Yoth Iria : "Gone With the Devil"

 For me, this Greek black metal band needs to prove that all black metal bands from Greece do not just want to be Rotting Christ. While in and of itself, there is nothing wrong with taking inspiration from Rotting Christ, as they are a great band, but when you are from Greece, it's a little on the nose. They have taken some notes on the opening track with has a hug pagan infused sound, not the kind of blasting black metal that is more typical of the genre, finding themselves between a rock and a hard place, to not follow the path by their sucessful country men or sound like everyone else, so let's see if they can strike a balance here. 

What helps seperate them is the rasp of the vocals. When the sung vocals come in, they are employed in a more Dimmu Borgir-like manner. The folk-inspired melodies in the layers of sound on "Woven Spells of a Demon"  create a similar feel to the opening track and brightens things a little too much for my liking, but it still works for what they are doing. They are staying true to who they want to be and not resorting to blast beats, but they would sound more black metal if they were darker. The female vocals that lead into" The Blind Eye of the Antichrist" cast a more flowery shade of atmosphere over things when they need to be more ominous. 

"I Totem" looms with more of a slow-building menace. It frolics a little but is certainly darker than the previous song. They hammer into you with the double bass, which is welcome as more aggression is needed. They do employ a similar song structure to Rotting Christ, with things building and ebbing in intensity rather than having bridges with time changes. "3am" has a more grooving throb and more melodic vocals on the chorus, making it one of the more accessible songs so far. The only thing black metal about "Give'em My Beautiful Hell" is the vocals. Everything else gallops along a larger-than-life traditional metal path. 

There is a more orchestrated elegance to "Once in a Blue Moon" that reminds me of 90s Swedish metal. They break from their pattern by pounding out the accents of the song's second act. There is a somewhat more traditional black-metal feel to "Blessed Be He Who Enters", though when the vocals kick in, they set up the verse for more groove, which is fine by me, but it has more in common with Crematory than Mayhem. They hit more of a middle-of-the-road black metal feel for "End of the Known Civilization." The last song ends the album with a steady throb. There is almost a more Behemoth feel to the layers of vocals.This might not be the most black metal album you ahve heard but it cares about songs which goes a long way in my book I will give it an 8.5, amd see if it grows on me. If you like more emlodic black metal leanin g metal and not cvlt shit give this a try.  

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