Evroklidon - The Flame of Sodom

(Note: This review was originally written in November of 2004 and is being revised now to go along with the official release of this long-overdue album).

Well believe it or not, Bombworks Records has found yet another great metal band from the Ukraine. I had little knowledge of any bands from this country just six months ago and all of the sudden the label has releases coming from Holy Blood, Angel 7, Requital, and now Evroklidon. 

Honestly, upon first listen I had a really hard time getting into this album. I'm not really sure what I was smoking at the time though, cause I'm loving this disc now. Despite the somewhat cheesy album cover (at least the picture on the Bombworks site is what I'm assuming is the cover), this music is anything but cheesy.  (The official release has a much better cover as you can see above). Evroklidon dishes out some serious black metal that should really get this genre's fans excited.

While the band is from the Ukraine, they really give off a Scandinavian feel to their music...aside from the occasional clean Russian vocals. The opening intro starts off with the whistling of wind and bells tolling with a storm brewing in the background. The clean Russian vocals are over-layed with a slow and doomy guitar. The second track, "Devilish Beast in the Eternal Fire", comes at you with slow and plodding black metal ala Stronghold with some of the only keys that you will find on this disc that sound akin to what you would hear on a Morphia album. 

"Legends of Old Men - Wisdom of Ancient" picks up the pace a bit with a good dose of double bass and even some acoustic guitar and flutes added to compliment the already haunting atmosphere the band has created. The title track comes next and the band really picks up the tempo here. This song features blasting and some blistering guitar work. It's almost like a huge wall of noise at times. And the vocals on this track, along with most of the vocals on the album are some downright grim black metal vocals. Excellent stuff!!! Fans of bands like Darkthrone, Burzum, and Old Man's Child (without all the keyboards) should really dig this. Although Evroklidon places a much heavier influence on quality production than Darkthrone or Burzum.

Track five, "Funeral of a Dead Soul" reverts back to a slower and more melodic pace with some clean singing mixed in with the black metal shrieking. The song speeds up as it progresses through it's over 10 minutes of music. It also seems to have a very emotional feel to it.

The album ends with the song "Spiritual Battle", which starts off with a great acoustic guitar intro. However, the onslaught that follows makes you soon forget the soothing beginning.

As this 42 minute, six track disc ends, I'm find myself very satisfied. The band succeeded in creating a very primitive sound that also allowed for the mixing in of many other elements that were combined to make a great debut album. If you are a fan of black metal this is definitely a disc that you do not want to pass up.

Rating: 86/100

Review By: Matt Morrow

Label: Bombworks Records

Total Songs: 6

Total Time: 42:39

Tracklisting: 1. Intro, 2. Devilish Beast in the Eternal Fire, 3. Legends of Old Men - Wisdom of Ancient, 4. The Flame of Sodom, 5. Funeral of a Dead Soul, 6. Spiritual Battle.

Best Songs: Tracks 3, 4, & 6.

Band Lineup: Artaaroth - Vocals/Guitar/Bass, Rain - Drums.

Band Website: N/A