The coming of the Second Wave of Black Metal (SWOBM) in the early years of the 90's was a remarkable fact. Those days were the main inspiration for many bands that came after, and it's still a source of musical ideas that seems to be endless. Maybe guys from MAYHEM, DARKTHRONE and BURZUM never thought about how they would inspire people in the future (this fact can be witnessed on "Lords of Chaos", the film, a true picture of what those young guys were up to back then), but at the same time, Sweden, Greece, Finland and other countries revealed scenes dedicated to Metal (and to Black Metal as a consequence). And Russia was leaving the communist dictatorship back then, breathing the winds of freedom. So the Russian quartet TØMHET inherit the same spirit and ideas from old days of the SWOBM, as their first release, the 2-song EP "Dødsblikket" reveals.

Although their music can remind a lot the bands from SWOBM of Norway in some aspects, it's not a sin to see that the old works from Austrian Black Metal masters from ABIGOR influenced their work, due the presence of a coherent way of creating the musical arrangements. Their music still needs a bit of maturing, but the energy and raw feeling that comes from their songs are enough to see that they're a promising name. This EP was mixed and mastered by Artyom Prozorov, who helped to create a nasty and really morbid insight on the sound quality, but always not being extremely putrid and fuzzy. It sounds truly bitter and nasty, but clean and defined, with very good doses of weight and aggressiveness.

Two songs aren't enough to make deeper considerations about their work, but "Necklace of Rotten Teeth" (a fast song with the traditional Black Metal speed of the early years of the SWOBM, and always with a solid and heavy work from bass guitar and drums), and "Seven Trembling Feet" (a slow and somber track, but aggressive and nasty that shows excellent guitar riffs and vocals) are true testimonies of a talented band that has a lot of to offer to the fans.

Freedom really allowed Metal to breed in Russia, and TØMHET really is a name that must be followed with attention. "Dødsblikket" allows them to high ambitions, so let's wait and hear what will come in the future.