News.RttP{nice Ipsissimus article}

Over the last two decades black metal has carved out a fruitful trail in musical history, littered with some of the most renowned and successful bands in the pantheon of extreme music. When one thinks of black metal, images of frozen tundra, ice-capped fjords, and dark medieval forests from such far off locales as Norway and Sweden immediately spring to mind. It has really only been within this current decade that black metal bands from the U.S. have begun to gain worldwide notoriety and the term USBM has actually held some meaning outside of Texas’ Absu. Despite the success of USBM however, Connecticut has never been known as a well upon which the black metal community draws from. Perhaps Connecticut’s own Ipsissimus will change that.

Formed in 2006 by Haimatokharmes (drums), His Emissary (guitars) and Tichondrius (bass/vocals) the band made an immediate impact on anyone who was privileged enough to witness them live and by December of that year were opening for the ever controversial Nachtmystium. In early 2007 the band released their “Trampling the Host” demo and the self-released “Three Secrets of Fatima” EP followed in 2008. The band would also grow their fan base considerably in these formative years opening shows for such heavyweights as Enslaved and Dark Funeral.

Taking their name from a line in the cult classic Christopher Lee film The Devil Rides Out, the band combines elements of traditional ‘90’s black metal with a satanic ethos and thrash sensibilities to form a sound that more often than not harkens back to the first wave of black metal bands, specifically Bathory and Hellhammer. Tremolo- picking and fervent speed are regularly intertwined with doom laden ruptures. Despite the obvious musical influences, I found in a recent interview that what inspires this band runs much deeper.

“The aesthetic and aura of various pieces of Satanic / Occult art provided invaluable inspiration”, said His Emissary. “I associate certain songs and even entire periods of this band's existence with various pieces of Occult film (The Devil Rides Out, Alucarda, The Holy Mountain), Satanic artwork (woodcuts, DeLancre's Tableaux, the paintings of Aubrey Beardsley) and Satanically-themed writing - whether histories of French Witchcraft or masterworks of literature such as Huysmans' ‘La-Bas’.”

It is certainly not uncommon for members of metal bands to be versed in the finer arts of world literature or 16th Century woodcarvings. It is also certainly not uncommon for said members to honestly feel that they are drawn together by some supernatural calling in order to promulgate the dark arts.

“Satanism is the foul unguent which binds our music, lyrics and imagery”, said His Emissary. “Satanism certainly has bound the three of us together, yet each of us has our own personal conception of Satanism. I myself tend toward a sort of inverted Catholicism and I pay homage to our martyrs of Avignon 1582 and those seven who in 1352 were found guilty of adoring the Goat at Carcassonne. Recently, the three of us have been bewitched by the occult art of alchemy; especially where the individual is the base matter being transmuted by divine magisterium. The Great Work. You are excrement, but you can change yourself to gold.”

If morphing yourself from nothing to gold really is the ultimate goal so to speak then Ipsissimus are doing their best impression. 2009 has already seen the re-release of the “Three Secrets of Fatima” EP on limited edition vinyl by Hot Air Press Records. The band has also recently entered Sonic Environments studio to lay down tracks for their first live EP entitled “GOATCULTRITES”, which is to be released on a limited edition cassette (Yes, cassette!). Although the band plans on taking a brief hiatus from live shows while drummer Haimatokharmes is studying abroad in Europe, there are no plans to disappear completely. The band has received “an interesting offer” for a temporary replacement behind the kit and the songwriting process continues in earnest.

Southern New England is already known as being a hot bed for hardcore and death metal acts, but Ipsissimus hope to lead the charge for a new wave of talented black metal bands to rise up and make their own dark mark on the scene.