Calling upon decades spent gathering secreted ancient knowledge the ritualistic hymnals of the occult sorcerer(s) in Athens, Greece-based black metal project ΑΧΕΡΟΝΤΑΣ now guide us through ceremonious conjuration of the labyrinth toward death’s dissolution. This necromancy-bound work finds its truth in translation of the language of the ascended dead along our path through the netherworld unto ascension, intending spiritual scour and recommission within the darting rise-and-fall of this tenth full-length album. ‘NEKYIA -The Necromantic Patterns‘ is a black-shimmering sweep of the skull into demystification, a painful curse meant to yank the wayfaring soul away from ugliest spiritual indoctrination and its latencies. To the delight of anyone familiar with the band’s long history of occult magickry the swelling semi-melodic froth of their work achieves a new, differently angled high within these acts.

Though they’ve remarked that their work was officially began circa 1996 (re: Stutthof) by way of visionary V.P. Adept (Shibalba) their honest invocation of music as a spiritual artform arrived under the name Acherontas around 2007 (ΑΧΕΡΟΝΤΑΣ since 2021) and has been described in the past as a separate project and ideology. The roots of the second wave of black metal are yet key, something different for Greek black metal’s next generation from an artist with interest in 70’s heavy rock and abstraction. Both the spiritual directive of the band, described through a multitude of practices (including but not limited to: Drakonian currents, hermeticism, Luciferian magic, et al.), and the main conductor’s interest in black metal draw an unbreakable line between music and contra-cultural spiritual idealism through too many indulgent, transgressive works to recount here. The trend of their work has gone from mildly inconsistent black metal idealism to a more personal visionary quest over the course of the last couple of decades, you’ll find reviews for album number seven [1], eight [2], and nine [3] all received high praise for these traits over the years of examination with ‘Psychic Death – The Shattering of Perceptions‘ (2020) being a personal favorite thus far as the commune continues to writhe under the hand of time.

Is past work relevant today? Not if you find it daunting to revisit such an impressive body of work with a serious ear. Today I will suggest what is new, new actors and adherents which’ve shaped ‘NEKYIA -The Necromantic Patterns‘ into something different than before, a new dramatism built into their worldview. First, and perhaps most important to some degree is the co-compositional state of the album between V.P. Adept and D. Yama Ram of Outlaw who’d acted as a live guitarist for a couple of years before co-authoring parts of this record. The album otherwise includes work from Atum (Orthodoxy‘s current live drummer) and Hungarian bassist Aetherist who is best known for Lidérc and his solo black metal project Niedergang. While this line-up alters the key realization of the rhythmus of Acherontas in striking ways it is important to also point to production, mix/master from George Emmanuel (@ Pentagram Studio) who also provides some synth/”soundscapes” to the final result. Pulling in many accomplished hands to realize an album is not exactly new to the band’s modus but this time around the weight and size of the collaborations on hand are readily evident, practically on display as feature throughout rather than swept-past session work.

Up front, the rhythm guitar work on ‘NEKYIA -The Necromantic Patterns‘ is probably its most valuable trait, a largely melodic black metal anthemic touch which guides most of these songs toward upwards-scaling heavy rock dramatism. This sensation only escalates as the central thesis of the album reveals itself in waves, pulling in vocal theatrics in layers (via guests as well) with the perceived apex happening somewhere nearby “The Elder Keybearer’s Awakening”. From the blustering exposition/incantation of opener “The Eleventh Inversion – Oracles of the Abyss” the aggressive yet adventurous traits of Acherontas are all on display, soaring guitar solos and rough verbal accost escalate to ye olde standard of whipping peak second wave Scandinavian dread-fantasy. “Serpent’s Oath – Hymns of the Coiled Void” specifically has that Nightbringer (or, just Emperor-esque) sense of venture in its rhythmic fling just as well and I figure the guest contributions from Krvna are probably located somewhere within the first half of the album based on where we start with it.

The way through Acherontas‘ intensely channeled opening salvo and its strongly upheld momentum per the first four songs is its major impact, the dent to celebrate beyond initiation. I’ll admit my expectations were a solid album and not something so strikingly belted, narrated, and whirling with palpable energy beyond ‘Malocchio ​-​ The Seven Tongues of Δαημων‘. Where we cross the threshold of furious uprising and divination unto the more revelatory aspect of ‘NEKYIA -The Necromantic Patterns‘ comes within its second half between the aforementioned apex of “The Elder Keybearer’s Awakening” and the loft of “The Crimson Litany of Eternal Return”, the latter of which is particularly lucid and probably my favorite piece (beside “Venomous Ascension – The Nexus of the Void”) considering all they’ve worked into its thread, including a saxophone infused introduction. Beyond those two key pieces the exit of “Truth is a Pathless Land” is both grand and vestigial for my own taste in that it is an essential point of messaging which also uses some curious dissonant clashing of its rhythms as part of the walk through but also a piece which feels like it is playing the band out, a walk off of the pulpit in some sense.

There are many smaller details, such as the consistent use of piano in entrance/exit of several songs and myriad vocal arrangements deployed to great effect, which are a treat to discover on repeated listens of this album. The main driver for my continued visits to ‘NEKYIA -The Necromantic Patterns‘ (again) comes by way of the propulsive pace of its entrance and the stellarly guitar interest nurtured throughout. There is a proper balance between what I’d consider the pleasure of aggressive guitar music and the suggested spiritually guided intent of the album as a conjuration/vision explored, a ratio that is distinctly Acherontas‘ own but also broadly enjoyable as music stemming from the initial sophistication-by-fire of second wave black metal. As an existing fan this album has serve a brilliant return to their realm occult mysteries and yet another entrant in a line of well above-average releases. A high recommendation.

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