Naer Mataron - Lucitherion "Temple of the Radiant Sun" (2017)

Naer Mataron has long been one of the most intense, aggressive of the Hellenic black metal acts, but even with that knowledge in mind I couldn't have prepared myself properly for the beating that was Lucitherion. The band has long nurtured traces of death metal in its punishing delivery, but this is the first album where I can say that it's actually not just balanced off against the group's black metal fundamentals, but actually dominant through the mix. From the guttural vocals implemented by veteran Kaiadas, to the way a lot of the more dissonant riff progressions are phrased, to the sheer force and speed of the drumming, I detected more than a few traces of both the Brazilian blast mavens Krisiun and Rebaelliun or the more local European hybrids, specifically Behemoth at their most propulsive as they too were crossing over from blacker roots into frenetic, brutal death metal territory. While this all adds up to a clear departure from 2013's more atmospheric Και ο λόγος σάρξ εγένετο, my favorite of their offerings, it's performed with obvious consistency and proficiency.

A good portion of the record is devoted to blasted tempos lathered with guitar patterns that carry an Eastern or Middle Eastern feel through their note selections, creating a ritualistic framework that occasionally reminds one of a Melechesh or Nile, but also not cast too far from a lot of this band's previous albums like Praetorians or River at Dash Scalding. However, rather than the monotony of using this technique like a one trick pony, Naer Mataron punctuate the tracks with slower to mid paced breaks that help flesh out the compositions. Not every track is equally memorable, and they often tend to bleed in with one another, but not entirely, and I found Lucitherion was back loaded with a lot of the better pieces, like "Uprooting of the Shepherd King Hyksos" or "Ra-Horakhty-ATEN", each packed with some of the more distinct riffing palettes and dynamic impact. You never get a sense that Naer Mataron are attempting to simply flaunt their extremity, they don't wank off with a lot of lead guitars or have the audience repeatedly banging itself against a brick wall of boring material, this is strictly songwriting to which the frenzied, demanding pace is best suited.

Lyrics involve occult, ritualistic, mythological matters spun out with titles in Latin, Greek, Egyptian and other tongues, which is in fashion with the band's interests from previous albums, and draws a parallel with some of its countrymen ala Acherontas or Rotting Christ. To that effect, they don't involve a lot of ritual atmosphere or haunted phrasings, which are not necessarily missed, but might have helped at least round out the first 4-5 tunes. This also isn't the first time they've gone so over the top, but in terms of production it's their most punchy and polished, and the structure of the riffs, plastered with all the guttural grunting. It's a deeper, meatier effort than something like River at Dash Scalding, which also featured insane blasting but had thinner, sharper guitars and vocals that were set at more of a howl and rasp which didn't stand out much from the instruments. Here it all sounds fluid and falls into place, a different experience but one that marks a successful reinvention of their style which doesn't abolish their 20+ years of history. One of their best, though I wasn't as absorbed quite as much as its predecessor.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

https://www.facebook.com/Naer-Mataron-official-122029807867493/?timeline_context_item_type=intro_card_work&timeline_context_item_source=100011664823332&pnref=lhc

Naer Mataron - Και ο λόγος σάρξ εγένετο (2013)

While their prior six full-lengths all tended towards a milder range of variation from one another, Και ο λόγος σάρξ εγένετο almost seems like a new era for Greece's Naer Mataron. Not because it abandons the precepts of its predecessors, or the black metal genre as a whole, but because it molds them into a seasoned, nearly 60 minute experience which itself incorporates an immense level of versatility. But perhaps the most impressive thing I can say for this album is that it embraces the group's Hellenic heritage more severely than any of their older works, not just because of the folksy sing a long tracks here which took me completely by surprise, but also because the metal riffing itself was occasionally evoking the majesty of Greek legends like Rotting Christ, Varathron or Thou Art Lord, something that was in shorter supply with their more aggressive albums that reflected more of a Scandinavian black metal aesthetic.

