The acoustic guitar segments are utilized brilliantly with spoken verses and tremolo riffs, Hesperus evokes the classic relics of early Norwegian black metal such as Satyricon and Immortal. “Fra Li Monti Sibillini” lends a musical journey to fans of the genre. The enchanting trademark of Italic black metal conveys a medieval atmosphere through the cold blistering riffs; the fourteen tracks are grim and overwhelmingly captivating. Listening to “Fra Li Monti Sibillini” makes you envision the majestic peaks of icy mountains, pine trees, and myriad forest scenes.

The frostbitten nature of the music is rife with aggression, synth segments, and blast beats, and while the album contains melodic and symphonic elements its tranquil moments in the opening track “Fra le nevi de li Monti Sibillini (Preludio)” ventures into cinematic landscapes. The atmosphere is magical and shimmering with an icy, cold synth that recaptures the ancient forests and medieval castles; the meandering riffs enshroud the music creating a raw and unpolished aggression in the next song “La Grotta de la Sibilla Atto I: L’arrivo a l’hostaria”.

There are plenty of nostalgic moments that are flawless with frosty tremolos towering high as a cold icy mountain, in the song “La Grotta de la Sibilla Atto II: Il regno de la Sibilla” the tremolo riffing and folk melodies are something reminiscent of Satyricon’s debut album “Dark Medieval Times”.

Most of the songs fall into the mid-paced tempo range however, the songs in the album aren’t straightforward. The riffing mainly consists of tremolo guitar parts, backed by synth, bolstered by the harsh buzz-saw tone of the guitar. “La Grotta de la Sibilla Atto III: La fuga / La salvezza” ventures into a medieval acoustic passage before the drums transition to a blasting gait. The dark choirs and crashing drums bring the inspiring moments.

Other songs like “Mons daemoniacus: Nero paese de la scomunica” convey raw and grim Italic black metal that imbues a bleak and harsh atmosphere, the drumming gait marches through fast tempos before erupting into a blizzard cold tremolo.

The song has a folky and medieval section with some mid-paced guitars and arpeggios, the synth is cleverly applied to add atmosphere, and the album has many acoustic interludes that aptly recreate the ancient art of folk music. The short instrumental cuts like “Notte a Foce: Saltarello, L’ballo de le fate”, “Notte a Rocca: Ombre pagane sul fiume Aso” and “Notte a Montegallo: Echi de le sdreghe a lu sabba” are beautifully arranged and paired with aesthetic quality.

The reverb effect of the instruments and the distorted guitars and songwriting cements a deep inspiration of Hesperus so viscerally, the music has a chilling quality that lends an epic and majestic journey emanating from the dark and ancient era of the second wave of black metal.

The harsh tremolo opening in the song “La leggenda del Lago di Pilato” recaptures the style of early Immortal’s “Pure Holocaust” era. The album has a high-quality production sound as you can hear the erupting blizzard of furious riffing and blast beats that could have been heard in the 90s.

The focus on atmosphere and the ambient segments illustrates the composer’s old-school black metal take. The synth arrangements and the slow guitar patterns widely present the album’s haunting theme. Dark and grim evil croaking spitting venom showcases Hesperus at his prime state, the songwriting captures the medieval spectrum of black metal that only a few bands can achieve nowadays.

“Fra Li Monti Sibillini” is wintry medieval black metal from the mounts of Sibylla that brings the Italian spirit with a frosty and raw approach.

Hesperus delivers a unique trait. However, the guitar arrangements project a constant effect like reverb, and the opening of “Jòppe le gole de l’Infernaccio” haunts the listener into a medieval spectrum before the cold, icy tremolos display epic mastery. The ambient segments are woven into the song structure and mix harsh percussion with razor riffs and guitar patterns to create majestic scenes of a frostbitten forest.

The album spans beyond one hour and brings together plenty of memorable and fast blistering moments like in the epic tracks “Cecco d’Ascoli Atto I: L’eretico, Il necromante”, and “Cecco d’Ascoli Atto II: L’Inquisizione/ Il rogo” is the longest song in the album that contains acoustic melodies and folk exulting passages.

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