Review Summary: Eternal Riffs... Eternal Black.
During the years, Judas Iscariot’s legacy has become inseparable from "USBM" (United States Black Metal). This year, after a relatively long period, Moribound Records has surprised us with reissue of the legendary American one-man band's fifth full-length album - and I thought this will be a good reason to speak about this record again.
Heavens In Flames, one of the classics of raw black metal, was first released in 1999 under the care of the French label End All Life Productions, and since then, it has been available in various limited edition releases through other publishers, and numerous bootlegs over the years. The possibility of selling these reissues has always been greatly hindered by Akhenaten's (Andrew Jay Harris) strongly anti-capitalist approach, as he assigned the rights and revenues to each album's initial publishing label - the aim of this unique concept was to support the underground.
The Judas Iscariot discography is stylistically relatively simple: each album, the simplicity and directness genuinely captures the essence of black metal. Akhenaten's riffs (occasionally accompanied by synthesizers) create a smoothly flowing, strongly atmospheric ambiance where mystery and a kind of 'dark elegance' blend together, which describes the vibe of
Heavens In Flames as well. The album has a quite
in medias res start with blast beats, tremolo riffs, and typical screams, perfectly capturing the expected ‘90s-style black metal vibe. Similar fast-paced sections can be heard throughout the enitre album, but I believe the most captivating aspect of
Heavens In Flames lies in its mid-tempo, synth-infused melodies. For instance, the second half of tracks like "An Eternal Kingdom Of Fire" or "Eternal Bliss... Eternal Death" unfolds the charm of this style, as these darkly swirling, aggressively cutting riffs, accompanied by a few simple synth melodies (mostly using choir synthesizers), create an almost hymnal atmosphere. Another strength of the album is its melodic nature. I wouldn't call this record a purely melodic black metal album though, but tracks like "From Hateful Visions" or "Spill The Blood Of The Lamb" could 'complete' this primarily mood-driven album, similarly to Burzum's 1993 album
Det Som Engang Var. In fact,
Heavens In Flames strongly resembles the style of several early Norwegian black metal albums, combining the two approaches of prioritizing either building an atmosphere (like Burzum), or the streams of simple infernal riffs (like Darkthrone).
Hopefully it’s not a bold thing to say that
Heavens In Flames is the most ‘complete’ and recognized album in the Judas Iscariot discography. Along with Cryptic Winter (Duane Timlin) behind the drums, Akhenaten created a consistently excellent album that, primarily due to its ominous and somewhat melancholic atmosphere, became a milestone in the US black metal history. Its significance is further emphasized by the fact that other bands such as Leviathan or Xasthur drew inspiration from this album, making it worth exploring for its historical role alone.