There are some mid-ranged, almost thrashing/black riffs in the breakdowns and bridges here of tunes like "Demon's Lord" or "The Light Bearer" which take you straight back to what was so special about this scene in the mid 90s: a defiant implementation of traditional heavy metal melody in a niche generally reserved for tremolo picking purity or bum-rushes of glinting, dissonant chords. Not that Και ο λόγος σάρξ εγένετο is entirely void of either of those things either, but Kaiadas and company leave themselves plenty of openings here to explore tempos and atmospheres, which wasn't always the case on older records. The guitars have a lot of punch and clarity to them, especially the muted phrasings, without sounding overly saturated or raspy in their distortion. Some slower, doom-like passages are explored, like a cover of Sarcofago's "Nightmare" which sounds pretty damn smooth; or the contemplative opener "The Magus", which is a slow, sparse and simple composition over which Kaiadas delivers some chilling, cleaner, spoken lines before it convulses into a glorious Greek black riff and he starts his impetuous snarling. For anyone who missed their older style, they do throw out a few bones like "A Secular Pursuit of Coffins" which is straight, nasty, blasted black metal.

The experiments here are likewise pretty great, like the 14 minute title track finale which is a fusion of folk, ambient and tribal drumming with some bluesy guitars and odd, tonal chanting. It's almost as if "Planet Caravan" were re-written through the lens of a Greek folk act, and fairly immersive if you just chill out and give it a chance. The eerie male/female chants of "Eternal Ice" really set up "The Light Bearer", and "Nyhta Pagani" is a wonderful piece for meditation, with traditional guitars and layered female vocals that sound wonderfully genuine rather than corny. Traditional instruments used here include a yayli tanbur (a long necked Turkish lute), a lyre and Tibetan 'singing bowls' (standing bells) in "The Hunt", and all are used rather well with a very natural sense of production that almost feels like you're listening to them in the eaves of the Parthenon, or outdoors in some square of Athens centuries past. Even if there are only about five actual metal originals on the record, it all seems so well balanced and unpredictable, and when you include the simple but attractive digipak packaging/artwork, this is really the most fascinating Naer Mataron to date, no taint at all of a band simply 'going through the motions', but one committed to expanding itself. It's not Praetorians II (my own prior favorite from the band), and it might turn off fans who just tune into this band for its sheer savagery, but nonetheless it sets the band a new standard of aesthetic charm.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naer-Mataron-official/122029807867493

Naer Mataron - ΖΗΤΩ Ο ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ (2012)

Long subsisting on savagery, Naer Mataron have unquestionably proven themselves to be one of the most sinister extremists among the cult of Hellenic black metal. One of the closest in that scene to adhere to the concept that this genre's roots are raucous, fast, unhealthy, unholy and uncomfortable music to damage the psyche and soul. Their records have traditionally not been the stuff of glorious gallivanting and singalong melodies, but more interested in skinning the audience and cannibalizing their organs, and their latest, sixth full-length ΖΗΤΩ Ο ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ (i.e. 'Long Live Death') is a further affirmation of their scathing Satanic blood ablutions and the organ harvesting of an angelic chorus. Now just a three piece (they were five on 2008's Praetorians), one would think that they might pursue a more stripped-down approach to violence, but that's not really the case with this...

To my surprise, Naer Mataron have actually ramped up the death metal elements in their music to the point that this latest album is basically a death/black hybrid. Granted, the last album had a bit of this felt through the construction of the muted picking and several of the riffs, but the vocals there were more of an abrupt and uncouth snarl placing it largely in the latter niche. Here, we get denser death grunts, which combined with the hyper-accelerated riffing bring to mind veterans like Morbid Angel, or Polish acts like Behemoth or Hate. Rhythmically they continue to implement a lot of dissonant, cutting chord patterns which reflect their Norse black metal influence and the heritage of their earlier records, but this is a blasted, brutal assault which will potentially sate followers of both camps (or each, individually). Frenetic, tireless drumming lays out the groundwork, and above the clamorous configurations of chords you get zipping, unhinged leads that feel as oblique and evil as the Floridian forefathers, if perhaps not as complex or interesting as something Trey might have written in his prime. But fear not, because this isn't some monotonous blast-fest lacking in variation: they use a lot of great rhythmic tricks, stop/start patterns festooned in spikes of morbid melody (as heard in "Sleepless Beings"), and even some rabid, turbo-thrashing riffage as in "Faceless Wrath of Oblivion".

