Their theatric agonies given narrative by way of downturned words in contemplative pathos, the soaring chants, chorale and riff-built intensities of folken Hellenic black metal quartet THYRATHEN reveals the mystery cult of shadows rich as ever with culture and ambition sewn into their designs on this sophomore full-length album. Striking broad-chested command of their fantastical yet philosophically guided narrative these fellowes present ‘Lakonic‘ as a work of many words, many grand personalities in gloriously harmonized performance wrangled together by ‘epic’-sized feats and blackened accost as a common goal. The vision realized herein is engrossing, tidal in its steady pull out to a sea by way of highly melodic yet marching-forth heavy metal built black metal songs. An essential for the Greek black metal cultists among us and an alluring, brilliantly focused narrative vision once more.

Thyrathen formed circa 2011 by way of drummer Corax S., who is better known for his involvement in Jackal’s Truth a late 90’s demo-only group as well as contributions to Nocternity‘s side of a split with Kawir in the early 2000’s. The band hadn’t formed into a practical inquiry under its initial duo and it wasn’t until the original guitarist had left that guitarist/bassist A.Z. (Gospel of Grief) was brought into the fold and and vocalists Stefan Necroabyssious (Varathron) and Alexandros (Macabre Omen) were recruited to voice their first full-length album (‘ThanatOpsis‘, 2021) a dark fantasy narrative imbued with ancient philosophy. Not only was this an epic, folken black metal album with a hifalutin narrative spirit but they’d teamed with Ván Records for an elaborate book-like presentation which elucidated the themes of the album. Pairing this is extensive narration, war cries, choirs, diaulos and lyre it was an epic build from a folken place… unhindered and theatric. With that bar set high and some shift in membership since 2022 we get a bit of the ‘bigger and better’ effect of a sophomore full-length in ‘Lakonic‘ but also a slightly different vision rather than a plain follow-up.

A second contained epic with arguably clearer direction and slightly more aggressive meter than their previous work ‘Lakonic‘ carries on with the character Thyrathen developed beyond 2019 but acts as a separate tome entirely. Some of that change comes by virtue of a different songwriter entering the fold as guitarist/bassist Noch (Black Winter) acts features as co-songwriter beyond 2022 on pieces which offer to-the-point pacing more often while maintaining the ‘epic’ aura established early on via “Religious Agonies” and “The Throne of Microcosmos (Foolishness)”. Fans of a certain era of Kawir and of course Macabre Omen should appreciate the mid-paced strides and heavy metal stoked bones of most songs here, fitting entrant to the Greek melodic and/or pagan metal spectrum of black metal. The extra resonance which sets the experience off beyond those already appealing realities comes by way of a distinct focus on conveying Hellenic sound and spiritus by way of their brilliant use of chorale as extra-narrative device as well the lyre (via Thanasis Kleopas) as broader melodic voicing. Of course the choirs, chorales, narration, rasps, etc. come from a myriad number of artists (Ioannis Karamitsios, Demosthenes, et al.) contributing to this end result, allowing the general sound design to bring many more voices into the room and make them fit.

Soaring lead guitars shape the epic melodic vision of ‘Lakonic‘ to start as mentioned and in this sense these are the most ingrained with that ‘epic’ black metal register with (again) “Religious Agonies” first showing off what the full force of the arranged choir and whole of the team bring in beauteous layers of voice. It is a commanding piece just as well, incorporating cinematic marching speed and traditional heavy metal melody to build its ride forth. In terms of outright melodic Greek black metal ideation we could find guitar driven moments all over this record but “Matter , Void, Sperm” naturally caught my ear first when looking for mid-paced barreling melody and of course the unique combination of main vocalists who compliment one another even more than on the prior LP. By direct comparison “De Rerum Natura” feels like it carries a late 90’s/early 2000’s Rotting Christ-esque guitar hook in its intent which adds to the general variety on this already fast-moving full listen. The peak built toward here is probably my favorite piece overall in “Η Πόλις (the Philosophical Poem)” where again the catchiness in the lead guitars help direct the dramatism otherwise, allowing plenty of room for exposition, additional vocal layers, and of course the brilliant feature of the lyre to insert themselves. If you are a fan of the slightly more guitar-forward anthems on ‘Aealo‘ but maybe early 2010’s Kawir is more your speed overall you’ll likely appreciate this composition as much as I have.

In a way ‘Lakonic‘ only blooms from beyond its focused midpoint, sprawling into bigger rhythm-driven melodic pieces, stamping harder at drums which only expand in their percussive reach while offering a rifled forth pace which allows for the traditional heavy metal momentum of the full listen to full engage. This means “Void, Matter, Sperm” (not to be confused with “Matter, Void, Sperm”) offers an even bigger highlight on an album which only seems to find a new peaking high with each song delivered, allowing the closer to really sing as an appropriate grand finale moment; The escalation of the full listen is believable in the sense that they’ve not strayed from the voice offered on the opening pieces but rather expanded it, drawn it out into increasingly expressive and ambitious songs.

The effect of this record, the charge they’ve set behind the listening experience, is strong enough that I’d almost been so enthralled by their compositional work and the chanting cult energy built that I’d hardly paid attention to the themes and lyrics involved to start. Deeper thoughts on those elements will likely come when the lyric sheet is in front of me, as was the case with their debut LP but the sense of dramatic tension and revelry in their vision is at least palpable. Otherwise I’d found this album to be curated and writ to a degree which most often extended above and beyond expectations set by Thyrathen‘s debut, a bolder and more focused voice applied to vigorous and inspiring statement that’d entertained for countless listens on my part. A high recommendation.

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