Released at the end of 2015, this seven-track EP from Greek black metal quintet Varathron was released ahead of their sixth full-length album (which did not come out until 2018) and features three new songs along with four older ones recorded live that year. Based around Stefan Necroabyssious (vocals) who formed the band back in 1988, the band have been incredibly stable for years, and still has the same line-up in 2023 with Achilleas C. (guitars), Haris (drums), Sotiris (guitars), and Stratos Kountouras (bass). Hellenic Black Metal is often quite different to what we get from Scandinavia and this is certainly heavy on the atmosphere and slightly slower than what we often get from there. Also, there is a large amount of variety as they continue on from the journey they had been on with the previous year’s album, ‘Untrodden Corridors of Hades’. Within the three new songs we are treated some lengthy exploits with two more than seven minutes in length allowing them to really develop the themes.

Sadly, the recording quality of the live tracks, recorded in Larisa on May 16th, 2015, are not as good as one would expect and the drum sound in particular is not good, sounding quite hollow and with less of the powerful strike one would expect. Interestingly though, they reach back all the way to their debut album for one track, as well as including another from the most recent, and they certainly stand up well against each other. Still active today, this is an interesting slice of studio and live which will be of interest not only to fans of the band but to those who enjoy the genre.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://varathron.com/
https://www.agoniarecords.com/