The mix of ΖΗΤΩ Ο ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ is murky without being muddled, and you can hear each course being carved out by the frenzied guitars in a strong balance with the kick, bass, and grunts. Perhaps the least compelling components of this new focus are the guttural vocals, which simply don't offer much of a distinction among hundreds of like-minded death or death/black outfits; and the bass-lines which maintain the presence of a rumbling hell-train beneath the abyss, but primarily get lost behind the guitar flurries. But to be honest, I can forgive cases, since Kaiadas does not do a poor job with either, and never has (cut the guy some slack, he's an actual elected member of parliament in Greece for the Golden Dawn). Ultimately, Naer Mataron prove that they 100% have the chops to succeed in this field, and if songs like "Whispers of Begotten Premonition" or "Sleepless Beings" are any indicator, they've gut the raw intensity to sate fans of death/grind or brutal death without alienating their core black metal audience, and hell, the title gave us plenty of warning, right? It's not amazingly memorable, but we've got a pretty fucking explosive album here; despite its mutation away from the sound of their first few discs, it's just as good as efforts like Up from the Ashes or Discipline Manifesto.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naer-Mataron-official/122029807867493

Naer Mataron - I Am the Light of the World EP (2012)

As a tease towards their forthcoming, sixth full-length album ΖΗΤΩ Ο ΘΑΝΑΤΟΣ, Greek ghouls Naer Mataron have unleashed this limited two track EP I Am the Light of the World, with a rather ironic cover and title if you've followed the bands incessant, scathing blasphemies to date. What I like is that this recording will actually retain some value once the album drops, as I'm looking over the track list it seems neither of these particular pieces will appear there (I can't translate the B-side title as of yet), so you are not only getting a collector's item, but one with some exclusivity. The idea here is pretty simple: the A-side features a metallic track, and the B-side a dark ambient piece, to which no doubt the group's Swedish keyboard player Nordvargr had his hands in heavily.

After an ambient intro with an almost electronic feeling beat, Warhead just blasts the goddamn heads off his drums as "A Secular Pursuit of Coffins" erupts (love the title). Anyone familiar with the stripped down, seething intensity of the band's 2008 album Praetorians will find that they've not skipped a beat here, this is more or less the same sort of level blast black with backing synthesizers and Vicotnik's grimy rasps providing a manic, sacrilegious slather. I did find the bridge and finale of this track to be a bit more curious than the rest, for all the schizoid, varied vocals laid in over a spurious black/thrash rhythm and its following threads of apocalyptic tremolo picking; but that said, it didn't entirely grab my attention.

On the other hand (and other side), the 7-minute ambient structure "ΕΓΩ ΕΙΜΙ ΤΟ ΦΩΣ ΤΟΥ ΚΟΣΜΟΥ" was quite absorbing, first born of brooding, simple tones and then applying samples of deep percussion, slight patters of what I guess must be rain (or blood), and some ominous chants. Nothing you haven't heard before if you're into the more ritualistic side of this musical niche, but impressive and haunting to use as background noise for some decadent act, or morbid self-reflection. The production on both tunes is kept really raw here, the metal piece sounding like they barely touched it, the distortion really dry and forceful. I'm not sure if that's a sign of what's to come with the full-length, of if they'll go for something more heavily polished, but it's not unusual considering a few of their past works. Ultimately, this is a decent EP to snag if a diehard follower for the group, just keep in mind that they don't play with the usual Greek slow to mid paced atmosphere: these guys blast, rip and tear in a very traditional, but incendiary Scandinavian sense.

Verdict: Indifference [6/10]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naer-Mataron-official/122029807867493

Naer Mataron - Praetorians (2008)

Going by the excellent cover artwork and the thundering percussive intro/march "Anti-Celestial Campaign", I felt as if I were in line for a total beating at the hands of Naer Mataron. Would they deliver at last the long anticipated scathing that we always knew they were capable of but never seemed to manifest? Or just another competent assembly line of blast beats, snarls and familiar tremolo melodies cut from the bloodstained cloth of their Scandinavian forebears? Sadly, Praetorians falls closer to the latter camp in terms of execution, but that said it's still one of their brutal and memorable albums when looking back over their entire career, rivaling their debut Up from the Ashes in quality.

Once the smoke of the intro clears, you get a surge of blasted, stock black with writhing chords strung alongside samples of warfare and bloodshed ("Ostara"), par for the course if you'd heard their previous album Discipline Manifesto. However, there's a particular punchy vibe to both the drum tone and lower, muted guitars where and when they appear, which feels strangely vibrant and punishing. Vicotnik's vocals are cast in a constipated grime, and they use backing shouts and layered rasps to create this panoramic, battlefield effect that suits the music. I'm reminded of perhaps a gnarlier mid-period Marduk, with a lot of those riffs that feel tight in construction but not incredibly memorable in the long-term. Still, pieces like "Incarcerating Gallantry" and the "Eagle's Nest" bristle with venom and hatred, a few winning guitar lines carved into their surging flanks. They've also got a few more black/death hybrid tracks like "Sol Invictus", and some more spacious, indulgent and narrative epics like the closing title track.

