Now, this album is certainly a bit different than Księżyc milczy luty, but still fucking excellent. For starters, it’s way more fierce and urgent than Księżyc milczy luty’s more sultry, hazy, sway. Literally, I’m pretty sure that after the opener “Zamawianie trzecie”,  drummer Namtar, barely breaks stride from a stirring, 6/8 blast beat for a few minutes in the album runtime.

Let’s start with the minor quibble side, the vocals are few and far between on Huta Luna. And when they do show up, it’s a chant, spoken word, or shouts of some sort, nothing traditionally black metal at all. And second, the last track “Księżyc, czyli Słońce”, while listed at a whopping 27 minutes long, is all ambient noises and stuff, making up for virtually half the album’s hour run time, so that’s really only 30 or so minutes of actual music.

But what a 30 minutes it is! There are so many goddamn great riffs on the other 9 songs, and even with the largely instrumental and repetitive pace, they are all top-notch melodic tremolo picked, shrill, but warmer, but fuzzier throes that will get under your skin.

From the aforementioned opener “Zamawianie trzecie” through “furiously punky Na koń!”, riotous “Wracaj”, personal favorite “Idz!”, “Maska masce” or “Gore!” is a jangly, throbbing, blasting riff fest that’s addictive as heck.  That said, I can see how some might find the likes of Swawola niewola”, “Spanie polskie”or “Zamawianie wirujących Sarmatów (czwarte)” a bit repetetive.

Huta Luna is simultaneously an album that hits some super high notes when those riffs deliver the goods, but also somehow wanders a bit in its own repetition. But those highs outweigh the lows and make Huta Luna worth your time.

WRONG. Dead wrong.

But I’m also really happy to be wrong! Nothing against Stoner/Doom Metal, but what Poland’s Mentor are delivering is just a friggin’ blast. For those like me new to the band, what we’ve got here is a killer mix of Eurothrash ala-Carnal Forge or Hatesphere, some definite hardcore backbone, a little bit of speed ‘n’ roll to kick the energy and good times up a tick or two. Also, I guess the band is all about this “List of 3” album title thing, their last two titled Guts, Graves and Blasphemy, and Cults, Crypts and Corpses. So uh, I guess Mentor definitely knows what they’re about.

“Equal in the Fire” kicks off the album heavy on the Eurothrash influence, with vocalist Wojciech Kałuża (known in the band as “King of Nothing”) really bringing former Hatesphere singer Jacob Bredahl to mind; a high energy, barking delivery that gives everything a little bit of that hardcore edge. One of the first things that stands out to me, and this is possibly my favorite part of this band, is the fantastic bass sound coming from Piotr Gruenpeter (aka “Gusion’s Drone”). This dude’s work ain’t buried in the mix one iota – instead providing a robust, deep compliment to the band’s sound that truly serves as the band’s backbone. All that aside, despite the song’s style being completely different than what I’d expected upon first glance, it’s a pretty straight-forward start to the album.

For me, it’s on second track, “Satan’s Snake-handlers,” that Wolves… really takes off. The band busts out some of those “’n’ roll” elements that just ooze with raucous fun, and I think finds the band in a real comfort zone. That theme continues with follow-up (and album highlight) “Fed After Midnight,” with it’s full-throttle Motorhead-meets-The Crown-inspired riffing taking you on a 150 mph thrill ride. The song ends on a good an nasty, if brief little heavy breakdown that really gets the head banging, and sets the table nicely for “The Great Grave in the Sky,” which shows the band at its heaviest. Once again, I’m reminded a lot of more hardcore-leaning bands like All Out War and Merauder on this track, with it’s bruising, more straightforward execution that is nonetheless super effective.

From that point on, the band mostly puts the pedal back on the floor with fun, fast and furious execution. “Creature Feature” and album closer “Sealed in a Tomb” raise copious hell with more thrashy efforts, culling no little influence from the likes of Slayer and, especially on the latter, really bringing that aforementioned All Out War-like influence back into play. “Dance of the Dead” and even the slower “Blood is Love” definitely lean back on the swagger-filled Motorhead wagon that just puts a smile in your face and a pair of raised horns on each hand.

