Year: 2020
Time: 42:13
Label: Terratur Possessions
During 2015, in Finland, some well-known Black Metal musicians of the local scene decided to create a new project and approach Black Metal in a way vastly different from what they have already demonstrated with their bands. These musicians are L.R. and M.L. of the Black Metallers HORNA, who in collaboration with M.S., BEHEXEN’s frontman on vocals, created BYTHOS. Without having released as much as a demo in the previous years, they are introduced to us this year with their debut full length “The Womb of Zero”.
The album musically follows a satanic/ritual mid-tempo Death/Black rhythm, which after a while becomes tedious and boring. Almost all of album’s songs have been carefully built with a certain pattern, which does not offer any surprises or unexpected creativity to the listener. The melodies are haunted by DISSECTION’s spirit throughout the record, which, along with the “catchy” riffs, for a Black Metal album, are being boosted by an excellent production. BYTHOS has focused on the album’s solid sound and not to its fast parts, that are completely missing. Some parts reminded me of BEHEMOTH and SATYRICON of their recent releases, something I think BYTHOS did on purpose to be more acceptable.
The truth is, I did not have any big expectations for this collaboration, because both bands, especially HORNA, have not released any good albums recently and the predictability of “The Womb of Zero” confirmed my early thoughts. BYTHOS’s debut, without being anything special, will certainly be loved by those who like Black Metal’s melodic and more commercial varieties, but I am afraid it will be quickly forgotten.
Rating: 6/10
Editor: Nikos Manousis
Related Link: BYTHOS – Facebook Page
