Thou Art Lord – “Apollyon”

Unisound Records

Rating: 8/10

Greek black metal all-star band’s second full-length CD “Apollyon” is another load of good Greek-styled riffs and melodies, growly vocals and brutal drums behind a veil of mystic darkness, satanism and the ancient gods. Nothing new, true, yet a highly-enjoyable album for those typically Greek elements.

The CD starts with a song called “Hate Is Thicker Than Love” (an eyeclick to Impaled Nazarene’s “Blood Is Thicker Than Water”? Remember: IN’s singer Mika Luttinen is a very good friend of TAL; in fact he’s got a side-project with TAL’s Magus Wampyr Daoloth called Diabolos Rising/Raism) whose intro is Wagner’s “Ride Of The Walkyries”!!! (I don’t know if this is the right translation in English, I know the name in my mother tongue), followed by a massacring attack of speed, a synth passage with a spoken part and hissing riffs. IN fact this song is representative for the whole album: it contains speed, slower riffs, spoken passages, synth melodies and an undeniable inspiration in darkness and evil oaths. Another remarkable songs are excellent “Societas Satanas” (my favourite song) and ultra-fast “Excremental Magic”, both having great guitar riffs that remind me of Rotting Christ (guitarrist Necromayhem is from RCh). The strangest song is based on piano and synth over which a prayer to a so-called “bornless one” is risen. Mmh… The album finishes with their “In Blood We Trust” (sentence taken from the American dollars’ motto “In God We Trust”), that already appeared in their 7”. All in all, a great album of pure Hellenic black art.

Thou Art Lord – “Eosforos” (Español)

Unisound Records

7/10

Thou Art Lord son la all-star band de la escena Black Metal griega, ya que en esta banda se han reunido algunas de las figuras más famosas de la conocida escena helénica; los miembros proceden de reconocidas bandas como Rotting Christ, Necromantia y Varathron, así que no podemos más que esperar un gran álbum. Y lo es. Su calidad ya la apuntaron en su anterior split que salió por la discográfica Molon Lave y que compartían con las leyendas del undeground belga Ancient Rites. De hecho, el líder de esta banda, Gunther theys, colabora en el álbum, como también lo hace Mika Lutinen, la desgarradora garganta de los enfermos finlandeses Impaled Nazarene. Pero, queremos hablar ya de la música? Bueno, pues para que os hagáis una idea, los TAL tocan un black metal rápido y directo al grano, sin contemplaciones, con el típico sonido griego y con la buena destreza de las bandas que proceden de ese pequeño país. Aquí no encontraras empalagosos arreglos, violines ni teclados, sinó sólo puro black helénico. Aparte de algunos efectos sonoros y alguna orquestración, el 99% del álbum se basa en los rápidos y dierctos riffs de guitarra y en la aplasatante batería, característica que alcanza su summum en “Warhammer”. Otras canciones destacadas son “The Era Of Satan Rising” (ya incluída en su anterior split 7”) y la bizarra “KKK- Kaos Keravnos Kibernetos”. Un gran álbum de black griego con todas las de la ley.

Thou Art Lord – “Eosforos”

Unisound Records

7/10

Thou Art Lord is the Greek Black Metal scece all-star band, for its members play in some of the most famous bands of the Hellenic scene such as Rotting Christ, Necromantia or Varathron, so we can expect but a great album. And it is. We already had seen the band’s quality by their first work, a split-EP with Belgian underground legends Ancient Rites. By the way, this latter band’s leader Günther Theys acts as guest-musician in this album, along with another well-known individual, Mika Luttinen from Finnish sicks Impaled Nazarene. Ok, enough, let’s speak about the music! Well, as an orientation, I better tell you that TAL play right-to-the-bone greek-styled Black Metal, fast and technically skilled, as Greek blackmetal bands use to. Here you’ll find no vilins, cheesy arrangements or keyboards, just pure Hellenic black metal, so wimps find your life-album somewhere else. Apart from some orchestric and weird arrangements, 99% of the album is based upon the guitar riffing and the grinding drumming, as in “Warhammer”. Other remarkable songs are killing “The Era Of Satan Rising” (included in their previous EP) and bizarre “KKK-Kaos Keravnos Kibernetos”. Globally, a great Greek Black Metal album.