Bands from the USA, Brazil, Peru, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, and Norway were the initiators of black metal 40 years ago. Ever since then, the features of this metal music subgenre have been adapted by numerous bands in different latitudes.
Each band has conveyed through its music their own vision of black metal. While some address themes oriented towards human decadence, other express their philosophical views about agnostic existentialism. But few others like the Mexican band Hortor, are motivated by a conciliatory spirituality.
First of all, Hortor is an unblack metal band that speaks out harshly against idolatry and Satanism. They express it vividly in their album entitled: Ancient Satanic Rituals are Crushed in Dust from 2009. They’re aware of a war unleashed in the spiritual realms. They warn their audience about it through their songs.
In Hortor we find notorious musical influences of Norwegian melodic black metal from the ’90s. The band was founded in 2004 and to date, they have given us 11 productions where they bravely proclaim the Christian faith. Their most prolific masterpiece has been the full-length album: Dharma Esencia de Impureza (2018), containing 12 tracks of the finest symphonic black metal with magnificent orchestral and choral arrangements and female voice lines. This album shows us a mature work of composition and musical production that has attracted the interest of many. You can find it in the following link so you know what I mean:
Hortor have performed in other countries and also at the Nordic Fest 2019 in the city of Oslo, Norway, sharing the stage with similar bands such as Opus Irae from Germany.
(Follow the link below for the details of the event)
Recently, Hortor has released a song that will appear in their next split with the band Beeroth, entitled: “The Darkness Not Prevail”. This song is unedited and was recorded between 2016 and 2017. It recalls that primitive Norwegian black metal from the ’90s. There’s an audience devoted to this particular primitive and chaotic sound, due to that it is a reminiscence of that underground golden era.
This new split EP/Demo will be released in March 2021 celebrating 17 years of Hortor and will be limited to 100 numbered copies.
Hortor’s intention is to preach about Jesus Christ to the lost flock that loves this kind of chaotic primitiveness, longing for the return of more underground sounds and bands that are less mainstream as possible. Hortor knows that the essence of the gospel is to go straight, where the desolation and emptiness are, towards the center of the blackest darkness. In this way the Spirit of God will manifest to bring life. (Book of Genesis chapter 1). For this reason darkness does not prevail (John’s Gospel chapter 1).