Year: 2022
Total Time: 46.10
Label: self released

The Spaniards FOGOS is a newly founded Scandinavian Black Metal quartet. It consists of Saten Haz Im Nu (vocals), The Butcher (bass), Croma Lan Ro (drums) and Kerberos (guitar). The band was just founded last year and it has already released its first full length album (which is also its first release, generally) with the happy title “Corpses and Ashes”.

Ten purely black songs, with, mainly, greek titles such as “Acheron”, “Dysnomia”, “Deimos” and “Eidolon”. They are clearly inspired by Scandinavian Black Metal and not so much from its Mediterranean branches. They may be a new band but its members are quite experienced (they were part of various bands like OBSIDIAN KINGDOM, MADERA, ERED) so their album avoids some of the classic flaws of first albums. The production is quite good, Saten’s vocals are steady and, generally, they seem to be quite well rehearsed and synchronized.

Surely, it is neither a masterpiece nor an album with musical variety. But it is a decent album, that uses in a clever way the different greek characters as personification of the psychology and the thoughts of various people. Just to get the feeling of what I am talking about, here are some sample lyrics first from “Acheron”

Stronger my will weaker

than ever my life

death shall come

as it was written

it was deserved

and then from “Khione”

My dreams not more than shattered pieces

My lips are just ripped meat

Moreover, they offer us generously some excellent guitar solos and riffs and, of course, dynamic and steady drums. There are also some melodic parts (a usual feature of Scandinavian bands) that make the listening of the album smoother for the sensitive ears.

An interesting beginning, from a band that surely has a future ahead.

Rating: 6,5/10
Editor: Kostas Boudoukos
Related Link: FOGOS – Facebook page