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Aries (guitar, bass and vocals) is the man who created this French/Danish act back in 1997. Releasing three demos between 1998 and 2001, Black Dementia had their first mini CD entitled Hyberborean Call in 2004, on French underground label Aura Mystique. Finally this year (2008 for historical purposes), the horde just released Dictum of Negation, the band's very first full length.

What we have here, on most of the album, is technical, furious and relentless Black Metal. The sound production is of good quality, but I must confess this type of Black Metal is not the one I really enjoy. I don't deny the level of musicianship or the technical abilities of these artists though. Their sound is recognizable and sort of redundant on many of the songs, but the guys used at least a bit of variation. So, for melodic and ambient purposes, tremolo pickings, leads, moderate paces and guitar solos were used. Adding more ambiance are the somewhat surprising and well appreciated keyboard passages on a couple of tracks, namely "Imperial Iconoclast" and "Kosmocratic Revolutionaries". This last one has a calmer ending, not only due to ambient keys but with the Gregorian Chants closing the song. I noticed a bit of a progressive edge, especially noticeable in the first part of that same song. You can say that overall, it's my favorite song. The guitar work is very good, with lots of juicy riffs; the drumming is pummeling and the bass rumble throughout. On the other hand, the raspy vocals tend to be a bit too much on the thrashy side for my taste.

Not my type of Black Metal, but for those who enjoy furious and relentless Black Metal, with a more technical than melodic and ambient approach, Dictum of Negation is right down your alley.