Black Metal, as every Metalhead that studies Metal as a whole musical genre knows, was born in the last years of the 70's and evolved during the second half of the 80's into the underground scene. But the breath of life given to it by the second generation of bands definitively canonized as it is today. There are names that looks for the old sonorities, when albums as "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", "Under a Funeral Moon", "Det Som Engang Var" and others reign supreme as blueprints for the generations to come. And ISRATHOUM, a Black Metal act that was born on Portugal and moved to Netherlands, comes again unleashing its darkened fury with "Arrows From Below".

In the deeper sense of the words, the trio plays a classic form of Black Metal that is influenced by Norwegian, Swedish and Greek Schools, bearing elements from all of them. It's darkened, morbid, with tempos that are sometimes fast (in a classic Black Metal way), on others is atmospheric (as heard on "Ascetic Temples"), but always with fine musical arrangements and an amazing aggressive energy. Yes, it's truly an album made for those who prefers that old days, when the genre was feared by many. The sonority of "Arrows From Below" is really crude and reminds a lot was done in the earlier days of Black Metal scene on the 90's, when the need to make albums was greater than the conditions that were offered to the bands (what helped to create the "ugly aesthetics"). It's not bad, because fits on what the trio plays, and the songs can be understood, but maybe a bit more cleaner would fit even better.

The fast tempos and morbid ambiance of "Litany of Spite" (great vocals, using different tunes than the usual for Black Metal) and "Bracu Magistrïs" (some piledriving 1 x 1 parts from drums and bass guitars are very good, but the rhythmic changes appears in great shape), the morbid ambiance of "Ascetic Temples" (very good guitar riffs indeed, creating the right aggressive feeling for the song), the sinister guitar arrangements shown on "Laetetur Cor" (a great and funereal song) and "Adlivun", and the excellent melancholic melodies of "Tuam Vocavit" (another fine piece of Black Metal) is what old Black Metal fans are looking for! ISRATHOUM is not a band stopped in time (because some musical arrangements heard of "Arrows From Beyond" shows that they are extremely creative), and maybe can be a new pillar for the genre in the future. And some words to VxInfr: continue firme em seu caminho, meu patrício de além mar!