Azaghal returns with a new offering.
For this fourteenth album, Nekrohelios, Narqath (guitar/bass/keyboards/clean vocals, Svartkraft, Wyrd, ex-Valar…), Lima (drums, Amberian Dawn, Hautakammio, Wyrd…) and Thirteen (vocals, Scarecrow) have once again placed their trust in the Immortal Frost Promotion label.
The band also features JL Nokturnal (Svartkraft, ex-Azaghal, ex-Wyrd) on solos.
Nekrohelios, the eponymous opener, offers a mysterious atmosphere built on heavy ambient sounds and a breath of air before diving straight into the heart of the matter on Elävän Kuoleman Tuhannet Kasvot, an immediately ferocious track rooted in bloody, uncompromising Black Metal. Blasts, riffs, and screams race together through the darkness, propelling us with searing leads toward Elysium, where we find slightly softer touches framing the torrent of violence, even allowing a few passages of clean vocals to complement the roars. The aggressive approach resurfaces as soon as Vihan Ruoska begins, creating a contrast with the previous mysticism thanks to its frantic pace, uncompromising riffs, and suffocating, almost incessant vocals. There is a certain coldness in the leads, which transforms into painful melancholy on the striking Haava, a composition that skillfully weaves piercing tones with a thick, impenetrable rhythm, followed by accelerations until the short Rottien Valtakunta rolls over us with an equally bellicose and savage approach. The track naturally multiplies its aggressive phases with this abrasive, dissonant touch before shifting to the sinister choruses of Saatana, Olen Miekkasi, complemented by Thirteen’s shouts that quickly command attention while the band’s riffs race along at a brisk pace. Once the ritual is over, the band immediately moves on to Yö Katoaa Taakse Kuolevan Kuun, whose harmonics tear at our eardrums while the catchy rhythm section rages at its own pace equally furious and determined to snap our necks, even during the chaotic solo. The song’s length does nothing to diminish its savagery, just like Juuret, which takes over and hits us with all its might, offering a different experience on the guitar side as the bass and drums handle the bulk of the rhythm section. Olen Unohtanut Isäni Kasvot offers what could be called the first moment of respite in quite some time, a gentle guitar melody while the rest of the instruments rage on, but the shifts quickly bring us back to reality before leading into Noitalasia, the final explosion that also allows for a few moments of clear sound here and there, tempering the rage that remains very much present, and which will not fail to remind us of it until the very last moment.
Whether Finnish Black Metal is known for its brutality and scathing tones, Azaghal is a proud representative of it! It’s not every day that we have to endure an album as uncompromising and virulent as Nekrohelios!
90/100