When a band's called INFERNAL AWAKENING and their debut EP is titled "Enlightened by Lucifer's Flame", there really shouldn't be any question about what to expect: Pure, Unholy and Devil-worshiping Black Metal. And in a way that's exactly what it is, but not exactly in the way I was expecting - and definitively not at the level displayed.

See, there are a few "schools" of Black Metal out there; each with its own way of spreading ungodliness and wrathful devastation. Now most Black Metal belongs to the "pure" or "raw" school of Black Metal which worships the underground culture that spawned it, and who in at least 9/10 cases produce nothing but an underwhelming and uninspired wall of sound and mediocrity. I can happily say that INFERNAL AWAKENING doesn't belong to this school at all, for this is a band that clearly strives to be more - a lot more. This is a band that has decided to rise through the noise-filled pit that spawned them and follow in the footsteps of the Black Metal legends who wasn't afraid to incorporate spellbinding melodies, epic orchestras, Progressive song structures and the sheer destructive wrath of Death Metal into their music to make it better than ever before. A big undertaking, but did it succeed?

Hell Yes. In a truly unexpected and spectacular way, INFERNAL AWAKENING has almost managed to create - and I do not say this idly - the ideal Black(ened Death) Metal sound in my ears. It's got the Melodic focus and evolved musical style of "In The Nightside Eclipse"-era EMPEROR, the mighty backing orchestrations, symphonies and synths of "Enthrone Darkness Triumphant"-era DIMMU BORGIR and CARACH ANGREN, the puritanical yet refined rage of later-day DARK FUNERAL and the just plain crushing might of BEHEMOTH - all resting on a fine, but not perfect, recording that creates, instead of a wall of noise, a wall of awe. The mix and synergy of the instruments is truly remarkable for such a relatively young band, who if my sources are correct, have no member older than 20. And perhaps most importantly, they seem to have struck an important middle-ground in their use of Amdusias' synthesizers and orchestral arrangements who, while definitively have an important role in creating the sound and atmosphere of each song, never takes a definitive leading role but rather enhances and enriches the unholy music that spawns from the trio of Obsidian, Tempest and Anchalagon.

The songs themselves are all, quite surprisingly, excellent. The first and title track "Enlightened by Lucifer's Flame" is a Progressive track that kicks off into a very EMPEROR-eque riff that is somewhat reminiscent of their classic tune "I Am The Black Wizards" (but with more synths), and then breaks into a dynamic frenzy of mighty orchestral assaults, wrathful yet beautiful melodies and hate-filled Satan (read: Lucifer) worship - I know, big surprise that a song entitled "Enlightened by Lucifer's Flame" would be about Devil worship!

"The King ov Hell Has Arrived" starts of sort of similarly to BEHEMOTH's "As Above So Below", but then turns into what's probably the most straight-up Black Metal grind on the album. But even here the guys in INFERNAL AWAKENING knows the value of having a dynamic flow and a healthy alteration in pace to really emphasize the rage they infuse into their music, and the backing orchestral track really plays an important part in making this song come out as interesting and powerful as it is.
"Necromica" is very reminiscent of "The King ov Hell Has Arrived" in that it kicks off right into a Black Metal frenzy and never stops, but differs in that it utilizes a greater variety of melodies and tempos which, while never stopping, gives the frenzy more space to rage through.

The album reaches its arguable highlight on the 4^th track "The Baphomet ov Mendes", which I'd probably name as the most BEHEMOTH-esque song on the album, for it is truly a crushing achievement that shows that they can make the kind of songs that has made BEHEMOTH so popular: Songs that emote a sense of power and invincibility that'll have any dark heart raising their hands in praise - It's that powerful. And being the longest track on the album, by a good minute over "Enlightened by Lucifer's Flame", it gives INFERNAL AWAKENING ample time to play around with their Progressive second nature and show just how wide their sphere of inspirations is; the avid listener could probably find traces of just about every great Black Metal band or style at some point throughout the song's 9 minutes of glory.

The last track starts off as kind of an anticlimax in comparison to "The Baphomet ov Mendes", partially because it's not at powerful and partially because there's no sense of cross-over between the songs. That being said, it makes a strong turn for the better after the 2-minute mark and turns into a much more DISSECTION or WATAIN-inspired song with heavy focus on dark and haunting melodies, and actually ventures into an absolutely beautiful section just before the 4-minute mark that sealed my opinion of this EP.

This may be only an EP, but I think it's the best Black Metal release this year after BEHEMOTH's "The Satanist", and closely followed by FROZEN DAWN's excellent "Those of the Cursed Light". Now it should be noted that I'm not that avid a Black Metal fan, I'm a Melodic Metaller at heart and will always be, and I don't keep up with the releases in the Black Metal scene as well as I perhaps should and as such there are probably a few Black Metal releases that I've missed. But I will regardless stand by my statement, for INFERNAL AWAKENING is without a doubt the kind of Black Metal band that speaks to me and makes me rejoice in the darkest parts of the human imagination, just the same way that DISSECTION, EMPEROR and BEHEMOTH does. And as such I really can't recommend "Enlightened by Lucifer's Flame" enough. Sure it's definitively not perfect; for while the recording is mostly great it's not top-notch and musically there's still room for improvement for INFERNAL AWAKENING - but even with that in mind the only thing I found lacking about this EP was the, in my opinion, lackluster cover. Yes, the cover was the only "bad" part about the entire EP, which otherwise was on par with even veteran full-length Black Metal releases - Part of which may be that it rests on a respectable 33 minutes runtime, which while being low for a full-length release is excellent for an EP.

Had this been a more refined and longer full-length album that kept the quality and diversity through-and-through, it might've just toppled BEHEMOTH's "The Satanist" for me personally as Black Metal release of 2014 (not musically or "objectively", but personally maybe). I'll definitively be following this band closely in the hope for a quickly approaching full-length release, and so should you because this is potentially the next big act in Black Metal. I believe it's proper, if lame and cheesy, to say that I was "Enlightened by Lucifer's Flame".<