“This time we entered the studio with the clear intention of creating a landmark album for the band.” It’s a noble and challenging mission statement from Hellenic black metal troop Yoth Iria, and one that has amply succeeded in the form of Gone With The Devil, the Attica quartet’s stellar third album. Their trajectory has been on a steep ascent since crafty 2021 debut As The Flame Withers and 2024’s hypnotic Blazing Inferno, but there has audibly been a concerted determination to develop and expand in sinister new directions. The daemonic avatar Yoth Iria was first explicitly summoned on Rotting Christ’s legendary debut Thy Mighty Contract in 1993. Bassist/lyricist Jim Mutilator formed that band as Black Church in 1984, before also becoming a founder member of cult Athenian BM heroes Varathron for their first five years. Renewing the otherworldly atmospheres and occult ravishment for a new era, Yoth Iria functions almost as the third panel in an apocalyptic triptych of Hellenic black metal excellence. There’s a thrilling balance of ancient and modern, good and evil, harmony and dissonance, advancing Yoth Iria as a hungry contender for extreme metal’s big leagues – an ever-improving unit with a glorious future. Appropriately, however, Gone With The Devil is best summed up with a line already coined by the band to describe their ongoing body of work: “Every note tells a story of rebirth, tradition, and the relentless pursuit of musical transcendence.” 180G. Tracklist: Tracklist not available yet.
