Reviews: Thelemite, Eleventh Ray, Bent By Sorrow, The Usurper (Matt Bladen)

Thelemite - Powers Of Darkness (Sleaszy Rider Records)

Powers Of Darkness is the occult leaning fourth album from Greek band Thelemite, the Athenian melodic metal band have taken a similar route to the Trond Holter projects of a few years ago, basing this concept record the Swedish adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula. While Stoker's is vampiretastic, the Swedish version puts Dracula as the head of a cult based around social Darwinism, continuing the trend of their previous album which was surrounding Darwinism.

Frontman Yiannis Manopoulos leads the charge and crafts the concept, the lyrics inspired by the book, singing much of the album with the style of Ronnie James Dio and on Renfield he's in histrionic King Diamond mode. With God's Madman they have a Judas Priest meets Megadeth influences Yiannis chugging on the guitar joined by Renos Lialioutis (drums), Zack Kotsikis (guitar) and Nikos Michalakakos (bass) as the remaining members of Thelemite.

Powers Of Darkness takes several routes on the album, a track such as Waiting For The Night and Learning The Hard Way are both slightly more melodic and gothic, with nods to Unto Others and AOR too, Falling Out Of Love really leaning into the AOR sound as it's reminiscent of Graham Bonnet. These changes in style are a little jarring initially however it leads to a huge shift on the album as the metal sound seems to drop off rapidly by Clouds Without Water the fourth 'ballad' in a row. Unfortunately it's too late for Born In The Dark to save it.

I know it's a concept record but there's too much of a gap between a few of these songs that if it wasn't for the vocals you'd be convinced it was two different bands. Don't get me wrong, the performances and writing are good but the record suffers from pacing issues and a lack of conviction to what they want to be. 6/10

Eleventh Ray - Reviving Tehom (Dark Descent Records)

Eleventh Ray come from Athens and play black metal. Sound familiar? Probably one of THE cities for the formation of black metal, Eleventh Ray join a very distinguished group. Formed as an offshoot of Serpent Noir, Eleventh Ray take a nastier route with their black metal evoking the thrashier sounds of Celtic Frost, Sodom and even early Darkthrone, while also paying homage to the early records of the Hellenic Scene.

Reviving Tehom is old school in its songwriting and in its production too, it's raw and analogue so it feels like it's come straight out of the 90's, the album record in the 'twin channel' style where left and right have different instruments, and there's a woolliness to the whole thing. Eleventh Ray then distances itself from Serpent Noir as it's own project that is less about the abrasive and glacial and more about the aggressive and thunderous.

Band leader Y.K wanted to create an album he wanted to listen to and with Reviving Tehom he's written one that many would also love to play loud. 7/10

Bent By Sorrow - Sakura (Brutal Records)

Based in Athens, Greece, Bent By Sorrow could easily come from Athens, Georgia as their music jumps straight out of the NWOAHM from the late 90's early 2000's.

Think Lamb Of God (Order Chaos/Need For Faith), Disturbed (Rain) and even the likes of Deftones on For Victory Of The Light an instrumental where things get angular and groovy. Sakura  (Japanese Cherry Blossom) is their long await d debut album and sees them level the full force of their power across 11 tracks.

What's intriguing about this album is how well they meld the heavy side with the melodic side, there are moments well this full force death metal, others when the groove metal battery commences and then there's a slip into alt metal and radio rock, the production of Fotis Bernardo keeping the record very contemporary and clean in it's sound.

So when they play the chunky metalcore of A Life Without An F for instance the guitars are complex, the drums giving a a precision bludgeoning as the vocals have that great clean/harsh dynamic, you know that they're doing this deliberately so while on Trapped they really have moments of BFMV, Demoncracy savages with aggression and they get proggy towards the end. 

Bent For Sorrows' debut is a metal album that captures it's sound from a wide area of musical styles, all from a similar period but merged here into one great album. 8/10

The Usurper - Let Me Burn (Unthrone Records)

Thessaloniki thrashers The Usurper unleash another full length on an unsuspecting public. Let Me Burn is their third album asmnd it's another spiky journey through blackened thrash metal. Sodom, Kreator, Venom and Celtic Frost are the comparisons here. The throat shredding vocals squawk over the buzzsaw guitar tone, the NWOBHM gallops come on Lead Me To Hell as the influence of Cronos and chums is the strongest here.

Now I totally missed their second album which came out in October 2024, but as their debut was only released in April of that year I can't see their being a seismic shift in what they do. This is heavy metal in its molten form, where punk rock took on a bit of technicality and increased the speed tenfold. Savage and rabid these 13 tracks don't linger, each one set to a pacy groove from Thansis' drums and biting guitar riffs from Kostas and Niko though Kostas' bass gets top billing on Left To Rot. Let Me Burn continues this Thessaloniki bands mastery of nasty thrash metal. 7/10