Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Yoth Iria - As the Flame Withers (2021)
When a band is made up of two former members of Rotting Christ it is very easy when listening to their debut to draw comparison to the Hellenic BM legends. The fact is though that Yoth Iria sound like Rotting Christ so much that even if you didn't know the background ahead of listening to As The Flame Withers (unless you had never heard Rotting Christ of course) then comparisons are inevitable. Worth mentioning that Jim Mutilator was also bassist in Varathron at the time of His Majesty... and therefore has credentials beyond just working with the Tolis brothers. His counterpart here is the equally well-experienced George Zacharopoulos who has bands such as Necromantia and Thou Art Lord in his past and ongoing experience. In short, these boys know their stuff.
The good news here as that Yoth Iria are not just RC clones. Yes, they do capture the lush and rich melodies of Triarchy... era RC and they present that sound superbly adding gothic atmospherics and subtle yet attention-grabbing structures to their debut. What they also do however is add some splendid straight-up heavy metal riffs and tempos into the mix to produce much variety also.
In doing so the already warm Hellenic BM sound is emboldened by these soaring riffs and pounding pace and it gets the wings to keep pace with them making for a memorable and yet still suitably dark experience. Check out the Burzum-like bonging chimes on The Red Crown Turns Black coupled with the doomy approach to the guitar melodies and repetitive riffs that control much of the mid part of the song yet either side of this there's a rampant and charging sprint to the main part of the track that balances really well over all.
By far the most recognisably black metal content here is the grim vocal delivery of George. They sit perfectly in the mix, audible alongside the instrumentation and atmospherics without ever seeing one detract from the other. Although a new name to me, George Emmanuel did a superb job on the mix and mastering of the record. The drums on here are handled by the well-travelled Maelstrom and his guest appearance brings a level of assuredness to the bands sound that holds a restraint that feels necessary to let the guitars and vocals lead the charge but at the same time the drums aren't lost either.
Clocking in at just under fifty minutes, Yoth Iria's debut release feels a concise and well constructed affair that stays in the brain well after the needle comes off the vinyl. It isn't exceptional and in a way that is the appeal here. It captures the best of the experience of the band and delivers a release that shows much promise for further output to come.