I am almost certain that SECTARIUM unleashed the wrath of God when It learned that a band spewing such blasphemy had formed in the heart of a tropical island. SECTARIUM arose from the merge of two extreme metal bands from the same area: INFESTOR and NEKROBIOSIS. Under SECTARIUM, they recorded the legendary debut demo, God’s Wrath”, a release that remains engraved in the memories of those of us fortunate enough to see them perform live in Cuba during the early 90s. The band recorded “God’s Wrath” with Franto Paul on bass and vocals, Abel Oliva on guitar, and Duviel Quiroz on drums, blending screams, chilling intros, and cavernous vocals with the speed of death-grind and the heaviness of doom metal. This trio created a recording that marked a turning point in the history of Cuban metal. To give you an idea of ​​just how significant and influential "God’s Wrath" became for Cuban bands: 28 years later, seven different Cuban acts came together, each recorded a track from that demo as a tribute. The resulting album was titled "The Wrath of God: A Sectarium’s Tribute," featuring the bands FROM THE GRAVES, MEPHISTO, HELGRIND, SKJULT, DYING FOREST, BUTCHER, and SEX BY MANIPULATION. Following their debut demo, SECTARIUM suffered a devastating loss that halted their evolution: Franto Paul passed away. With him, an era ended and many dreams were left unfulfilled; I can attest that the national scene mourned his passing deeply.

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Two years had passed since that tragic event, and after a few failed attempts to revive SECTARIUM, Abel Oliva joined forces with Manuel Varela (SPIRITUS/INFESTOR) and Duviel Quiroz to record the second demo, “Larvae”, also released independently in 1999. I still remember how I felt when I heard "Larvae of Splendor," the track that opens the demo. The music retained that sign of darkness, and the sound quality was quite decent for the era and for the Cuban standards. “Larvae” ripped my dark humanity in two: one part of me was thrilled to have SECTARIUM back, while the other part felt let down, as the vocal performance didn't quite reach the level of what had been captured on God’s Wrath. It is worth noting, however, that this is merely my subjective take; “Larvae” was generally regarded as a successful revival and a well-deserved continuation of the SECTARIUM phenomenon in Cuba. Nevertheless, “Larvae” did not receive the reception or make the impact that might have been expected, and SECTARIUM soon entered a hiatus, as its primary architect Abel Oliva remained active in other bands and musical projects while navigating the process of emigrating to Switzerland.

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Twenty-four years later, on Swiss soil, Oliva, the band’s founder and who played all the instruments, restarted SECTARIUM and surprised everyone with the album “Ad Infernum”, which was also released independently. This new recording features eight original tracks, plus a bonus song, "Dethrone the Master", a piece composed back in the days of the “God’s Wrath” demo. It was re-recorded using the original vocal tracks from Franto Paul, which Oliva masterfully integrated, effectively dusting off another piece of the band's history. Instrumentally, the album is very well crafted and features notable death metal moments in tracks such as “Sodomorah,” “One Day in the Abyss,” or “Ad Tenebras”, to cite just three examples. However, in my opinion, “Ad Infernum” is an album deeply permeated by all the various projects surrounding Oliva; it is the record that least bears the “scent” of SECTARIUM, to borrow a phrase from Jean-Baptiste Grenouille.