Yoth Iria – Blazing Inferno Review

[Cover art by Harshanand Singh]

The heavy metal mascot is a wonderful thing and one that few modern bands seem to have made work for them. Yoth Iria, however, has enlisted the visual assistance of Harshanand Singh for three covers that all feature this armored demonic angel giant who is all sorts of badass. If you’re thinking this hellish face of the band is giving off Big Boss energy, that shouldn’t surprise you as Singh also creates art for video games. He also represents the music of the band well as they create striking tunes that feel massive and ooze with dark atmosphere.

For those unfamiliar, Yoth Iria is the baby of Jim Mutilator and The Magus. With their past involvement in the likes of Rotting Christ, Varathron and Necromantia, it’s no surprise that the fingerprints of Hellenic black metal are everpresent in the band’s music even if doesn’t dominate them. Album number two, however, has seen The Magus step back and Yoth Iria go from a duo to a full band with two guitarists, a drummer, a new vocalist and Mutilator on bass. As the principal songwriter, Mutilator’s past remains present but his delivery is more economical and straightforward with shorter songs and an overall runtime staying under 40 minutes. These songs feel massive without being so.

That’s immediately apparent as the title track kicks off the album with the booming thuds of the toms accompanied by chants like workers rowing a giant galley ship as the final beat crashes against them in uneasy waters. There’s no lengthy intro, quiet build or acoustic fluff; just a smash straight into the good stuff. The band also quickly shows off their ability to use melody to create a sense of drama in their music. “But Fear Not” is sort of a funny title to follow since the whole track acts as a bit of a red herring. It opens with militant blasts and primarily maintains a speed the rest of the album rarely if ever approaches again. The majority of Blazing Inferno relies on open space, simpler mid-tempo drumming and big chords. There’s a triumphant spirit that abounds through every track.

While many of the songs may keep similar tempos, Yoth Iria finds several different ways to keep their flair for the dramatic varied, interesting and often subtle. There are three different types of clean vocals summoned on the album. There are clean female vocals woven into open spaces on “Mornings of the One Thousand Golds.” Similarly, “Our Father Rode Again His Ride” opens with a gothic male choral style of singing and once the song gets going, vocalist He unveils some cleans of his own. A variety of instrumentation outside of the core strings and skins is also implemented. More like what you would expect with an opening track, “In the Tongue of Birds” has a slower, ominous build laden with horns. It follows that with a simple drum beat that’s easy to pump your fist to while the rhythm guitar provides a triumphant power metal gallop to the proceedings.

The band also utilizes a Middle Eastern-sounding instrument like a Shawm, Mizmar or something similar. It appears multiple times but is used sparingly and in different ways. The instrument first appears on “But Fear Not” and, during the closing, acts more like a guitar lead, soaring, “shredding,” and creating a wily sense of melody. “Rites of Blood and Ice” sounds like music accompanying tales of war being told around a blazing fire. The Middle-Eastern instrument appears again with the effect of a youthful warrior flitting around the fire poking all the grizzled vets and begging them to share more stories of battle. Much like the instrument itself, some of those warriors will likely find that flitting to be irritating while others energizing. On “Our Father Rode Again His Ride,” the cymbals clang through like the clashing of swords while the reedy tones swirl like the surrounding chaos of battle around that sword dual.

Melodic guitar leads are also given the spotlight sparingly, making them stand out more when they do appear. The title track has a soaring but short-lived one late in its runtime, while “Purgatory Revolution” is fat with them. The song opens with a skyward bit of shred, has a brief other passage, and then fires off another one, giving the track an energy and fire not quite matched elsewhere. In case that doesn’t satisfy you, yet another comes wailing through around the 3:30 mark.

Blazing Inferno is steeped in a dark atmosphere but shines through with an indefatigable sense of triumph. Of course, that all makes perfect sense with the lyrical theme of Satan as a source of empowerment rather than evil and chaos. If you need a big energy soundtrack to help you take down a bear of a day, Yoth Iria has you covered.