Thou Art Lord - Daemoniorum EP (2022)

The Magus has really been on a tear in the last couple years, offering up fiery revivals of some of his popular bands, and even forming a new solo project which has plenty to offer the Hellenic black metal advocate. In 2022 he laid Necromantia to rest with a brilliant tribute album to the late Baron Blood which was one of my favorites of that year, even if it eschewed that project's bass-driven roots for something more overtly symphonic and accessible. There was also a new EP release for Thou Art Lord, and like the aforementioned, it takes on a slightly more polished and contemporary sound without betraying a 30 year legacy. Having Necromayhem (Sakis Tolis of Rotting Christ) and drummer J. Maelstrom back on board doesn't hurt, and the three blaze what must be the fastest trail this Greek act has ever cleared.

Three tracks, all around 2-3 minutes, totally less than 10 minutes, and just blowing the listener the fuck away with memorable melodic guitar lines, perfectly rasped vocals, and snappy drums. Sakis must have wanted to get this stuff out of his system for a long time, it's absolutely written with the Hellenic style in mind, but really faster than you'd expect from most of his stuff, almost like it was a later Rotting Christ record which someone set at the wrong speed on a turntable (especially the opener "Hades"). There's a slight atmosphere of choir on the excellent "The Black Halo", and "Fire, Chaos and Doom" has a bit of a speed metal/punk propulsion to it which is quite a cool balance against the more epic feel of the other two tracks. Production is likewise awesome, just airy and clear without sounding digital or poppy, it conducts this EP like a trio of winds howling at you from high on an ancient temple, Gods and mischief, sacrifices and fornication splayed out below your gaze and grasp. If they do follow this one up with another full length, I hope it's got a bit more dynamic variation, for that is the one flaw here, but as it stands I think you can pick these tunes up on a reissue of DV8 if you don't want the download or the 7". Exciting stuff.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

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Thou Art Lord - The Regal Pulse of Lucifer (2013)

Thou Art Lord have never released a bad album, but they've also never release a particularly great one either. However, they are trying pretty damn hard to change that through The Regal Pulse of Lucifer, a catchy full-length which fondly summons up comparisons to both their earlier records like Eosforos, and several of the seminal efforts of their brother band Rotting Christ, like Thy Mighty Contract or Triarchy of the Lost Lovers. In fact, I was quite shocked at just how fluently this album brought on a nostalgia for the 'Golden Age' of Hellenic black metal, when the prominent bands in this region were taking a more tangibly melodic and mid-paced path rather than the oft ceaseless blasting grime and tremolo flood associated with many bands in the Scandinavian scene. This is varied, memorable, atmospheric material, which even at its cheesiest provides entertainment, and I'll go out on a limb to claim that it's their best record yet, effortlessly recommended to anyone who enjoys the particular sound.

I'll go one further: I've enjoyed this album more than the past decade of Rotting Christ material. Granted, the differences are minimal, and if you had Necromayhem/Sakis Tolis handling the vocals full time instead of Gothmog, it'd be difficult to distinguish the two on a cut like "Nine Steps to Hell". But let's not diminish the presence of 'The Magus' Warmpyr Daoloth on bass and keys, or new members Maelstrom on drums (who has played in a shit ton of bands including Dodsferd, Nadiwrath, Ravencult and Abyssgale) or El of Nergal and Soulskinner on guitars and additional keyboards. I mean, when you just look upon the long list of works associated with this quintet, it's no wonder that they're so capable of creating such purism of the past...several of them are the very same individuals who pioneered it. Necromayhem's crisp, staccato picking techniques and slower, majestic note progressions lie at the heart of this experience, of course. A track like "Infernarium" begs the question: what if Rotting Christ had hired Tom G. Warrior to sing on Triarchy of the Lost Lovers? Elsewhere, "L'Evangelium de Diable" and "Artificial Malevolence" manifest immediate, passionate melodies that will stick in my brain for months to come.

