Numinous (adj.): evoking a sense of the mystical, sublime, or transcendent; awe-inspiring. Abditory (n.): a concealed location used for storage or to hide items (rare). Deflagration (n.): the act of deflagrating; an intense fire; a conflagration or explosion. Specifically, combustion that spreads subsonically via thermal conduction.1 Yup, it’s an I, Voidhanger release. Experimental industrial black/death band Saprovore is an eponymous solo project by the ringleader of Italy’s experimental group Strigiform, also supported by I, Voidhanger. Strigiform’s debut Aconite came out late last year and Saprovore’s debut Unuttered Aporetic Omen dropped this past March, so now I know who’s been hogging all the executive functioning around here. Now, Saprovore aims to build off their debut’s foundation with “a more refined and mindful approach to songwriting” on Numinous Abditory Deflagration. But can Saprovore evoke an awe-inspiring combustion of concealed mystical places with Numinous Abditory Deflagration?
Well, Numinous Abditory Deflagration certainly doesn’t sound conventional. A synth-forward, drum machine-heavy electronic affair driven by speedy blackened fury and cavernous deathly density, Saprovore fit well within the I, Voidhanger canon. Drums take on largely black metal stylings, blasting through loud, slightly off-kilter beats as the synthesizers play dueling, drawn-out symphonic parts and Saprovore wretches out heavily distorted rasps on occasion. I’d bet money that Saprovore had every instrument running through every effect pedal they have at some point on Numinous Abditory Deflagration, as every song is sopping wet with reverb, distortion, delays, etcetera. Though Saprovore touted tighter songwriting this time around, Numinous Abditory Deflagration is still free-form in nature, sloshing into and out of parts with minimal transition or (if you’re not listening closely) notice. All this to say, with Numinous Abditory Deflagration Saprovore doesn’t sound a thing like Manowar. Wimps and posers, you’re free to stay.
Numinous Abditory Deflagration by SAPROVORE
What’s flustered me this whole time with Saprovore’s latest is how something so off-beat from conventional songcraft can also be so bafflingly banal. Numinous Abditory Deflagration sounds like a wreck. An uninteresting wreck. With Saprovore, either almost nothing is happening, or everything is happening. Numinous Abditory Deflagration is either droning aimlessly or stacking unrelated synth leads over crushed drum loops ad nauseum. Saprovore’s melodies are also extremely rudimentary and tame, never reaching for soaring payoffs or even achieving all that much dissonance. This undynamic songwriting approach—echoed by its loud, blown-out lo-fi production—means Numinous Abditory Deflagration lacks true peaks and valleys. Meaning that songs and movements start to blend together after a while. Meaning that, after about a dozen listens to Numinous Abditory Deflagration, I still can’t fucking remember a fucking thing about it afterwards.
Numinous Abditory Deflagration’s biggest problem, however, is that Saprovore just runs out of gas after track one. You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t discussed any songs in specific this whole review; that’s because nearly any comment levied on any one song could just as accurately describe any other song off Numinous Abditory Deflagration. Barring the drum and bass break on “Chalice of Spectral Residue” or an eerie key refrain on “Threnody Pt. 1 (Hush-Born),” every song on Numinous Abditory Deflagration is built out of the same few, boring ideas. Listless synths, drawling drum loops, negligible vocals. Speaking of, Saprovore’s vocals exemplify Numinous Abditory Deflagration’s utter banality. Not only are there no variety in delivery, but all but one song uses exactly three blocks of three lines. Barring “Threnody Pt. 1 (Hush-Born),” an instrumental, you get nothing else. If what Saprovore had anything going with Numinous Abditory Deflagration, monotony killed any chance of it meaning anything.
I come away from Numinous Abditory Deflagration with the inescapable feeling—one that I know can’t be true, but I feel regardless—that Saprovore spent considerably more time and care with its naming than its composition. More than anything I’ve reviewed during my tenure at AngryMetalGuy.com—even that one—this was the record I loathed returning to the most. Somehow, it gave me less to think about with each listen. Worse, I know Saprovore can do better. Having gone back to Unuttered Aporetic Omen, I disagree that Numinous Abditory Deflagration is the more refined album. Saprovore’s debut has some of Numinous Abditory Deflagration’s problems—its drums sound terrible, too—but there’s identity between songs. Some, at least. It doesn’t feel like listening to a thoroughly busted microwave fuck up a bag of popcorn for nearly fifty minutes, anyway. Was that the real deflagration all along?
Rating: Unlistenable
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 257 kbps MP3
Label: I, Voidhanger Records
Website: saprovoredeath.bandcamp.com
Releases Worldwide: August 7th, 2026
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