The name Mentor certainly seems appropriate, as the band’s strength is definitely found in wearing their influences proudly on their sleeves. These are sounds you’ve no doubt heard before, but they’re sounds you love. Sounds that make this a really easy album to like. The subtle but effective tempo changes help keep the album moving at a brisk pace while keeping the affair from getting stale or overplayed. As a result, this is a really well-balanced album executed by a young, but clearly well-experienced and confident bunch who have a very clear idea of who they want to be as a band. For longtime fans of this band, Wolves, Wraiths and Witches is a welcome next chapter, and for new fans such as myself, there’s a ton of fun here to be found. I’m really glad I finally got around to these guys,

“The Great Hunter” gets the ball rolling with the Holy Shit moment out of the starting gates with a blast beat and then the black metal riffing is outstanding.  Bringing back that melodic and emotive picking that was prevalent on the ep.  Very catchy riffing and the raspy black metal vocals are angry sounding.  About halfway through the song we get some great double bass drums and then the slow down moment has those atmospheric qualities making you feel this song was crafted in the nether regions of hell.  Some terrific classic metal guitar moments and solos bringing forth a more expansive sound and calling to mind vintage Mercyful Fate.

The band even wrote a band name song.  The “Yoth Iria” song is over 5 minutes and from this point forward the rest of the songs are on the longer side.  Starting with a slow build-up and then into the melodic soloing and light snare drum rolling with vocals over these “softer” moments add more depth and really kick ass. There are some technical aspects which honestly calls to mind some Fallujah and really work well alongside the atmospheric black metal moments on this song.  This is a very moody number with various sounds thrown in which make it very memorable.

“The Mantis” is the longest song at over 7 minutes and bring forth some more classic metal moments into the mix and some faster moments.  I would even say I hear some moments reminding me of Germany’s Chapel of Disease with the metal moments entwined with atmospherics.  Excellent.

“The Red Crown Turns Black” brings more of the ferocious side of Yoth Iria with the blast beats and the tempo shifts really can catchy you off guard and I love that, their music not predictable.  “The Luciferian” has more melodic moments and some keyboard action to boot, a great album closer.

Yoth Iria’s As the Flame Withers is the way to start off 2021!!  Great production, more expansive soundscapes then their killer 2020 ep and even tighter and more focused musicianship.  They are focused and even brought back that demonic bastard who adorned their ep and placed him slap dab on this album cover.  Awesome!  Maybe once live shows start up again they can have a friend dress up in a costume, resembling the demonic entity, and torment the crowd like Eddie with Iron Maiden.  Just a thought.  You want high quality black metal with atmospherics, great song writing and non-linear patterns, you best snap this bad boy up now.  Buy or Die!!

While loosely under the black metal banner with a melancholic aura, Księżyc milczy luty (Moon Silent Severe), to me seems to be taking a little bit of influence from Tribulation’s last 2 releases, in that there is a patient, sultry evocative sway to the new material, matching the lunar themes. Then throw in a real off kilter, unhinged, almost bluesy vibe similar to Fleurety’s Mid Tid Skal Komme, and you get envelop pusher.  Don’t get me wrong, the crisp guitar tone and occasional expulsions of melodic blackened rage are still here, but on the whole the album is very restrained and controlled with a hazy, hypnotic, psychedelic, almost Moriconne-ish, hue.

The first two songs “Za ćmą, w dym” and “Cialo” alone really highlight the album’s more seductive, yet unhinged sound with purposeful, controlled swaying riffs and more spoken words, gruff shouts and chants than regular black metal vocals. It’s not until the third song “Tam jest tu” where we get anything that remotely resembles ‘true’ black metal, but lord is it a mesmerizing sound that lulls you into a haze, than shakes you awake with sudden bursts of more standard black metal.

As I said, “Tam jest tu” delivers the first riff that imbues real black metal\, but even that takes a while to appear after a few minutes of languid twang and tumble (remember how Fleurety’s “Fragmenter av en fortid” started?), but around 5:40 in, you get some swirling, atonal, shifty riffage. It’s short lived but worth it. “Grzej” picks up the mood with a militant march and shout, and along with the similarly structured, but more menacing “Zabieraj łapska”, are the album’s most direct, traditionally black metal aggressive tracks.

The the album closes with “Zwykłe czary wieją”, and folks we have one of my favorite track of the year. A sauntering, swaying bluesy 6 minute lope that climaxes with one of the year’s, catchiest, sexiest, rocking-est riffs that had me hit repeat over and over again, a rarity for me in this promo filled, listen to me know for review day and age. And like fellow Poles Mgla, they know they have a good one and run with it and make it stick till the song’s very end, making an already awesome album even better and showing a more avant garde  Furia as a truly underrated entity in the international black metal scene.

