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Tableau Mort surprised me a bit with their debut, taking the now ubiquitous dissonant black metal sound and adding sentiments of Romanian Orthodoxy both musically and lyrically, so I was looking forward to seeing them take that sound even further with their sophomore effort. Unfortunately, rather than expand on those elements, Visio in Somniis is content to keep them as occasional accents to their technical but typical chaotic sound. The songs themselves are still complex and aggressive, with plenty of twisting riffs and bloodthirsty shrieks, but it's all been done before and done better by plenty of others. Once again, the best parts are when they incorporate ecclesiastical chants and even some haunting synth work, as on the excellent "Hope Ablaze" and the furious album closer "Candle in the Darkness," but I am once again wishing that these elements were more prominently incorporated in their songwriting. This is a solid album, and if you liked their debut, you'll like this too, but instead of taking a step forward like I wanted, Tableau Mort seem content to stay right where they are when they could be so much more.