Maurice De Jonge is one of this millennium's most insanely prolific musicians. Focusing almost entirely on solo-projects, the Dutch master is widely known for the terrifying (and terrifyingly unclassifiable) Gnaw Their Tongues, as well as for a myriad of black metal-oriented projects: among them, De Magia Veterum, Cloak of Altering, Pyriphlegethon, Golden Ashes, Grand Celestial Nightmare, The Black Mysteries, and Dodenbezweerder. And yet, even amongst all those bands and countless more, De Jonge has also created a number of dungeon synth-oriented projects: Schemer Heer, Druk Yul, and most prominently Vetus Supulcrum. Like many/most of Maurice's projects, Vetus Supulcrum stays true (VERY TRUE) to a subgenre's aesthetic sensibilities but then unabashedly interjects his own personality, making for a journey that's familiar and refreshing simultaneously. In this case, with the latest recording fittingly titled A Shroud of Desolation, Vetus Supulcrum aims for the most bombastic and folkloristic end of the wider dungeon synth spectrum. The root inspiration is very much still black metal, and its themes focused solely on the dark arts and the occult. But with its soundfield sparkling and 3D, A Shroud of Desolation most definitely conveys a soundtrack sensation, one of high fantasy and epic questing, given occasional narration - ominously, authoritatively - by De Jonge himself. It doesn't break any barriers, nor should it have to; the sum effect is simply immersive to the Nth degree. Highly recommended for those who prize Summoning and Druadan Forest's most orchestral soundscapes, as well as those whose imagination is open to vast green splendor - Vetus Supulcrum will enwrap you in A Shroud of Desolation!
