Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiria (The Nine Circles Of Hell)
(Evil Horde Records)
33:09min
AZAGHAL hail from Finland and deliver pretty fast and raw ‘Black Terror Metal’ with a heavy dose of melodies. The (debut?) album contains 8 songs plus outro of tight played and fresh sounding fast ‘n’ melodic Black Metal more or less in the Swedish vein. Listening to this album, bands like BLOT MINE or SORHIN come to my mind, which are on a comparable level when it comes to the quality of the music. The vokills are extremely raw and the usage of an amount of delay arouses a cold and deadly atmosfear that fits perfectly to the overall mood of the songs. The second song ‘Hän Joka On Tuleval (The One To Come)’ comes with one of the most impressive melodies I have heard in a long time on a Death or Black Metal release. And it reminds me in its breathtaking expressiveness once more of BLOT MINE and their second song on their album ‘Porphyrogenesis’. The packaging of the CD is way above average. It contains a lovingly designed 20 page booklet printed on high glossy paper. The cover and the moody artworks in the background of the lyrics are taken from artworks done by Doré. Well, the lyrics are in Finnish, but you get the translation into English of every single word. So if you are in the formentioned style I can easily recommend this album to you. Get it through good equiped mailorders or ask the label directely: Evil Horde Recods, P.O.Box 4912, Curitiba – PR 82530-970, Brasil; e- mail: blacklegion@vrs.com.br
Thomas Georg
• AZAGHAL - Omega (Jason Campbell)