There is well and truly no shortage of reverence for the old school nowadays. No matter what style we’re dealing with in particular, there is always a devoted sense from a vast swathe of people on board that seek to add glory and splendor to all that the original works of the genre put into place decades ago with the newer acts hoping to add to the magic. It’s not always successful, as many of us know, but it’s on a decent enough basis that we get a band that manages to channel such wonder properly and execute it competently. Having their own beginnings in the 90s scene of black metal, it’s with their second album since their 2017 return that Blazemth put forth an effort that puts many others to shame.

With the somewhat recent trend of bands making loads of comebacks here and there across the underground, it’s only natural that a few of the closely guarded gems that were only known to a select few would come back around and gain a little more notoriety for one reason of another. In the case of bands like Blazemth, it’s a tremendous way to get a magnificent perspective on the genre as it was when the band was first around to make for a real window through time in many instances like what we see here throughout the whole of these nine tracks that “Gehenna” boasts. Packed with more than enough electrifying riffs, cold atmosphere, and musicianship that makes the very sky darken at its very presence, Blazemth takes the direct lessons from the old school and implements them perfectly into damn near every aspect of “Gehenna” complete with more than a few cues to Norse mythology to truly channel much of what the old school was, but never once does Blazemth miss the chance to infuse their own personality into the work even if its just a little. But it’s like they say: sometimes less is more. Where Blazemth doesn’t seek to advance the sound really in any way, it’s across the whole of “Gehenna” that we see this Spanish act makes the performance entirely their own without compromise.

A deep dive into what this particular wave of black metal can be, Blazemth only adds to what has always been great. Able to take its take and soak in the cold winds while always ensuring the scathing northern blizzards have more than enough time to dominate, “Gehenna” is more than likely one of the last must-hear stops for old school black metal we’re to see in the waning hours of 2024.

“Gehenna” releases on December 23rd via Negra Nit!

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