The vocals are consistently brutish and ghastly, with Tolis and Wampyr lending their own nefarious timbres in support of Gothmog's guttural might. Bass guitars are actually pretty timid for Daoloth, a man used to driving his own main band with the very same instrument, but the tone booms sufficiently along with Maelstrom's blasting and there's just enough happening with the rhythm guitar harmonies and frilly, spectral lead sequences that I can forgive a lack of corpulent and distorted bass grooves. Synthesizers are total old school ambient screams against the infernal night of "Nine Steps to Hell", while guitars and keys are also used to embed the freakish but subtle effects off the beat, like the squeals in the breakdown of that very same track, peppered over the old school Celtic Frost-style groove. I should point out that the record is structured and pace to maintain the listeners' interests throughout, moving in equal measure through faster and mid-paced numbers, or capturing a wider range within a single piece, i.e. "The Regal Pulse of Lucifer" itself with its morose Gothic pianos in the verse.

There's a fantastic 'Easter egg' at the close of the album ("Fire and Blood") in which the band offers up a tremolo picked metallic rendition of Ramin Djawadi's opening theme for the Game of Thrones TV series, instantly recognizable and proof that these Greeks have great taste in fiction as well as music; but to be honest I was equally pleased throughout by the original material. A few note progressions here or there seemed familiar and 'generic' for the genre, but in general it felt like they were putting some effort into shiny new patterns that would remain sweet on the ears. Layered with all the effects, the multi-pronged vocal attack, and the intense and level rhythmic consistency of the new drummer, The Regal Pulse of Lucifer is unquestionably a 'complete package' whose subtleties don't fade after the first few listens. I've been going over it for about a week now in my car and still haven't stopped smiling. Varathron, Nergal, Rotting Christ, Necromantia and obviously earlier Thou Art Lord fans rejoice.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

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Thou Art Lord - Orgia Daemonicum (2005)

Orgia Daemonicum is a somewhat different beast than the previous Thou Art Lord albums, in not necessarily for a change in genre, then for the slightly more organic production aesthetics. They use this punchy, springy guitar tone here that gives the album more of a black/thrash aesthetic than the more blustering, symphonic theatrics of Eosforos or Apollyon. Strangely enough, this is also the album that reminds me of Sakis Tolis' other, more prominent band, Rotting Christ. If you took Rotting Christ and condensed them into a more thuggish, thrashing beast, it might turn out quite like what I'm hearing on this.

Not that the little eccentricities of this duo's past have entirely abandoned their modus operandi, but they all feel more subdued, like subtle guitars layered in for ambiance in straight, chugging black thrashers like "An Apparition of Vengeance". There are a number of the tracks that use a lot of the familiar Rotting Christ counter-melodies off the straight, hammering rhythm guitar, such as "Hecate Unveiled", "Necromantic", "The Gnostic Code". But the Greeks also branch out a bit, with a slower, ritual chuggernaut in "The Royal Invocation of Apophis" or some straight shots of eerie melodic death in the title track. At best, though, the band will break into this great, ripping thrash riff reminiscent of Slayer ("He, the Great Worm") and really bind together the wider dynamic range into a fit of sheer headbanging rage.

Almost as if to mirror their stylistic deviation here, they include a cover of Onslaught's "Power from Hell", off the album of the same name. Actually sounds quite good with Magus Wampyr's charismastic gutturals, and once more I have to point out that I love the guitar tone, not to mention the inflections of atmosphere they hurl under the riffs with some synthesizer/choirs. This all helps top off what I might consider the most 'fun' of Thou Art Lord's efforts, even if I enjoy the music from all its predecessors more. It's clear that the band did not wish to merely repeat itself, and so the change is welcome, but there's just not much food for thought here. Tense, coiled fists to the face without catchy enough notation to resonate for long.

Verdict: Win [7/10] (exploding, decompressed)

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Thou Art Lord - DV8 (2002)

Being the side project of several of Greece's most important metal acts, it's understandable that there would be gulfs in Thou Art Lord's release schedule. Sakis Tolis was off touring and storming the world with his mainstay Rotting Christ, while Magus Wampyr Daoloth enjoyed a lesser measure of success through Necromantia. The vocalist Gothmog had exited the premises by this point, so Sakis and Magus would both serve as substitutes, but they also brought in a pair of hard hitting guests: drummer Lethe of Mournblade and Order of the Ebon Hand, and guest vocalist Spiros Antoniou of atmospheric death kings Septic Flesh. Perhaps the highest profile lineup of any Thou Art Lord recording.

