ATRONOS
ATRONOS “Erwachen”
By: Lord Randall
Enter in ATRONOS of Germany for its second full length, despite being together less than three years. Chalk at least some of that up to lyricist/vocalist Baptist and (now) skinbasher Valfor doing double duty in underrated EISENKULT. Still, ATRONOS is helmed by Henker, who is responsible for music, guitars and bass, so no laurels to rest upon here.
”Was uns so schrecklich hasst” begins, fully formed and hoisting the banner of pagan black metal proudly. Baptist’s delivery here is markedly different from his style with EISENKULT, more mid-late ‘90s, reminiscencent of when the genre was stepping out of the shadow of black metal to become something more its own. Choirs, keys…oh black goat, the keys. Both are prevalent here and throughout “Erwachen”, glorious and striding forth. As with WINDIR, you won’t hear a lot of flashy leadwork here, the riffs and melodies more entwined with those of the keys, serving the song and not the player.
The main riff of “Alles geht dahin” is catchy as a stave church party with Varg Vikerness providing “lighting”, igniting and flaming high, then joining the keys to become something of another sort, yet altogether immediate and uncompromising. At just over 11 minutes, penultimate track “Erwache” is given its time to bloom, its tendrils and colors not only far-reaching but attaining in a way pagan black metal doesn’t often when it seeks to step too far off course.
In all, ATRONOS is clearly onto something here and, with the level of quality that’s shown so readily in so short a time, there’s no reason to expect “Erwachen” will be its last.