Blaze of Perdition - Towards the Blaze of Perdition (2010)

Within the past few years, the Polish black metal scene has risen to be among the most exciting the promising amongst all other countries scenes out there. Yes, the days of Norwegian and Swedish domination have surely dwindled in the past decade (or more) and with all the talent that has always exploded out of Eastern Europe, it was truly only a matter of time before one single country took control of it all. And why not Poland? An overly Christian country with no less than 86% belonging to the Roman Catholic Church, it was without a doubt just a matter of time before various groups of extreme Satanic musicians came together to combat their own countries weak beliefs. Not that I really favor Satanism any more, but from a black metal standpoint what's going on is quite marvelous.

Enter, Blaze of Perdition, from Lublin, Poland. Formed originally in '04 simply under the Perdition name, a few demos, split and an EP were released before wising up and adding the 'Blaze of' to their name. After another split and EP, Towards the Blaze of Perdition, their debut album, saw release through, Putrid Prophet Productions.

Sounding like a mixture of Watain, Behexen and their own countrymen in, Mgła, Blaze of Perdition offers up semi-melodic yet still quite atmospheric and haunting black metal. Early into the record you'll notice that the production is far from being underground, in fact, quite professionally done with a loud dynamic sound and all instruments clearly heard. Fret not however, as this is surely still black metal to the bone, filled with chilling tremolo riffs, melodic solos, crushing drums, ominous bass guitar and torturous vocals spewing fourth Luciferian and Satanic incantations.

What I dig about this record is simply the dynamics behind it. The songs have structure, substance and life, and although a good portion of the record offers up plenty of blasting and fast riffing, there's still slower moments, build-ups, solos parts, and ambiance which captures your attention and takes you to their own dark realm. Fortunately, to go along with all that the band came up with some absolutely killer riffs along the way that are both creepy in their repetitive trance like delivery, as well as, some more melodic and memorable ones that stick with you, and some leads and solos that just can't be touched. The drummer, bassist and vocalist surely do their thing too, and as a whole these guys sound immense.

Notably, the cover artwork is outstanding, and the individual band photos are creative and different, likewise, the whole layout looks superb. Truthfully, I find very little fault with, Towards the Blaze of Perdition, and the style of black metal presented here. As such, you'd do well to seek out a copy.

...since this album, Blaze of Perdition has pushed forwards releasing a few singles, splits and their second album, The Hierophant, which I'm very curious to hear.