It’s hard to know quite where to begin with the second album from Greek metallers Hail Spirit Noir. The one thing I’m sure of is that it is the same trio of Haris (synths), Theoharis (guitars, vocals) and Dim (bass, acoustic guitars) who performed on their debut ‘Pneuma’, along with the same two guest musicians Ioannis Giahoudis (drums) and Dimitris Dimitrakopoulos (additional vocals), but how to describe it? The press release probably comes closest by saying that it is “a trip into the obscure and all things black, filthy and psychedelic”. There are many references in the music press about these guys coming out of the Greek black metal scene, and given who has been involved with the production (mastered by Jens Bogren, Sweden (Opeth, Katatonia, Amon Amarth) - mixed by Dim Douvras (Rotting Christ)) it is no surprise that they have kept their heaviest, but someone would have to be quite musically naïve to state that this was a true BM album in any sense of the word.
‘Oi Magoi’ (meaning “Seven Musicians” – there are seven songs on the album) has been described as “a psychoprog black metal album of trippy melodies and satyric ecstasy” but even that doesn’t really get close to what it is all about. The production is clean, but also warps the music around the listener like a blanket. Yes, there are times when there are the riffing guitars that one might expect from BM, but they are plenty of others when it feels that the late Sixties are back again, but darker and more threatening than ever. An incredibly complex album, there is more to hear each time it is played. Somehow it is quite accessible, yet very different and challenging all at the same time. This is for those who enjoy the adventurous, combined with a Hammond B3…
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