Thy Darkened Shade — Eternvs Mos, Nex Ritvs
Like many bands from Greece, Thy Darkened Shade revel in the obsession for rotten old school sound, heading straight to the putrid, acne-ridden, terminal rock and roll quintessence of metal. Their songs are fast and unforgiving, and the riffing is well calibrated between dissonance, death-influenced rhythms and plain cacophonous racket. I dare to say that some of the riffs contained here easily stick to the mind, which is not so common nowadays. The vocals are great, and I appreciated the variety and balance of the effects used. The result is not "plastic" and the hellish screams are
just about enough rough.
Of course the few Darkthronesque chanting moments are very appreciated here. Amidst the usual wall of blastbeats, the drumming section is often more interesting than usual, with a few peculiar choices here and there. Anyway, the drums sound massive just like they should be. The quality of sound is a bit too clean for my tastes, and probably the musicians involved in this band are too technical for me to fully appreciate their work but I reckon that the eight tracks of "Eternvs Mos, Nex Ritvs" deserved a classy treatment and a careful production. Hell, these guys had thirteen years to plan this album!
I found no real weak points in any of Thy Darkened Shade's songs, and in fact listening to their album often feels like listening to a classic of the genre. All the right elements are there, and a warm, beer and sulphur-stinking, misanthropic buzz crawls up the spine every time a song kicks in, reminding me of good days passed gulping down liquors, swearing and listening to Norwegian folks yelling.
All fans of traditional black metal will find much solace in blasting "Eternvs Mos, Nex Ritus" several times a day, probably for weeks. Highly recommended, definitely one of the best metal albums I listened to in a good while!