Review by Sonny for Zarathustra - In Hora Mortis (2006)

Zarathustra are unfamiliar to me and, judging by the lack of a single rating for any of their albums, to everyone else here on Metal Academy. Well, they are a German black metal band who formed in 1996, releasing three albums between 2000 and 2006, In Hora Mortis being the last one to date. The band still officially exist, albeit having been on hold for a while and drummer Mersus, who was skinsman for Deströyer 666 for a decade, is the only original member still in the band.

My first playthrough was whilst out dog-walking during an early spring snow flurry and In Hora Mortis made for a very apt companion on that trip as it has a frostbitten edge to it that was very much enhanced by the billowing white stuff falling from those Northern Skies. Zarathustra play quite fundamental second-wave black metal and fans of bands like Immortal should feel right at home with In Hora Mortis. Most of the tracks are medium paced with occasional blasting sections, similarly to Immortal, and they have enough melody to them to make each track memorable in it's own right and to stop the album sounding samey and forgettable. Producing actual "songs" seems to have gone out of fashion a bit in black metal circles, but rather, a huge amount of bands strive to produce "pieces" that lean heavily on dissonance and avant-garde stylings, Zarathustra, however, most definitely do not fall into that category, they still understand the benefits of a well-crafted song that can be recalled after the disc has finished playing and that makes the listener want to bang their head and pummell the air with their fists! They have crafted some fine black metal riffs here with some tasty lead work, the rhythm section is strong, Mersus providing a decent approximation of an artillery battery on overdrive with his skinwork. Vocalist Hurricane (Dennis Freiberger) has an abrasive harsh bark that suits the tracks very well and sounds suitably evil whilst still being clear enough to understand the lyrics. All the songs are strong, but there is a brace of tracks in the middle of the album, Salvation from Being and Crown of Creation that could blow the balls off a charging mammoth at forty paces!

I guess In Hora Mortis is one of those albums that often gets short shrift from a large percentage of metalheads simply for geing "generic", despite the fact that this is actually a very good slab of no-frills early second-wave worship. Personally I am very happy to have crossed path with this terrific chunk of horns-in-the-air, unpretentious black metal goodness