After their 2004 release, Varathron went yet another five years before releasing this album. Turns out the wait was well worth it. This is not quite a return to form for the band, but it is a change to a much more epic brand of Hellenic black metal and very similar to the sound Rotting Christ was using in the same time period. One major change is the abandonment of the reliance on keyboards. There are still keyboards present, but they are a much more minor part of the sound and Varathron has returned to basing their melodies around crunching riffs. There are still atmospheric moments, which the band has always utilized quite well, and they work to accentuate the much more aggressive riffs on this release.
The highlights include "Legions of Profane Wrath" and "Sacred Ahlat" where the riffs are particularly aggressive and the atmosphere is at its most epic. It is those songs that really draw comparisons to their countrymen in Rotting Christ. But there are absolutely no weak moments on this entire release.
This is Varathron's best album since their debut. That is truly saying something because the band has released a number of terrific albums, despite the last two missteps. This release is every bit the equal of the Rotting Christ albums of the last 15 years or so, and longtime readers know how I feel about those releases.
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