Yetna Apmaskema - Ancestral Manifest of Evil Poison (2014)

  Usually it's easy to identify South American black metal bands, cause if they don't involve death metal influences into their music, or if they're not playing war metal, the reduced role of atmospheric sound (better sound quality) makes them distinguishable enough. Some might even announce (those who are into the style because of the softening side effect of the strong atmospheric sound) that it's a way different direction from Northern influenced black metal.
   The fact that Yetna Apmaskema by their so far one and only full-length album didn't even try to follow ordinary black metal imagery, could make the whole thing even more convincing. But a statement like this couldn't be more wrong. Even if the garnishing doesn't reflect the most evident features of Northern black, the themes definitely does. References of the biggest names of the Norwegian scene could be found in the guitar themes and even in the atmospheric effects, like Mayhem, Burzum and Darkthrone for instance. The band's better sound quality based approach had advantageous effect by highlighting their music's intensity. Melancholic slow downs are frequent and creating enjoyable dynamics with the intense themes. Musical diversity could be another reason why this album couldn't count as ordinary. In total "Ancestral Manifest of Evil Poison" is quite a Norwegian influenced black metal record, but it's also better highlighting the effectiveness of the extreme intensity that also became one of the trademarks of the genre.