DV8 is also the best produced, sound better balanced than either of its predecessors Eosforos or Apollyon, while maintaining the same black/death hybrid aesthetic laced with slight touches of the symphonic or atmospheric elements that the members' had used in their primary bands. "A Chaldean Hex" features crisp, driving guitars redolent of the harder Rotting Christ material, while eerie harpies and subtle choirs are threaded through in an almost electronic context. I rather enjoy the break with the horn over the thrashing bridge riff that then explodes into the lead, and it's a straight shot to the intense thrasher "Baphomet's Meteor". But these are not the only tricks in Thou Art Lord's deck: with "Behind the Druid Walls", they prove they can lovingly mesh a brutal, modern death metal aesthetic with walls of pulsing atmosphere and razor black riffing, and in "Society of the Dilettanti", they even offer up a mock groove/nu-metal sequence with bouncing rhythms and harmonics, only to sacrifice it into their snarling momentum.

If there's anything wrong with the album, it's that a few of the tracks move at near identical paces, and the patterns become familiar: crash, burn, and throw a couple of curious twists to the formula which are just enough to distract the listener from feeling he/she just heard the song a few minutes prior. Sleek, modern and deadly, and perhaps the best proof of concept that Thou Art Lord has ever released, but still lacking the overall distinction of the members' mainstays. Daoloth keeps the bass busy, but since it's just not as important here as in Necromantia, we're far better introduced to Tolis' guitars. Otherwise, though, the engineering of the album truly brings the band's varied elements into the 21st century, without throwing their original style of Eosforos entirely under the bus. If you liked the previous albums, then I see no reason you wouldn't also enjoy this. It's a marginally superior effort, but believing these practiced gentlemen capable of a more poignant slurry of miracles than what they've developed here is entirely warranted.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

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Thou Art Lord - Apollyon (1996)

Despite the genius of its creators 'main' bands, I've always remained hesitant to enlist Thou Art Lord into the core of the Greek elite. There has always felt something frivolous and undecided about the songwriting, as if it they merely sought a forum for the cast-off skins of their other projects. That said, Eosforos was off to a pretty good start, and Apollyon makes for a suitable sequel, with a massive improvement in the actual production standards. Yes, Apollyon joins the ranks of Walpurgisnacht, Triarchy of the Lost Lovers and the more obscure Unspeakable Cults at the next plateau of potential, forsaking the murky and dry environment of its predecessor for a polish that could compete with the other bigwigs of Europe.

The issue here, is that there are several songs upon Apollyon that are ridiculously AWESOME, and then others that too soon fall by the wayside. For example, you've got "Experimental Magic" which charges forward, takes no prisoners, sounds adequately harsh, but never goes anywhere; and on the other side, "Hate is Thicker Than Love", with its slashing grooves and muted streams of malevolent bliss, a more belligerent Rotting Christ. Or "Societas Satanas", which boasts a more rugged veneer of melodic black/thrash which might qualify as an almost entirely different band (and a fucking good one). Then there are slower pieces like "Moonscar" and "In Blood We Trust" which reveal a few Celtic Frost tendrils, but little lasting character. The most unusual would probably be the full-on Gothic symphonic sweep of "He, Whom the Gods Hath Feared", but a cursory listen to the previous album tells us that this is no surprise.

The energies are feral, diabolic and vibrant throughout most of the 38 minutes, but ultimately there are just too few songs that stand out in my head. I actually find individual tracks more to my liking than any on Eosforos, but that album as a whole was more consistent. Gothmog sounds fairly brutal and he was clearly one of the better singers or this Greek scene, with a little more meat than Sakis or Magus Wampyr Daoloth, but the riffs are usually hit or miss. That said, the album does hint at this amazing black/thrash side that I would have loved to see Thou Art Lord exploit down the road, because where they let loose they grind you to a pulp. Apollyon is a cool enough sophomore, but it lacks some cohesion.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (spells brewed in wizened fingertips)

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Thou Art Lord - Eosforos (1994)

In addition to their collaboration on the Rotting Christ albums Thy Mighty Contract and Non Serviam, Sakis Tolis and Magus Wampyr Daoloth would continue to write for Thou Art Lord, resulting in a number of full-length efforts that evolved stylistically through time. The first of these was Eosforos, an album which capitalized upon their demos with a mystical mesh of black and death aesthetics, ambient experimentation and occult evocation. Using the same lineup as the EP from the year prior, they both expanded and refined their sound to promote stronger riffing and overall songwriting, led by Gothmog's ghastly gutturals and the shining, morbid titillation of synthesizers and Sakis' leads.

