An Ars Subtilior Resurrection in Gothic Metal Form.

Codex Obscurus is Tierra Krieg’s most intricate and unconventional work to date—a fusion of late-14th-century French Ars Subtilior music and modern gothic power metal. Where the medieval scribes of Avignon once inked music in the shapes of hearts and circles, Tierra Krieg resurrects those same rhythmic labyrinths in distorted guitars, choirs, and cathedral reverbs.

Each track pair reimagines a historical composition from the Chantilly Codex—works by Baude Cordier, Solage, Jacob de Senleches, Rodericus, and Johannes Susay—reborn through heavy metal’s dynamic pulse. The odd-numbered pieces explode with electric intensity: down-tuned riffs and 7/8 or 9/8 polymeters wrap around Latin, French, and English lyrics sung by haunting female voices. The even-numbered pieces strip away the distortion, preserving the original Ars Subtilior poetry in its pure form, like vellum pages set beside iron frameworks.

The result is a “cathedral of paradox”: complex, mathematical beauty meeting raw sonic devotion. Tierra Krieg turns the subtle art of medieval notation into modern architecture of sound—where choirs become choirs again, but the choir now roars with amplifiers.

At once ancient and futuristic, Codex Obscurus bridges the illuminated manuscript and the electric storm—a lost liturgy rewritten in iron and fire.