At first listens, I get the sense of a more euro sounding Overkill, if they had more of the black metal sound, if that makes any sense. Also they are reminiscent of Necrophobic and their first album The Nocturnal Silence. Another thing that further solidifies my Overkill assessment, is the bass rumbles in the music and the little “solo” moments of bassist Rybosh (on the song “The Viper’s Nest”). Things really remind me of DD Verni’s bass stylings and I just dig that stuff!

The thrash elements are prominent enough and give you some brief headbanging moments. “The Masterpiece of Lie” being being a prime example with its thrashier guitars. Vocalist Rambo brings a bit of the black metal rasp in his approach and makes the music a not so typical thrash metal affair. With some thrash acts, that have that really chunky guitar/catchy sound and create those moshpit inducing riffs, Bloodthirst take that but morph it and add their own history and influence, creating their own dark sound.

To further the blackness of the material, take a look at the song titles such as “No God Shall Stand Before the Pope” or “The Reign of the Antichrist” and you get a good idea what you are getting into and also with the amazing cover art. Having taken a look at the darker stylings of the coin, I have to say that I don’t get that immediate thrash vibe as much. The beginning of “Sacco di Roma” starts with that fast chugging riffing but the black element creeps in and sort of mutes the moshpit feelings. Not a bad thing necessarily as it definitely adds some color to the proceedings making the songs not as one dimensional, but just maybe don’t come in expecting to start a “Toxic Waltz” when listening to this. The production and the band get the job done; the sound is clean and clear. I do wish however that the guitar was a bit more chunkier and overall the sound be bit warmer (again, that darkness thing), even if it’s not a critical issue per se.

Another thing to add, which I have been pleased with as of late with some bands and releases, is that this being an EP, a huge expense is not needed. You get plenty of bang for your buck for a about five bucks and a great introduction to a band with atypical approach to the metal genre.

I was a bit surprised to see only 3 songs on this release, the first two being 12min in length and the last one being an instrumental. With this EP, I get the sense it could be a harbinger of things to come because much of the black metal elements of prior releases are gone and we are left with a post black metal sound and with the avant-garde still present, there are also some jazzy type interludes being injected into the songs as well. The sense of ominous atmosphere is still present and goes together well with the CD layout and presentation with its twisted, dark photography, so do not expect goat horns and bullet belts here.

The EP starts off with “The Mantra of Anguish” with its simple drumming and menacing rhythmic guitar, slowly gathering momentum and presenting that gloom with shouted vocals and some whisperings but as with much avant-garde progressive structure in songs, things can change up and go into different styling. Much of the post-black is present in this song and at 12 mins. I can see were the band want to keep the listener engaged but to me it’s a bit too much. It could be a bit frustrating for some. Its not all bad, there are some strong moments within the song where the sense of darkness is present but midway a almost happy jazz interlude comes in and sort of throws off the ambience and the song ends from there with a droning, industrial soundscape.

“Those Above” could be the most “chaotic” of the bunch with its faster paced drumming and the aggressive vocal styling of singer/bassist Ion. Mid way into the song it slows up dramatically to present a fuzzy almost 70’s-ish guitar solo, which is interesting and from there presents itself more as the song slowly starts building up momentum but this does drag on for a bit, to work back up to the speed of the beginning of the song. The final song is the title track instrumental, which is almost like a jam session from a sound check or something. I’m left wondering of the reasoning for this? Could this not be made more into a full-fledged song? But enough whining, I will say this though, the production is excellent, very full and bright, even the bass is semi present in the mix. The drummer DQ, is exceptional, where he maintains the flow and keeps things interesting for all parts of the songs.

So all in all, a good taster for those being of the curious nature and if you liked them to begin with, I don’t think you will be too disappointed with this release.

When I put the disc in the player I began reading the bio on the back of the promotional copy I was given and was bored to fuck and back by the hell hot dryness of that write up, luckily the music kicked in and I was back in the game. Right now I’m going to do what I accuse lazy reviewers of doing and go with some easy comparisons. Vocals remind me of Deicide, musically it’s a mish mash of Vader, Immolation, and a heavy dose of Morbid Angel. Far less speed reliant than the amazing and like minded Angel Corpse, but also not nearly as special. What is on hand is a lot of mid paced segments broken up by some amazingly quick (fake?) footwork on the drummers part during the more hell-paced portions. It’s almost like these Poles are playing USDM filtered through their own country’s strong metal heritage. They claim to be straddling the line between old school and new school and I suppose that is pretty accurate, it appeals to my old ass as well as my coworker who is 12 years my junior who I exposed to this. We don’t agree on shit normally.

