Germany’s Atronos is one of the many projects that feature vocalist ‘Baptist’ who also serves in two other great German black metal acts Mavorim and Eisenkult.
Eisenkult used to be his outlet for more triumphant medieval black metal with albums like 2020’s Gedenken wir der Finsternis, but in 2022 Eisenkult did a split demo with his then-new project Atronos, and it appeared that Atronos was the new outlet for that sound while Eisenkult went onto punkier, quirkier pastures. Atronos released their debut album in 2022, Fehde in 2022 also, but I missed it.
Joined by drummer Valfor (also of Mavorim and Eisenkult) and guitarist/bassist Henker (Andras, Drudensang) plays typically German black metal with a slight medieval vibe akin to the bands you’d find on France’s Antiq Records like Véhémence, Heltekvad, Passéisme or Abduction (not on Antiq, I Know).
Shrill, clean 6/8 tremolo-picked riffs with a triumphant sense of melody, some clean segments, some clean monking vocals, a few regal synths and choirs, etc. It is all here and very well done, with some pretty rousing riffs scattered amid the 5 lengthy songs. For example standout “Tobsucht” or the epic, more synth-drenched 11-minute number “Erwache”, which imbues Finsterforst-like majesty and rangy-ness.
But they can still deliver some pretty stern, frosty militant (but still melodic) black metal as well with the likes of opener ” Was uns so schecklich hasst” and “Transformation”, though still dripping with medieval harmonies and church-y keys.
Another quality release from Purity Through Fire, and certainly one of the better black metal releases of 2023 (I know I’m late on this one but it came out Dec 23rd….). And while some of the label’s bands are super incestuous (especially this one), they still manage to all be of fine quality.
