A long-out-of-print classic re-issued…
Re-issued by Moribund Records (website, Facebook, YouTube) on 25 November 2016
Review by Jason Guest
Out of print for over a decade, the second studio album from Finland’s black metal bunch of blasphemous bastards Azaghal (named after a Lord of Belegost, one of Tolkien’s noble dwarves), Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä stands as strong as it did 17 years ago. Pure black metal in structure and execution, fierce and brutal, the hollows haunting and the depths atmospheric, Azaghal’s combination of the melodic with the melancholic and the maddened gives the album its edge over much of the rancid river that runs through the underground today. The textures tangible, the riffs razor sharp, the album is sprawling with a diseased darkness that is bluntly bludgeoning. Helvetin Yhdeksän Piiriä is a blast of pure black dynamism brimming with wrath in the relentless up-tempo fury from brutal beginning to evil end. A demonic delight that belongs in any black metal fan’s collection, kudos to Moribund Records for bringing it back into the light.
8 out of 10
Track list:
- Kuningas Ruton Hovissa
- Han Joka On Tuleva
- Lailla Tuhannen Talvimyrskyn
- Transilvania
- Kun Aurinko Kuoli
- Harmagedon
- Kuoleman Holveissa
- Kohti Uuden Aikakauden Alkua
- Helvetin Yhdesksas Piiri
