Artist: Gehenna
Title: Adimiron Black
Type: Album Reissue
Label: Peaceville

Following on from the recent re-release of 2005’s ‘WW’, Peaceville are now reissuing 1998’s ‘Adimiron Black’, Gehenna’s first full length release under Satyr’s Moonfog label. The change in style around this time disappointed the majority of their fanbase, switching from a dramatic, grandiose, symphonic style of Black Metal, to a far more straightforward Black Death hybrid. Still to this day, many fans of Gehenna eschew the virtues of this album, and its follow up, 2000’s ‘Murder’, claiming that the band had sold out. Whilst it is indeed different, it’s still absolutely worth the time and effort to give it another appraisal.

Once the opening track ‘The Killing Kind’ fully kicks in, the first thing that becomes apparent, especially to fans of the band in their first incarnation, is the simplicity of the music. Ok, now it’s not ridiculously simple ‘play one note as fast as you can music’, but the lead riff is certainly nothing groundbreaking, and those used to more elaborate arrangements will go unsatisfied. That is not to say that this is bad, just different. The music is still of a high quality, the vocals with a rasp of pure distain, although that being said, it’s nowhere near as vicious as it was or would be. ‘Deadlights’, whilst again simplistic, is a step in the right direction. Whilst this retains more of the black metal direction than the opener, when you remember that this song is the first one that fans will have heard once the band changed direction with the ‘Deadlights EP’, you can see why the backlash was quite so vehement. So with general gripes and harrumphs out of the way, the title track reminds us that Gehenna are a talented band, regardless of their musical direction and should be judged accordingly. The vocals are at their most vicious, the arrangement is rich and complex, the drums relentless and metronomic. It’s something of an epic, and quite rightly hits the reset button on all your expectations so you can enjoy the rest without the hindrance of preconceptions.

From here on in, Gehenna exude confidence after that shaky start, sounding comfortable with their choice of direction and as such, able to throw themselves at the material with total abandon. From the aggressive blast of ‘Seeds of Man’s Destruction’, to the slower and sinister tones of ‘The Devil’s Work’, the quality is excellent. One criticism that should have been levelled at the original release, was that it was just too short, at a mere 7 tracks. Luckily this re-release addresses that with a plethora of bonus goodies. We get the other 2 tracks from the ‘Deadlights EP’, two demo tracks, and the quite pointless and overlong live intro track, which is there primarily for completists. The real treat though is an excellent cover of Darkthrone’s classic ‘Transilvanian Hunger’, which is delivered with reverence and menace.

So, what have 13 years done for ‘Admirion Black’? Well as I’ve already stated, it certainly does not deserve the kicking it got at the time from established fans, not that it mattered in the long run, as there were more than enough people ready to appreciate the material they did produce. Once you recalibrate your expectation level, this is a good album with some outstanding tracks, in particular the title track and the brilliant ‘Eater of the Dead’. If for nothing else, get it for the Darkthrone cover, which is worth the purchase price alone. Whilst not an outstanding album, this is certainly not Gehenna’s ‘St Anger, or their ‘Illud Divinium Insanus’. Well worth your attention.

http://www.myspace.com/gehennaofficial

Lee Kimber

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