To be truthful, this is far closer to Rotting Christ than Daoloth's mainstay Necromantia, but there subtle differences betwixt the two. The vocals are comparable (Sakis even does backups here), but not an exact duplicate, while the riffing is darker and more infused with death metal chugging. However, there are often even more layers of depth and atmosphere drawn upon than on Non Serviam, like the song "Towers of the Autumn Moon" with its creepy yet campy horror synth intro and the driving undercurrents of melody through both the guitar and keyboard; or the crashing percussive chaos of "Through the Eye of the Hierophant". In fact, I'd liken Eosforos to a mixture of Non Serviam and Septic Flesh's amazing full-length debut Mystic Places of Dawn, which was released in the same year. It maintains that same, exotic texture, if cruder and more seductive ("For the Lust of Lilith") and despotic ("The Era of Satan Rising") lyrically.

I must say though that I did not always love the riffing here. A lot of the rhythm guitars, while busy and suitable to their environs, just left me dry, so I was relying on the dry melodies and the keyboards to envelop me. There are exceptions, like the bleeding streams of "Warhammer" or the more directly brutal death metal riffing in "A Call to Chaos (Kaos-Keravnos-Kybernatos"), which was pretty close in style to the first two Deicide records, but on the whole there are just not a lot of patterns here which stood out, so it becomes harder to distinguish them individually over time. I found myself preferring the non-metal passages, but in all its not a bad way to pass 40 minutes of time, even if I wouldn't reach for this over a cult masterwork like Scarlet Evil Witching Black, Thy Mighty Contract or Mystic Places of Dawn. Dark and busy, but the major players here were capable of much more, as they would prove repeatedly.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10] (thou urge a restless aspiration)

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Thou Art Lord - Diabolou Archaes Legeones EP (1993)

Another product of the tightly knit and incestuous Greek black metal scene, Thou Art Lord is a collaboration between two of its prime suspects: Necromayhem (aka Sakis Tolis) of Rotting Christ, and Magus Wampyr Daoloth, known here as 'Morbid', who is also one of the driving forces behind Necromantia. Daoloth appeared on Thy Might Contract performing keys and some vocals, so this is not the only instance of them working together, but they picked up a few other members and decided to create a side-project. Well, this golden apple does not fall very far from the tree: Thou Art Lord sounds like a more brutal, schizoid alternative to Rotting Christ, at least on this early recording. So much so that one who enjoys the one will undoubtedly appreciate the other.

The differences are in the more monstrous vocals, performed here by another of the members, 'Gothmog', backed by Magus and Sakis both. There is also a more complex, death metal subtext running beneath the familiar, steady driving beats and strings of predictable but evocative melodies. The downside is that there are only two tracks, both of which appeared on the project's Cult of the Horned One demo the same year, and its all over in less than 10 minutes. The third track from that demo, "In Blood We Trust", was released as a split with the Belgian outfit Ancient Rites, also in 1993. So essentially, this EP is just an example of clever double dipping. "The Era of Satan Rising" would be given a more epic, sweeping treatment with an expanded intro on the 1994 full-length Eosforos, and I have always preferred that version.

Here they just sort of break into that familiar, Rotting Christ-riff pace, and since "Praising the Impure" starts off at a comparable gait, the songs feel redundant with one another. Not to say that they entirely lack their moments of glory, especially in the latter's breakdown, but the whole shebang feels as if its traveling on ground that was better trampled by Thy Might Contract or the Varathron full-length His Majesty at the Swamp. It's not bad, and I actually do enjoy the Gothmog vocals, but the production is crude, chuggy and cluttered akin to Nightfall's Macabre Sunsets; and there simply isn't all that much here of note. Fans of the medium looking to check out this pairing for the first time would be wise to head straight for Eosforos, or the subsequent offering Apollyon.

Verdict: Indifference [5.25/10] (inverted is the life we live)

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