Patriarchs of Greece
Patriarchs of Evil is the sixth full length album made by the Hellenic black metal legends Varathron. For 4 years they've worked on this latest, as of this writing, addition to their very strong discography. Back in the early 90's Varathron created the classic Hellenic sound with their peers Rotting Christ, Necromantia, Zemial and quite a bunch of other bands. The only album of theirs that I would call spotty would be Crowsreign. The high quality of their discography coupled with the fact that they were excellent both times I saw them live made sure I had high expectations for this album. Surely they would deliver.
I am very happy to report that this album completely was as I expected. A piece of classic Hellenic black metal done in their very own Varathron style. Stefan's vocals are once again excellent. His special clear style of harsh vocals shine once again. I'd say that the Slayerisms are a bit less present on this record if I compare it with the 2 albums they made before this one. There is a bit more of a folkish feel to the riffs on this effort. The traditional heavy metal elements are still very much present as well of course. Like on their previous 2 albums the tempo is still reasonably fast paced. While this means that the special 4AD like atmosphere on their first couple records is once again not as present as on their first couple albums, this once again gets more than compensated by the excellent quality of the riffs. Now on a couple tracks like the closer the atmosphere comes a bit more to the foreground so you can still get your fix on this varied album. If you still need more I suggest to check out the excellent side projects some of the band members are involved in.
Initially I thought
that this album was a bit too clean sounding, however after a couple
spins including a very loud one I realized I was mistaken. This album
is seemingly made to share with your neighbors. This album not only
thunders when you crank it, all the details and flourishes become
even more attention grabbing. Personally I am not that into blasting
music loudly but just every once in a while you just find an album
that seemingly just demands it.
I am more than a
little pleased with this album. Varathron once again show us that
they are one of the very best black metal bands of all time. Not only
that but I can tell you that they are playing live more than ever
before and maybe they will now finally show up in your neighborhood.
Final score: 93/100
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