This greek band started off as what was considered black metal in the eighties and now are often just labelled as dark metal, which I can understand as the trapping of what sonically would be considered black metal is sparser with each album. They have continued on a similar diresction as that of " Aealo".the Drone the groove of a riff for the duration of the song with little by the way of changing sections of the song are normally just built upon rather than transitioned into a different section.
Lyrically and thematically it's like the it's a small world of the left hand path every song explores a different cultures expression of the dark side. Some of these are conceptually mashed up like the opener "In Yumen Xibalba" where Yumen is related to the great wall of china and Xibalba refers to the Mayan underworld ...so the great wall of china is the gateway to Mayan hell? Um...o.k, the song it's self is a good uptempo opener they build on the riff and the vocal chant runs an undercurrent against more forceful vocals.
P'chunchaw Kachun-Tutankhamen Kachun - is from an Inca hymn. To be Inca it has more of a european feel. The chanting monks in the back ground lend to this, the guitar harmonies work, the song is other wise pretty straight forward , working off varied build up and some throat singing ringing out amid the chants. It's uniquely Rotting Christ but it feels with their last album they came too far to default into something so similar to that.
Grandis Spiritus Diavolos is Latin for asking to have the spirit of the devil supersized, though spirit can also mean breathing , deep breathing devil could apply, the. Metal version of the Omen soundtrack is what's going down.the chants is now becoming not just a novelty but just what they do, the main verse riff is big though straightforward and pretty punching almost in a more rock n roll sense. It has the head banging drive some of the other chants lacked. In some ways it sounds like Rammstein, manly the baritone vocals. While its repetitive the epic nature of what they are doing makes that more easily overlooked. I like the way the vocals are layer on this one and it's a big production when ever the goth men's choir chimes in with their bellowing . they get credit here for the choral break down because it's not just them pounding away at the part until the guitar solo comes in.
Title track means every thing from "Do what thou wilt" to the enscription on Jim Morrioms grace that's a variations FYI slime of thought, the riff is very similar to the owner but with breakdowns and chanting accenting this riff, it's a rhythmically more variant change , though the fast palm muted guitar is where the repition lies until the harmony past kicks in , it's a different take on a theme already established on the album , and the feel changes half way through so I can live with it for the excellence is more in the execution here.
This is weird and given the nature of the county it's derived from so,what Negura Bunget as this is a song by a Romanian singer it's translates into ...who loves then leaves so this is their break up song . The femal vocals add needed varied this album was begging for at this point the chug of the guitar even switches it up. There's a weird break down in the last two minties and the chanting comes back. At this points it had begu. To feel a like
A more aggressive Therion album to me.
Iwa Voodoo, now we are jumping around Majick systems here, the vocals take on more of a scream, the chant more guttural as well. This one is short and sweet , very straight forward, almost to a fault. Two minutes in the first change takes place , the more mid tempo pace is smart on their part and the guitar solo blazes out of it fairly well.
Gilgames is one of the great floods from Sumerian mythology , where the whole Noah story is stolen from, and while we are talking about theft, they stole the riff to this song from their, I don't really feel it brings much new to the table though the guitar solo in it. Is pretty cool.
Pycanka comes from a Ukranian myth about the fate of the world resting on an Easter egg. It s a quicker tune with so e whispers vocals layer under the blast, feels a little like Samael to me. The half time part at the end is cool amd helps me as I was n the fence about this one. The guitar work at the md is pretty incredible .
Anura Mazada in this one is the Iranian Sky god. It has a slight build and their are so e almost dead can dance like trapping on the outskirts , the muted guitar trick befor we builds works pretty well to me in so,e ways it feels
Ike the Nine imch nails song wish to me, though the builds and break downs feel like so etching Soulfly would do, so it's safe to safe these guys aren't trying to be black metal anymore.
666... Well gosh I wonder , the chants are back but have they really left, this one starts off feeling more like folk metal and it wouldn't be an unfounded label to slap on this album. It takes a good two and a half minutes for this one to kick in and the Soulfly low end bounce returns. Blackened folk Nu metal perhaps? It's get real rock n roll by the end. With welcome to hell and no not a Venom cover they go out on a very epic, though when every thing is this epic it loses a little of its impact.
The Greeks aren't one trick ponds on this one but hopefully they will explore a broader range of dynamics as this is the last album I can except like this. To their credit the album sounds good and would be a decent entry point for newcomers to their sound who would not be any the wiser to this being a tad of a rehash, though with the epic chants dialed up a notch. I'll around it up to an 8 as they did a good job capturing a feel i already like though almost too close for comfort which might drop it down to a seven over time so we shall we how it grows on me.
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