I’ve followed Yoth Iria for several years now, and reviewed their debut ep Under His Sway, in 2020.  Since then this Greek black metal band released a killer debut album in 2021 As the Flame Withers.  Last year they put out an interesting two-song ep Flame of the Whirling Swords that was more ethereal and light than anything I thought the band was capable of.

Blazing Inferno is the sophomore album and the band has some new members.  The only original member is the bassist Jim Mutilator and new on this release are Vasilis Stavrianidis – Drums, Nikolas Perlepe/ Naberius – Guitars and vocalist He.  So a brand new band.

Blazing Inferno continues the theme with the demon/devil adorning the cover, as it has done in the previous releases.  The album cover is striking and fierce which is exactly what these  8 songs are.  The title track opens with immediate impact, slower but the production is absolutely stunning and powerful.  The song has outrageous black metal guitar melodies and the new vocalist has a very good raspy and deep approach.  The song picks up the pace with galloping tendencies and there are some guitar moments reminding me of Germany’s Chapel of Disease with the classic metal moments.

“But Fear Not” is next starting fast and furious then slowing down with some moodier rhythms before erupting into more of that double-pounding, not quite blast beat, speed.  The vocals over this moment are excellent and the song slows down and we are treated to some death metal stylized spoken word type vocals.  Excellent.  The mid-paced moments with the instrumentation, aria chanting in the background, contributes to a massive sound.  This sounds like a big production and with so much going on it goes to show you can be heavy and melodic and still memorable.  This is one of the best moments Yoth Iria has ever achieved.

“Purgatory Revolution” starts off as if it was written by an 80’s heavy metal band.  Erupting with a guitar solo, this moment is off the wall and the music hits and there is more guitar soloing going on over this mid-paced part.  The solos fade away and the mid-paced black metal moments come in and are excellent.  The galloping speed makes an appearance and very good vocal patterns and these are not irritating black metal vocals.  None of that super high trebly shrieking.  I’d rather stab my cheek with an icepick than listen to that.  These are powerful and well-done vocals.  Great rhythm section over the mid-paced parts.  More guitar solos ignite and the song fades away and you will want to hold up your horns for this song.

Yoth Iria have lost none of their oomph with their new members and Blazing Inferno is a scorcher.  The band is not a brutal style of blasting black metal madness.  They are more melodic and ethereal, while they chant and sing about the devil, pentagrams, and other shit like that.  This album is their best-produced one yet and I feel this is their strongest release to date.  It is impressive and there are a lot of moving parts to this release.  Whether it’s guitar solos, chanting in the background, or the strong guitar harmonies and leads, this album is memorable.  Damn good album!

[Visit the band's website]

---

Comments