Garhelenth’s New Album

Garhelenth, one of the few active black metal bands in Iran, recently released a successful album called About “Pessimistic Elements & Rebirth of Tragedy” by Satanath Records. My first reaction after hearing the album from this band (members: Hilnorgoth and Sagroth) was the early Norwegian Black Metal influence on the overall atmosphere of the album; exclusively, when different -not-traditional-BM- elements are mixed to the structure of Raw / True Black Metal. Of course, this influence is not limited to Garhelenth, and this kind of influence in the composition can be heard in most of the works of successful Iranian black metal projects. Dedication to the Black Metal essence (Traditional Black Metal) throughout the 28 minutes of this album is commendable. External elements such as effects (bell tones, etc.) are always accompanied by fast guitar and drum riffs, and when the piece reaches its full shape, we listen to pure black metal (melodic/classical) music. “Destruction of the Will” and “Moral to Pessimist” are the notable songs of this album, which also happens to be the beginning and the end of this album. The important role of the vocal of this work should not be disregarded. In general Iranian BM music, the vocal is usually not praised by the listeners, and with the music not being a disaster, they get an OK; but here the vocalist powers up the melodies and push ’em forward passionately. Another important point that the vocal makes is spiting out the poetry in such a delighted way, BM wise speaking. Even a glance on  The lyrics of this album shows that there was a certain -strong- mentality behind the creation of these songs. My personal perception of the content of this album is limited to the subject of self-conflict and interpersonal conflict, which includes: truth, hatred, destruction, war, and so on. The rhythm of the guitar and the intro riffs in each piece are tempting enough to make the listener to carry on the rest of the song. I highly recommend listening to this album through Bandcamp. Support them by buying the record from Sataneth Records.