Embrace of Thorns - Atonement Ritual (2009)

   From the late '00s Greece became known as a possible source of the most extreme style of black metal. More and more bands formed there who played raw black, or war metal, and unlike Rotting Christ, which is the most known and notorious band of that scene, not their name is their most brutal feature, but their music. 

   As it was mentioned before, Embrace of Thorns was one of the first one of these bands, and their second full-lenght album definitely worths to be mentioned. Compared to their debut, they've drifted closer to the sound of war metal, and the atmospheric effects disappeared. The dirty, noisy sound was brought into focus, that increased the effectiveness of their raw, simple, but quite ominous themes. This way their music sounds way more aggressive and compromiseless. Basically a kind of small sound switch could change many things in this style. While the first album was more old school and tradition follower, by "Atonement Ritual" the band definitely unleashed the most obscure musickness. Even though intensity is one of the main features in their music, it's not an ordinary mindless black/death brutality, the Netherworldic obscurity gets fulfilled in their slower themes and by the short, demoralizing solo parts. Strongly recommended black/death masterpiece.