Introduction:
Shavalyoth – Μαρχωσιάς
Origin: Dodecanese – Greece
Genre: Melodic / Occult Black Metal
Themes: Ancient deities, Horror, Occultism
Label: Independent
Μαρχωσιάς
It’s now the dark month of November, Halloween flew past like one of the leaves blowing off your front door porch. The autumn is my favourite season of the year with its colder temperatures, the fresh air and the beautiful colours of the now dying nature. It’s the perfect time of year to listen to the harsh but yet wonderful genre that black metal is.
When I was coming home from work last night I was brutaly attacked by my neighbours christmas lights that were decorating their whole house. My calm and silent dark November was now lit up by thousands of small festive bright lights! After witnessing that atrocity I needed some time to recoup. What better way get back to normality than to sit down and put on some raging black metal? I was unsure of what to listen to this night but suddenly rememberd a little message I recieved some weeks ago from the band Shavalyoth. I scrolled back in my inbox and found the link from the conversation I had with them back then.
Their link sent me to their newest EP called, standby for some copy paste action; Μαρχωσιάς. This 4 track release has a runtime of 14 minutes, not a time consuming EP you might think but it sure leaves its mark once you devote yourself to it.
Tracklist:
1. Ύμνος Στον Λύκο Της Αβύσσου (feat. Apostate Archangel)
2. Μαρχωσιάς
3. Βάαλ (Ο Βασιλεύς Της Κολάσεως)
4. Σαμαηλ (Ο Πρίγκηψ Του Ερέβους)
The EP opens up with a dramatic dark symphony that has Apostate Archangel doing what seems as abit of a story telling in greek. The intro then transitions into the next tracks gloomy synthesized beginning before heavily distorted and muffled guitars with vocals comes in as a layer over the synth. Heavier and clearer guitars kick in at certain sections of the track that helps enhance the feeling of the distorted and muffled backlayered guitar, I like this alot.
The EP sounds abit like early Dimmu Borgir to me, especialy the third track. The synth works very well with the plummeling drums and guitar sound. The piece has overall a very fine melody both in lyrical delivery and riffage. The fourth and final track also has a grieving sounding piano that is really beautiful. A magic touch with some Harakiri for the Sky influence perhaps?
Conclusion
Shavalyoth has managed to create a dark, and gloomy sounding EP with a great pace and fantastic musicianship. I am definently intrigued to check out their earlier releases including a demo and one full-length album.
I am sure that fans of melodic and symphonic black metal will find this EP satisfying. You just gotta sit down and put it on to find out!
My rating of this EP is 8 / 10!
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