The flame has been rekindled for Pyromancer.
Having appeared in 2015 with a demo, the band more or less disappeared from the radar until 2024, when they collaborated with Perversion for a split. In 2025, Conqueror Horus (guitar/vocals, Arcane Bayonet, Tombstalker) and Master of Graveyard Torment (drums/vocals, Apochryphal Revelation, Master’s Curse) signed to Adirondack Black Mass for the release of their debut album, Absolute Dominion by Fire.
Igniting the Sacrificial Pyre kicks off with a mysterious eerie introduction, which after a few incantations transforms into a brutal surge of filthy, primitive Black/Death, complemented by cavernous vociferations. The track suddenly comes to an end, and Ancient Hatred takes its place with a perfectly similar approach, anchored in direct, energetic Old School patterns that stick to the deliberately raw mix disrupted by a few piercing leads, while Perverse Immolation opts for a sustained tempo and jerky riffs to violate us. The razor-sharp sound pauses here and there, only to pick up again before continuing on to Unholy Cremation, a very slightly slower composition that pours out moments of heaviness, then accelerates again with Barbaric Wrath and its unhealthy harmonics. A few bells signal the end of the track, which leads into Fireborn Witchery, another gloomy interlude that leads into Inferno, where Black/Thrash influences are heard, feeding the sharp tones that the band sometimes brings to the fore in their leads. The chaos continues with Hellish Visions, where screams, feedback and virulent riffs rage in the company of unbridled, continuous blast, before Alchemical Red Death takes off again with a barely more melodic touch from the guitar, which quickly fades away to make way for disturbing tones. The eponymous Absolute Dominion by Fire continues the carnage, blending putrid growl and furious scream, and even includes a tortured solo, before Pit of Writhing Horror comes in with a heavy slowness coupled with some tormenting keyboards. The lengthy track fires up at one point before returning to its cruising speed, before giving way to Volcanic Rapture, which accelerates again to close the album in the (im)purest savagery, with a rhythm as morbid as ever.
Don’t look for Pyromancer‘s technicality or smooth production, because Absolute Dominion by Fire has none of that! The album is a veritable block of raw, unhealthy darkness, taking us back to the basics of Black/Death with a production that smells of death.
75/100