Aesthetically, I really enjoyed the lyrics which are choked with poignant and penetrating images based both in myth and history, and again: the cover art is fucking superb. If only the writing had offered more of a payout to its surface qualities, Praetorians would have likely whipped up a great storm of respect amidst the underground. Like most of the Greeks' albums, though, it sadly seemed to fade all too quickly into the background, because let's face it, there is nothing novel happening here, just an hostile and acceptable broth of brutality which soundly covers its genre's groundwork. Naer Mataron are not remotely boring, they write a lot of variation into their tracks and go for a more expansive concept than many of their peers, and Praetorians is a step above some of their past works like Skotos Aenaon and River at Dash Scalding, but it's not the total soul crushing that I have felt this band was capable of 14 years deep into their career. But that day might still come...

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (above the graves and the ruins)

http://www.myspace.com/naermataron

Naer Mataron - Discipline Manifesto (2005)

So I'd been waiting three albums already for Naer Mataron, a band who cultivate some measure of respect in the Euro underground, to knock me on my sorry ass. Up from the Ashes was a solid start, but both of its successors offered little more than the tedious and frankly commonplace Norse-style scathing rhythms that have already been foisted to death upon the medium's legions of admirers. Not that the style is necessarily unwelcome, but bands in this niche really need to bring the strong riffing and distinctive level of composition at least to the level of their forebears, and it hadn't seemed that the Greeks were up to the task. With Discipline Manifesto, the underwhelming streak continues, but not without pounding a nails into the listener's wrists.

This is probably the most forceful and potent of the band's albums, if not a far cry beyond River at Dash Scalding or Skotos Aenaon in overall style. The blasting, predictable tremolo picking and hoarser than usual black rasping all return for another round, but I feel that the band paces the material better, especially in longer tracks like "Extreme Unction", with the Immortal-like riffing flow at its climax; or "Last Man Against Time", which has a lot of resonance through the buzzing layers of the guitar and cruel streams of dissonance. Another standout: "Blast Furnace", in which the swerving bridge bass meshes quite well with the churning melodic apex of its bridge. In general, the songwriting is stronger and mildly more varied than River at Dash Scalding, and sparse elements like cleaner vocals ("Land of Dreams") make it a fairy rounded experience.

Unfortunately, while functional for the form, there are still many moments of tedious blasting and riffs that entirely fail to stick, and so it's not about to raise Naer Mataron from the mire of samey sounding bands the world-wide. If you seek the sincere, slicing aggression of your Norse and Swedish backlogs (Marduk, Immortal, Satyricon, Burzum, Emperor), with no other deviation or distinction, then Discipline Manifesto is admittedly nothing to scoff at. But I always have this wrenching feeling in my gut that these Hellenic veterans have a lot more in them than what we're getting on the actual albums. A bit more focus on the craft of the riffing, a few more exciting transitions and tempos being explored, and these guys could easily break my neck and elevate themselves upon the world stage of sadism. Discipline Manifesto gets the job done, but with absolutely no room to spare.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://www.myspace.com/naermataron

Naer Mataron - Aghivasiin: Lessons on How to Defeat Death (2004)

With three albums and a decade under their belts, Naer Mataron felt compelled to give something back to the followers of their rugged but indistinct brand of vicious, European black metal. Completists might be disappointed that it's not simply a collection of their demos, but some of that material is certainly involved here, with a mix of other rarities and unreleased newer tracks. I can't promise that this is likely to draw the affectations of anyone not already hooked on the Greeks' admittedly middling style, but Aghivasiin: Lessons on How to Defeat Death at least provides a sincere sortie into the raw and flourishing roots of their development as one of the more jagged and unrelenting acts of the Hellenic underworld.

