NAHEMIA is Black Metal band currently based out of London, England though they originally formed in Poland in 2013. Over their tenure they've issued several singles, one demo, and, on October 30, 2020, their debut full-length album, "Ar-Caosaji." It's a bit of cliché to claim a band is old school Black Metal or hails back to a particular wave or region. Let's just say NAHEMIA draws their influence from a wide range of wicked precursors and then add their own brutal interpretation to the black art.

"Ar-Caosaji" is refreshing in its approach, mixing a variety of styles from melodic tremolo to savage riffing to acoustics and even druidic droning. With fairly strong production values, the db holds steady without bleeding out in a gray hellscape, allowing the listener to really appreciate the musicianship that went into this beast of an album. NAHEMIA is at their best when they march deliberately through the mayhem, laying out a solid though brutal rhythm. "Torturous Lords Of Sheol," "Nightfall Of Blackstorm," and "World Annihilation" all fall into this category. Oddly enough they are also the three final tracks. It's as if the band just got more and more enraged as the recoding progressed.

Early tracks like "9MM," "Vindictive Malice," and "A Blast Of Steel" are also excellent, showcasing a unique songwriting refinement that's rare in Black Metal bands. On the downside, I wasn't taken with "Misanthropic Division" mostly because of a section that quite frankly sounds like some kids on a rollercoaster. I think it's supposed to be cries of dismal suffering but comes across like a bad day at Six Flags.

Lyrically, the band is complete misanthropy. A lot of reviewers throw that word around as a generic catchall for anything that sounds remotely evil, but one read through the lyrics and, yep, these guys hate humanity and everything it stands for. Rimmon's screeching vocals, btw, are a perfect match for the running theme of hatred, death, and damnation.

My attempts to figure out what the title means utterly failed. The closest I could estimate is that it might be derived from the fabled Enochian language and it may or may not mean "earth." What I do know for certain, though, is "Ar-Caosaji" flat out rips. Whatever type of Black Metal you may be into - FWBM or SWBM, Norwegian or Mediterranean, anything in-between or beyond - chances are NAHEMIA will appeal.