Yoth Iria come with an incredible pedigree to back them up, the members helped to create the Hellenic black metal scene from way back in the early 90's Mutilator was a founding member of Rotting Christ and Varathron. The Magus is predominantly a producer and helped build that Hellenic sound that has created bands like Necromantia, Thou Art Lord and of course Rotting Christ. George Emmanuel the owner of Pentagram Studios and prior member of Rotting Christ shreds the guitars on this EP as well. So you can see where their sound comes from, it's built upon tradition and brings it forth to the modern era.
Under His Sway is an incredible feat of production, song writing and an immense sound with incredibly nuanced moments of reflection. The whole EP has had me nodding along while I write this. The music is black metal at it's core, but it's so much more. Of course it has the extreme drumming, the tremelo picking and the fury, but somewhere in the midst of all of this incredible chaos, there is soul, there is a story being forged, there is life... and death for that matter.
From the opening you feel this EP being brought to life, you feel the immensity of what you're about to bare witness to and as it builds you brace yourself for the onslaught. The opening track Under His Sway is monstrous and ever evolving, it begins sparsely as the music builds you truly feel the rage building and this happens a number of times throughout the track in different manners, it's amazing song writing. It has this feeling of it almost being a marching song that armies would listen to upon their way to war.
The second track Sid-Ed-Gjinn opens as a crawling middle eastern, black doom epic then just as you're settling in to the chugging riffs and traditional vocals they drop it and fire up the extreme machine and it blows up in to a bigger monster than it was, but yet somehow maintains the chuggy doomy feel. I can feel myself opening my arms to the heavens while listening to this track, it's unintentional but I want to embrace the sun gods of old and curse all these modern false idols. This track just feels massive, the music isn't heaps intrusive or over the top, it's the story telling that makes it feel this way.
For the final track on the EP Mutilator reached back in to his reliquary of tracks and revived probably one of my favourite black metal tracks of all time Visions of the Dead Lovers from his old band Rotting Christ, they took it, updated it but definitely kept all of the key ingredients intact, and definitely improved some. Huge track!
Under His Sway as a whole is an incredibly huge album, it's only a 3 track EP but it gives the listener so much more than that. You could listen to it 100 times and still hear something that you never noticed before. It has something that a lot of newer bands are missing these days, sure they have the story via lyrics but Yoth Iria write epics, they write the song as a story you don't just get it from the lyrics you get the story from the feelings the music evokes within you, the lyrics are just an extra part of the whole picture. Incredible writing and I can't wait to hear more from these guys!
Incredible song writing
The music builds an image in your mind
There is more than meets the eye upon first listen
It's just to damn short, I was left wanting more.... don't get me wrong I'm going to listen to this over and over I just wish it was longer.
Yoth Iria have started something huge, they have written 2 incredible songs and covered one of the best black metal tracks ever, and upon the way have given us a taste of how it should be done, how black metal should be written. Not with utter rage and chaos but a controlled burn, the rage and chaos is still there but it's measured and spent wisely not just thrown upon the altar and hacked up, it's placed upon the altar and dissected with great care.
Under His Sway
Sid-Ed-Gjinn
Visions of the Dead Lovers (Rotting Christ Cover)
The Magus - Vocals
George Emmanuel - Guitars
Jim Mutilator - Bass
J.V. Maelstrom - Drums
(bandcamp coming soon)