The new song, "Alchemist" is a substantial piece (over 9 minutes) with an extensive, sobering acoustic guitar sequence that floods directly into the familiar bloodstream of Skotos Aenaon and River at Dash Scalding. It's feral, relentless and resonant enough as it channels along its familiar Norse course, but the soaring, clean vocals in the bridge do provide the slightly unexpected. The other novel contribution here is a martial ambient/industrial piece called "Kalki the Avenger - Lightning and the Sun (Death)", a collaboration with Nordvargr of industrial beasts MZ412, which as you might guess, is not typical of the Naer Mataron sound in the slightest. They've also included both tracks from the rare EP A Holocaust in Front of God's Eyes (2000), which feature an even more sinister, rasping vocal tone and rougher production than any of the studio full-lengths. Some demo tunes ("Zeus", "Zephyrous") are included from the year of the band's foundations, but both of these were polished and more appreciable on their debut Up from the Ashes in 1998.

Also of interest: some pre-recording and unreleased alternate takes of "Winter War Memorial" and "Iketis", both as pronounced and primitive as the band gets anywhere, filthy and functional even if they're rather predictable. If you're in the market for some live material, and more of the vinyl collector variety of fan, then undoubtedly you'll want the 2LP re-issue with its bonus live content, but then, this is even more limited than the original CD release. All in all, it's a decent appraisal of the band's career, without ripping off the audience, but it's hardly more interesting than their early full-lengths, which themselves are competent but ultimately unmemorable. Naer Mataron has always stuck to its approximation of fast, Northern sounds, as this comp reveals, since their inception. But they don't exactly excel in the medium.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

http://www.myspace.com/naermataron

Naer Mataron - River at Dash Scalding (2003)

Cosmetically, just about everything surrounding the third Naer Mataron full-length seems like it will rip the listener's face off. The cover art is incredible, the triumphant pro-European lyrics offer some unbridled excitement, and the title itself is memorable. Not only that, but the tonal, dark ambient lead-in "As the Clouds of War Gather" really builds up excitement as the percussion erupts into its ominous assembly of swelling sound. However, as soon as the blazing riff-stream arrives to deliver the awaited contrast, the album seems to step straight off the pedestal of potential and into the category of average, scathing European black metal with little to distinguish itself from the hordes of bands from Sweden and Norwegian that had long since made this niche their bitch throughout the prior decade.

Emperor, Mayhem, Marduk, Immortal, Dark Funeral. You could list these and a dozen more, and struggle to discover just how River at Dash Scalding differentiates itself. There is no doubt that these Greeks have a surplus of electric energy, but they apply it to a series of assault riffs that rarely, if ever generate memorable notation, and a rasping style that is all too typical for its day. "The Continuity of Land and Blood" is admirably brief, but in its three minutes of high impact aggression, not a single distinctive riff is evoked. But worse are the longer songs, like "The Great Meridian Tide" or "Salvatores Dei" which hover around the 9 minute mark. The twists and turns that one would expect in such a swollen composition are sadly few and far between. Where they do arrive (like the sailing melodies in "The Great Meridian Tide"), one breathes a sigh of relief, not that these are exceptional segues, but that the very notion of creativity has not evaded these Hellenic barbarians altogether.

Perhaps the only songs I actually did not lose interest in (aside from the intro) were "Ancestor Worship" with its banging concussive substrate and narrative along its wall of guitar noise, or "The Plunderer" with its bleeding, effective guitars and decent bass-lines brooding below. But the latter does devolved into a pretty bland riff in between the opening and bridge. Really, the best I can say for the album is that it's more of the same, tireless blasted black metal that some fans of the genre never seem to tire of. But where something like In the Nightside Eclipse or Pure Holocaust succeeds by way of atmosphere or ripping innovation for its era, River at Dash Scalding comes across as a mere derivation of form. Along with the short-lived Mournblade, Naer Mataron represents the closest that Greek bands would come to that sound, and if you thrill at the thought of it, then by all means, give them a listen. There's nothing necessarily bad about the record (or anything Naer Mataron has ever released), but I had hoped for a lot more.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (my beliefs are older than my heart)

http://www.myspace.com/naermataron

Naer Mataron - Skotos Aenaon (2000)

In time, Naer Mataron has gained the reputation as one of the most fierce and ripping black metal artists within the Greek field, but they did not originate as such. Their debut Up from the Ashes was a decent first stab in the genre, but it was more or less derivative of what most of the audience had become acclimated to through the Scandinavian scene. Skotos Aenaon is an improvement as far as its production values, which are bold, brash and hostile, with a killer mix of bleeding guitar lines and Aithir's volatile rasping, but after a strong first couple of tracks, it devolves into a fairly predictable experience unlikely to sway anyone that has already soured on the repetitious riffing currency of barnstormers like Dark Funeral, Enthroned and Marduk.

