While Greece has been making the news for many less positive reasons in recent years and months on account of its tempestuous economy and political situation, it’s easy to forget that for the majority of the population, life goes on, one way or another. it’s so easy to forget that people are still producing art and music. And so the arrival of Katavasia’s ‘Sacrilegious Testament’ in my inbox proved a welcome and timely reminder That there’s always something else.
I’ll admit to having zero knowledge of the 90s Green BM scene the members of Katavasia have their roots in, or who ‘well known’ occult metallers Varathron are, but a cursory glance on Encyclopaedia Metallum suggests Black Metal is pretty big in Greece, so it seems more than feasible they’ve got some credibility domestically.
The vocals growl and roar from a cavernous pit while tempestuous guitars rage all around. Sure, the titles may be cliché (as ‘Adoration of Darkness’, ‘Cosmic Nightmare’, ‘Virgin Blood’ and ‘Visions of the Misty Night’ attest) and the songs conform to the conventional tropes of the black metal genre, but there’s more to ‘Sacrilegious Testament’ than head-on satanic riffery. While the drums drive hard and the rhythm guitars crunch through a mercilessly dark path, the lead guitar lines conjure intricate sonic tapestries, interwoven with ethereal flutes.
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And while it does unquestionably lean toward the epic, the borderline bombastic, the execution is such that it’s not excessively or unduly grandiose and remains on the right side of pompous and overblown.
Dark, menacing and impressively textured, the main thrust of ‘Sacrilegious Testament’ is that it’s fucking ferocious. Exactly as it should be.
Katavasia Online
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