Second missive for Yoth Iria.
Founded in 2019 by Jim Mutilator (bass, Medieval Demon, ex-Rotting Christ, ex-Varathron), the band completed by Vasilis Stavrianidis (drums, Terrordrome, Twilight, ex-Head Cleaner), Nikolas Perlepe (guitar, Ritual of Odds, Dimlight, On Thorns I Lay), Naberius (guitar, Karma Violens) and He (vocals, Rakoth, Superstatic, ex-Cruachan) unveil Blazing Inferno, their second album, on the occasion of their fifth anniversary, in collaboration with Edged Circle Productions.
The album kicks off with the impressive and mystical Blazing Inferno, the eponymous composition, where ominous growls and massive rhythms rub shoulders, letting us move alongside them until a calmer break. The quietude doesn’t last, quickly replaced by a steadier rhythm, leading us into But Fear Not where frantic riffs are also the order of the day, ensuring a more aggressive ambience nuanced by the folk instruments placing more ethereal touches. The track is colored by both atmospheres, creating an interesting duality and moments of floating, as before joining In the Tongue of Birds where darkness gradually invades us, eventually becoming more melodic but also more raw, once again reinforcing the track’s contrast. The Hellenic touch is very strong, as it transforms into anguish in the opening moments of Rites of Blood and Ice, a track where the bass plays a very important role, allowing the guitars to become very dissonant, creating an impressive theatrical effect in slow moments, but also when the sound accelerates, becoming more menacing. A touch of melancholy appears on Purgatory Revolution, along with heavy tinges on the leads that add this touch to an already solid and relatively catchy track, before the band grants us a short respite with the introduction of Mornings of the One Thousand Golds. It doesn’t last, of course, as the band willingly gives way to saturation for furious, jerky passages on which the vocalist screams, accompanied at times by diphonic chants, before moving on to Our Father Rode Again His Ride, where majestic tones join rage. The songwriting, too, blends the two perfectly complementary worlds to unite the audience, before We Call Upon the Elements brings the album to a close with the ferocity and harmonics typical of Greek Black Metal, not without energetic riffs that instinctively get our skulls moving, totally captivated by the band’s power.
Hellenic Black Metal has always had a unique flavor, and Yoth Iria isn’t about to change that. Blazing Inferno is an intense, highly rhythmic and bewitching album that captures our minds from start to finish, leaving us to savor every dark note.
95/100