Byyrth "Echoes From The Seven Caves Of Blood" black vinyl LP

- 350gsm Gatefold Jacket with Inside flooded in Black and Matt Machine Varnish
- 140g Black and Red/Black Splatter Vinyl
- Limited to 500 copies (400x Back Vinyl and 100x Red/Black Splatter Vinyl)

Special guest Meyhna'ch from Mutiilation on vocals!!

Following on from their cult debut album, Saviors of Armageddon - which IRON BONEHEAD released on vinyl during the summer of 2017 - here on Echoes From the Seven Caves of Blood do BYYRTH strike a new face for vampiric black metal. Eschewing the withering frivolity and frivolousness of most definitions of anything "vampiric" in regards to black metal, this Californian quartet kick in quickly with a ripped-raw and unrepentantly punkish attack. Blown-out and harshing everyone's mellow, each iron-fisted anthem marches forward with absolute arrogance and an enviable swagger - not for nothing is the opening track titled "Blood Warfare."
Indeed, BYYRTH's vampirism is an indomitable variety, the alpha to everyone else's omega, and they accomplish their sanguinary goals with an almost militant efficiency: Echoes From the Seven Caves of Blood storms the gates of Heaven in a compact 28 minutes. Suitably, the tracks "Vampiric War Children" and "Abhorrent Eons" feature guest vocals by the incomparable Meyhna'ch of France's legendary Mütiilation, further underlining the validity to BYYRTH's vampiric black metal. Stand down now or receive the eternal kiss of death...

I had been really looking forward to this release, and bought a digital copy the day it was released. It's a decent follow-up and a good addition to their discography.
The album kicks off right where it's predecessor Saviors left off, with a fast-tempo song that continues the Transilvanian Hunger that made the band famous. There's a little flourish at the end of every measure that is just... so depressing, you'll see what I mean. However, the rest of the album departs from that formula and adopts a different sort of black-n-roll or almost even punk-inspired sound. The groovy rhythm of "Call of the New Legion" and "I Dare Not Wake" are total earworms that will have you wiggling in your seat.
The interlude track is a major improvement over the one on the previous album. Gone are the stupid "spooky" haunted-house sound effects and instead you have a mood-setting bit of... well, noise. There's a guest vocalist on 2 of the songs which I was excited to hear about during pre-release hype but unfortunately both are pretty disappointing; they're predictable mid-tempo songs that almost feel like filler.
"Unhuman" is my personal favorite because of it's incredible tempo change. It's probably the fastest song on the album with a blast-beat pounding riff that just keeps picking up and then... beautiful melodic strumming, a 180* change. But that portion keeps the same grooviness that's been accenting the whole album and then it's back to the 'blister track' insanity that it started with.
All in all, while there are some weak points, the band is definitely growing and this is a step in the right direction.

Sample: