Swiss black metal protagonists Euclidean originally released this album digitally; Their label Division Records now affords the album a physical release, which signals a suitable time to reappraise the musical statements therein.

The group offer a bleak but grandiose worldview on Quod Erat Faciendum. To take the Greek master from which they derive their name and album title signals grand ambition even before a note has been struck; Yet throughout this release the group proves itself the modern musical equal of the ancient mentor. Every track offers the illusion of vast, serene melancholy. Set piece compositions As He Reached The Divine Yearning and Numbers Held Sovereignty offer more than enough to succour adherents of the progressive end of the black metal spectrum, if only in terms of weight of composition.

Yet shorter intercessions such as Superstitio or Religio satiate the listener just as much, such is the fulsome approach the musicians take in completing each work. Unusually for such an album in a field not always associated with music termed as ‘classical’ there are moments throughout the record, but most notably on second piece Numbers Held Sovereignty that contain redolence of music from past eras.

Here the cleanly picked guitars look to oriental modes for inspiration, and the listener familiar with such things will remember the Háry János Folk Opera by Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály. However of course this is just another sigil that the composers wish to use to help impart their message, one of many held together within the grand framework of cold-hearted black metal that belongs only to the now. So we can see that through influence and experience, this literally is a work that spans the millennia in inspiration and execution.

This is not a release for the casual bystander. Possibly quite inaccessible at first listen, it does require the immersion fully of the receptor in order to make the communion between exponent and listener a matter of ultimate fulfilment. If the listener is ready to receive, there is much here to reward the ear.

Quod Erat Faciendum is out now.