I’m going to do some nit picking to wrap up this review. The production is thick/heavy and each instrument is highlighted amply, but with this particular style of DM I could have gone for a more raw approach. It took over 2 years to record this album and perhaps a little too much spit was used on the shine. I’m also 95% sure some beat replacements and enhancements were utilized on the drums. Not at all uncommon in this day and age, I just feel it’s worth mentioning because shit is “too” perfect. Mechanical.

 I also feel like the sterility may have zapped some of the “evil” or “dark” essence that are synonymous with the best bands of the genre like Immolation or Incantation, so it falls a little short in that category.
Don’t let that shit dissuade you from checking this out, I think it’s a satisfying listen in a style that I rarely unearth new gems within. I also have to mention the album title. If English is a distant second language then you should not attempt to get tricky with it. I assume Sindecade is a play on Syndicate, but it’s not funny, it’s not fun.

In summation: It ain’t perfect and it’s pretty fucking derivative but, fuck it man, it’s around 30 mins of some quality Polish death metal. Don’t forget to close the screen door on the submarine.

What really makes this album go is the ferocious attack. Descriptors like that get thrown around all the time, but in the case of Nightrealm Apocalypse it is far beyond accurate. The overall sound is molten and biting, whether the hell spawned vocals and searing riffs of Paul Tucker, the thundering drums of Jim Strauss, or the bruising bass of Bill Davidson. That’s just part of the equation though. All 10 tracks are brilliant in their simplicity, sporting a wide array of chokehold riffs and choruses that are immediately gratifying. “Simplicity” is in no way a criticism either. It just means that songs like the title track and “Cult of Blood” (one of several utilizing effective backing growls) are driven by a killer riff, driving rhythm, and verse-chorus-verse immediacy.

Sometimes bands think so deeply about complexity in the arrangements that core songwriting suffers. On Nightrealm Apocalypse each track hits with full force and leaves a lasting impression. Just like previous releases, odes to his Satanic majesty abound, an attribute that the trio has made into an art form. It is just plain iniquitous and all of it conjures images of leather ‘n spike clad warriors banging heads before a wall of flame. This one is metal to the bone and serves as a reminder of why most of us fell in love with the genre in the first place.

I have to believe that the majority of metal fans would fine at least some level of enjoyment in what Sathanas creates. Nightrealm Apocalypse is a loud, belligerent, overtly Satanic riff-o-rama with memorable songwriting. If that’s not enough, then you’re just too damn picky. Revel in the riffery, thrust a fist in the air, and praise Satan. Let us hope for many more prolific years from Sathanas!
www.myspace.com/sathanasmetal
www.paganrecords.com

Opener “Mulla Xul” kicks off the proceedings on a promising, if not familiar note. Churning thunder, monstrous growls and ancient, Sumerian-styled bombast. It’s heavily reminiscent of countrymates Behemoth, but less epic. Nothing terribly progressive or forward-thinking either, but still, it’s a good start.

Follow-up “Undying” brings more elements into play. Growls trade off with a nasal version of a Chuck Billy thrash vocal, like priests communing with their abyss-dwelling death gods. Riffs are faster and more fragmented, culminating in a whirling sandstorm attack. However, like most acts attempting to go progressive, there are a lot of ideas here, but the flow doesn’t quite grab me.

Strangely enough, the progressive attempts are scattershot throughout the album. Tracks like “Terroritory” stick pretty close to death metal pacing and structure, and while “Respect for Evil” or “Pestilence of Mind” move more towards a faster black/death hybrid, there’s not much here that can be called progressive. Not a whole lot of folk either, aside from the occasional acoustic interlude or the priestly chant that opens “Awakening”. In fact, there’s way more thrash coursing through these tracks than those other elements, regardless of what the PR writeup promises, from choppy breaks to shouted clean vocals (very Hetfield).

So it seems that what we have here are misled expectations. Taken on its own, as a thrashy death act, Mysteria is fine, but I think what really fails to excite me is the reliance on Eastern/Sumerian melodies and motifs. It’s been done to death, mummified, prayed over and then revived again and again. It’s neither fresh nor original anymore. Admirable as their attempts may be, Mysteria cannot compete with Nile‘s explosive technicality, Akercocke‘s lush, inspired madness or Septic Flesh‘s orchestral pomp. (And that’s not even mentioning Belphegor, Stormlord or Orphaned Land. Or Al-Namrood, who actually hail from the area.)

Here’s an idea: Mysteria are from Poland – there’s got to be some interesting Polish folk or ancestral music to pull from – especially given that the promised folk element was barely used here. But let the other bands do the Eastern thing, ‘cause it’s becoming a really crowded scene.