"...And Bloodshed Must Be Done" is such a strong, sweeping orchestral inauguration that the expectations for the album run immediately high, a martial escalation that leads into the blasting vortex of "Diastric Fields of War", with a potent lead-in riff that will have fans of Emperor, Dark Funeral or Marduk howling exultation. Fast, cold and uncaring, it soon transforms into arching and descending riffs with brief, cleaner vocals strewn about, and a misting of keyboards through the bridge. But as soon as its successor, the rolling, Bathory-like "Iketis", the guitars start to seem incredibly familiar, as if the band simply is incapable of curving off into some unexpected pattern. That's not to say all of them are bad, and certainly "Astro-Thetis-Cosmos" and the wintry and warlike march of "In Honor of the Wolf" manifest enough cruelty to involve the listener, but this is not often through any characteristic of variation, but the strong mix of the album.

When its hellish smoke has cleared, despite its superior depth of sound, I actually liked the song structures marginally less than on the debut, which felt just a glint more original. Skotos Aenaon is not a monotonous album as far as all of its tempos, but quite often the band meanders into what seems like an incessant swath of blasting, and unlike, say, Vobiscum Satanas, which keeps this style entertainingly vicious despite its rather one-track mind. The pentagram cover, the spikes and the corpse, all of this had been done to death by the turn of the century, and sadly Naer Mataron is not offering a compelling enough spin to admonish.

Verdict: Indifference [6.75/10] (and black holes guide me to the Olympian Fathers)

http://www.myspace.com/naermataron

Naer Mataron - Up from the Ashes (1998)

Naer Mataron is not one of the forerunners in the Greek black metal scene, but they were one of the first bands to come along and merge the epic, unique atmosphere of their countrymen with the faster paced black metal of Scandinavia, Up from the Ashes is a strong, storming debut that succeeds in getting them on the map. Even if it's not the most distinguished or memorable, it's pretty well polished, flush with a number of Swedish and Norse albums coming out in this period. A decent mix of near constant keyboards with rampant blasts and sorrow born melodies, a halfway point between Rotting Christ, Emperor or earlier Dimmu Borgir (For All Tid through Enthrone Darkness Triumphant).

This is also a band known for its members being involved in various other groups across Europe. More recent incarnations have involved members of Handful of Hate, Strid, Forgotten Tomb, and Dødheimsgard, but even as early as Up from the Ashes, the roster read like a rogues' gallery of underground Greek heroes like drummer/critic Lethe (Akis Kapranos) who has also done time in Order of the Ebon Hand, Horrified, Septic Flesh, Mournblade or vocalist Aithir Psychoslaughter who has worked with his fair share of obscure acts. Similar to Kawir, the band relies heavily on local mythology from which to derive its lyrics, though the execution itself is much tighter, faster and more vicious. Aithir's vocals are a pretty standard black snarling, but they fit snugly in among the raging melodies and synthesizers; but what I enjoy most about Up from the Ashes is that the band never goes into a tune without a stable riffing pattern in mind.

Where this style could often succumb to mere, unwelcome repetition, Naer Mataron deliver at least semi-inspirational, serpentine guitar lines in the charging "Zephyrous", or "The Silent Kingdom of Hades". They don't play fast to a fault, and there are a few, slower paced pieces redolent of Rotting Christ or Varathron, like "The Great God Pan" (which was released as a demo two years prior to the full-length). Better yet is where they switch between the two poles ("Faethon"), but they also deliver a nice ambient/ritual track ("In En Elusini Mysteria") with percussion, synthesizers and calmer vocal narration. Lastly, the CD reissue of Up from the Ashes includes a cover of Bathory's legendary "Equimanthorn" (Under the Sign of the Black Mark), which is the crudest and most aggressive piece on the album, if admittedly not deviating much from Quorthon's original.

I won't claim the album is wholly compelling, because the riffs are very often hit or miss, and often the lyrics just feel like deity or mythological name-dropping chants. But for what it's worth, the Naer Mataron debut is bound to hold an appeal to those enamored of the 'stock' black metal of the mid 90s, marrying the blasphemous energies of infernal predecessors to a symphonic, atmospheric elegance. Not as exotic and majestic as Triarchy of the Lost Lovers, or as ravening and intense as In the Nightside Eclipse, but somewhere within those bounds. The band would become notably more aggressive as time moved on, but they've always maintained some of these core aesthetics with sound, effective riffing and structure.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/naermataron