Spawned amidst the grim bedeviled hinterlands of the Pacific Northwest in the vernal months of 1997 by guitarist Caleb Duerr, IN MEMORIUM was invoked to channel the spirit of utter darkness and distill it into a musical avatar. The result was an aural holocaust that has not merely continued to this day but has deepened, descended further and further down into the stygian bowels of sheerest morbidity. After the release of their demo "An Ancient Word" in 2000, which saw exclusive distribution through Seattle's own Moribund Records, and a handful of line-up permutations, IN MEMORIUM were prepared to write the most blasphemous and obscene chapter in the cult's history. With the incorporation of the ghastly, black-lunged incanting of Nihilist (formerly of Portland’s THY INFERNAL and WRAITHEN) to the existing sect of Duerr, keyboardist Susanna Seppa, drummer Steve Fournier, and rhythm guitarist Mike Krutsinger (former bassist of DARKENWOOD), IN MEMORIUM retreated to the sylvan Bainbridge Island confines of Trillium Lane Studios and, under the ministrations of engineer Curran Murphy and producer Todd Hooper, recorded what would be their debut opus during the waning hours of 2002. Although a promotional incarnation was self-released in small numbers, "From Misery...Comes Darkness," the product those obscure twilight rituals, became notorious, deemed one of the "Top 5 Independent Releases of 2004" by Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. And then, for a time, IN MEMORIUM slumbered, its members slaking their less wholesome thirsts with other musical endeavors: like Faust before him, Krutsinger began his dealings with ALCHEMY; Fournier embarked on a European tour with HIMSA; and Nihilist became initiated into the eldrtitch and night-gaunted Beast Coast cult of ABAZAGORATH. But now, IN MEMORIUM has awakened with Moribund Records' release of "From Misery... Comes Darkness," seven offerings of the darkest metal, each an ode to inhumanity, a hacking slash across the throat of all that is sacred and sanctified. From the epic, nine-minute tribute to Japanese celluloid horror, "The Legend of the Well-Fiend," to "Des Todes Gruft," an unleashed thrashing blitzkrieg of purest misanthropy, the album is at once hauntingly melodic yet ferocious and dread-filled, featuring a musicianship whose indisputable technicality does nothing to dilute the absolute savagery of the ultimate effect. Having proven their mettle by sharing the stage with an eclectic sundry of acts such as IMPALED, AGALLOCH, TEEN CTHULHU, BLOOD RITUAL, and INQUISITION, IN MEMORIUM are truly on the brink of infamy with From Misery Comes Darkness. Herald the coming darkness that is IN MEMORIUM.
