IRDORATH is a Blackened Thrash Metal band hailing from Carinthia, Austria. They formed in 2005 and have gone through multiple lineup changes across their 15-year tenure. On May 1, 2020 they released their fifth full-length album, "The Final Sin." It will drink your last beer, inscribe your name in the book of unspeakable deeds, and never ever return your DARKTHRONE albums . . . which is to say the album is pretty damn astounding.
The band takes their moniker from Gothic II, the computer game. I've never played it myself, but Irdorath is an island where the undead dragon, Belair, or its avatar, lives . . . at least until the players arrive, kill it, and level up. Oh, and apparently there's a Fantasy-Folk band with the same name, which is sad and hilarious all at the same time. I don't think you want to get these tickets mixed up.

So, "The Final Sin." Forty-two minutes, nine tracks, very well produced, excellent songwriting, unrelenting and impeccable execution. Thematically the album censures the inanity of religion from intellectual, moral, and esoteric standpoints. If this band took anything from the Thrash Metal handbook - I mean apart from the brutal sonic assault and raw passion - it's how to harangue an idea from every angle possible. In this case, it's religion instead of politics. On the upside, unless you read the lyrics, you're not likely to notice - the music is just too heavy and too good. To balance this equation out, if they took anything from the Black Metal handbook, it's how to render a discordant atmosphere through carefully orchestrated compositions. These tracks have the smartness of Prog arrangements without the arrogance and the darkness of SWBM Metal without the grayscape.

As far as standout tracks go, every track qualifies. If I had to pick four, I'd go with "Debaptized," "Redeemer of Heretics," "Disgust of Enlightenment," and "The Plague, I Am," though if you asked me tomorrow I might give you a different four. The point being, like a good book or movie, you'll take away something new every time you listen to this album. As far as regrets, there isn't a single minute that should have been left on the proverbial cutting floor.

IRDORATH has been around for what feels like ages in the metal world. If you are new to them, you'll face the age-old dilemma of working through their discography from the early hungry wolf days or starting from their current release and the more refined and evolved incarnation. Either way, you can't go wrong.