Atanab – Black Magic (2010)

From Spain/Colombia’s Mighty Hordes Productions, today we have a re-issue of a 2006 release that nicely combines brutality with melody and delivers almost 40 minutes of pure fucking Black Metal. “Black Magic” is one of those releases that is very brutal and chaotic, but also excellently mixed and sounds very clean in comparison to most of the bands trying to be as brutal as Atanab.

Wasting no time, the band starts creating a thick evil atmosphere since the intro track and with “Is Sentence of Satan” they deliver a very impressive first blow. In this track we have hellish vocals, massive drumming and powerful riffing, all delivered at a very high intensity. In a more atmospheric way, “Sons of Evil” delivers the same brutal sound but at a slower and more painful tempo. We particularly enjoy the subtle keyboards that are never overdone and just add the right amount of atmosphere to the music.

The musical aural assaults continue through “Black Magic” with one stellar song after another. For us, the most interesting things are the melodic section in tracks like “Rites of Death” and “Black Magic”. These slower sections remind us of the old school Black Metal bands that focused more on crafting good music rather than being super evil and raw. Our favorite track in this album has to be “Divine Sin”, featuring a very healthy dosage of intense guitar riffing, pounding drums and creepy vocals.

Closing with an instrumental piece, the band shows off their guitar skills in a very ‘peaceful’ way and nicely ends a very intensive release. Overall, all musicians in Atanab are actually very skilled at what they do. “Black Magic” is both energetic and well executed, there are a few things that sound repetitive here and there, but its Black Metal, what can you expect. If you are looking for a powerful release that has good production values and all the evil Black Metal you will need, go and get this very effective re-issue.

Release: May 27th, 2010

Country: Colombia