Review Summary: Hellenic black metal - yet to be toppled
Hellenic (Greek) black metal is inextricably intertwined with hell and the Devil. From the so-called "Big Three" of Rotting Christ, Varathron, and Necromantia to the new breed of Funeral Storm, Lucifer’s Child and Yoth Iria, the warm and occult style is deeply rooted in tales from the underworld and above all else, a sustained suspicion of the Christian Church. Also inextricably intertwined with the Devil is evil. I mean, you can’t spell Devil without evil, right?
Athens based Yoth Iria in many ways are the premier modern incarnation of Hellenic black metal, delivering up and mid tempo melodic black in new record “Gone with the Devil”. That main man Jim Mutilator was in Rotting Christ (and Varathron) is no surprise when the needle goes down on “Dare to Rebel” and you can almost apply the inextricably intertwined claws to Yoth Iria and Rotting Christ, such is the commonality between themes and sound. This extends to the name Yoth Iria which was once explained by the Mutilator as “something like my personal guardian, something between good and evil”.
Where Yoth Iria have excelled in differentiating themselves on “Gone with the Devil” is palpably felt with the second coming of He on clean vocals, after His introduction on 2024’s “Blazing Inferno”. He aka Rustam Shakirzianov is as crucial an ingredient as the Mutilator himself, the Russian adding an early layer of intrigue in “Woven Spells of a Demon” which flirts a crossover into trad metal territory. The stirring Serbian chanted Victory Song “Pobedna Pesma” heralds in “The Blind Eye of Antichrist”, lending a grandeur and scale to the proceedings.
More than ever Yoth Iria here have managed to marry the classic Hellenic motives and motifs with shifting sonic dynamics and no greater proof is found than in the ritualistic “I Totem”and the following wickedly festive “3am”. Locking into “3am the witching hour, 3am the opposite time, The doors are open, Our Demons are here, Our freedom is near” goes to the heart of Yoth Iria’s new direction and evolution.
Written in tandem by Mutilator and guitarist Nikolas Perlepe, “Gone with the Devil” has more hooks than a hell pit of devil’s horns. Strikingly, no two hooks are the same with “Give ‘Em My Beautiful Hell” possessing a triumphant Cry of the Black Birds gallop, yet not quite steeling itself to ride into destiny. The twin melodic leads of Perlepe and Naberius are on full display in “Blessed Be He Who Enters”, laying the foundations for another excursion in rousing epic metal, an incongruous invitation to Hell, or at least to take the Left-Hand Path. It’s a path all Hellenic black metal legends can decide for themselves. For Yoth Iria, “Gone with the Devil” represents a victory in a scene where many legacy bands and newer offshoots lack memorability, with closer “Harut, Government, Fallen,” another monument yet to be toppled.
