In ‘Communion’, the organ sounds slightly sacred. The lyrics are probably also related to the title, the Holy Communion. ‘Indulgentia Plenaria’ leaves a conflicting impression, with menacing-sounding orchestral passages on the one hand and slightly upbeat electric piano sounds on the other.  It is just as double-edged to absolve someone of their transgressions. Is ‘Oblivion’ named after the US science fiction film from 2013? The partly post-apocalyptic sound suggests so. ‘Spiritus Sanctus Diabolicus’ is characterised by sacred sounds, although the lyrics are rather diabolical. Quote: ‘The Holy Spirit is evil.’ Pure contrast. The lyrics of ‘Sanctified’ are hardly any different: ‘Long time ago, I lost my faith’. The song has ballad-like characteristics, Steva Deathless’ vocals alternate between soft, fragile and powerful. You can clearly hear the inner conflict that is being dealt with here. The guitars on ‘Mother Of God’ sound disturbing and therefore fit in with the disturbing lyrics ‘Dark mother of God, soaked in our blood’. The driving double bass and the scratchy vocals do their bit to emphasise this atmosphere. I would have expected a darker sound for ‘Nightshade’. Steva’s voice is particularly gloomy. Finally, the people in ‘Gehenna’ have to atone for their transgressions. Deep wind instruments lead the song and immediately create a sense of gloom. Deep guitar riffs describe the torment suffered here.

I can well imagine what a disturbing show Deathless Legacy perform to the songs on this album. The album is therefore only one part of the overall visual-musical masterpiece. But the album ‘Damnatio Aeterna’ alone also creates an oppressive feeling. It is musically arranged in a sophisticated way. There are certainly many bombastic or symphonic passages. But we are moving far away from bog standard Symphonic Metal. But that’s exactly what makes the album so worth listening to, even without optical background scenery.

Deathless Legacy – Miserere: https://youtu.be/f6Whs8NsXBQ?si=kzlEvG1rUwOpUm1z

Lineup:

Frater Orion aka Andrea Falaschi – Drums
Steva Deathless aka Eleonora Vaiana – Vocals
Stg. Bones aka Gianni Capecchi aka El “Calàver” – Guitars, Vocals (backing)
Alex Van Eden aka Alessio Lucatti – Keyboards, Vocals (backing)
Deadwood Nick aka Nicola D’Alessio – Bass
The Red Witch aka Arianna Nencini – Performances

Track list:

• Damnatio Aeterna
• Miserere
• Get On Your Knees
• Communion
• Indulgentia Plenaria
• Oblivion
• Spiritus Sanctus Diabolicus
• Sanctified
• Mother Of God
• Nightshade
• Gehennae