Horna have long been at the forefront of black metal's global vanguard, hailed as one of the finest purveyors of Finnish filth and possessed of the kind of grim-faced resolve that only a half-mad Scandinavian can pull off convincingly. Active since 1993 and astonishingly prolific, Shatraug and his perennially shifting lineup of cohorts have settled into a comfortable standard of quality: save for 2007's one-off Bathory tribute, Sotahuuto, each Horna full-length has trodden the same path as its predecessor.
Shatraug is known as one of black metal's most creative and relentlessly busy musicians, and as Horna's massive discography attests, "downtime" is a dirty word to him. It's been five years since the release of their last full-length, 2008's Sanojesi Äärelle, but those years saw the band churn out a compilation, two EPs, a split with Hungarian black metallers Nefarious, and a live album. During that period, Horna also bid farewell to longtime vocalist Corvus and brought a new voice into the fold: Spellgoth made his first appearance on 2011's Adventus Satanae EP, replacing Corvus' piercing shrieks with a deeper, rougher croak.
On their new LP, Spellgoth seems to have settled into his role, and his vocals sound far more confident and dynamic. On first blush, the hoarse rasps are out of place; Horna's former vocalists favored a higher, more grating screech, and longtime fans may find that Spellgoth's low tone takes some getting used to. Once that wall is breached, though, his vocals become an obvious asset: harsh, commanding, and imbued with manic intensity. His masterful performance on "Aamutähden Pyhimys" alone makes it clear that, allegiances to Corvus or Nazgul notwithstanding, the proof is in the pudding, and this dude is one hell of a talented vocalist. The decision to bring him forward in the mix as a focal point proved to be a sound one, and any early reservations I'd had about Spellgoth's suitability vanished by the end of track two, the ominous "Askel Lähempänä Saatanaa".
Horna's twin trademarks are a reverence for black metal's Second Wave and deft utilization of melody within their pitch-black compositions. Shades of early Mayhem, A Blaze in the Northern Sky-era Darkthrone ("Aamutähden Pyhimys" is pure "Kathaarian Life Code" worship), and even Emperor peek through, as Shatraug makes no bones about his dedication to the early 90s' sound or his own roots therein. Buried beneath the jagged, bouncy riffs and apocalyptic blastbeats, sinister melodies slither and sway, crystal-clear and brazenly infectious. The album's standout track, "Kärsimyksin Vuoltu Hänen Valittuna Äänenään", offers a good example: It's constructed around an icy chord progression, graced by an especially unhinged vocal performance from Spellgoth, and rides out on one of those hypnotic mid-paced dirge Horna do so well. The production is as raw and ragged as one would hope-- buried by time and dust, without the wet cardboard drumming or lo-fi crackles.
All in all, Horna have once more delivered what they do best, a Horna record, and a solid one at that. They aren't rewriting the book, but Spellgoth's vocals are reason enough to give it a listen, and the very fact that black metal like this is still being written and released in 2013 is heartening.
