Gehenna - WW

GEHENNA - WW (MOONFOG CD 2005)

I was Gehenna fan ever since 1996 or 97 - whenever Mystic Productions released "Seen Through the Veils of Darkness" and "Malice" on tapes here in Poland. But I have to say that at some point it was a real challenge to keep liking this band. I hated all these radical musical changes they started to make. "Adimiron Black" was still pretty interesting, but "Murder" turned into a real piece of garbage for me. Even nowadays I just can't stand this album.  Luckily five years after that horrible CD, "WW" came out. And well, I have to say that this album is a real back to form for me. It's again very different to the previous albums, it has very little to with Gehenna style from the older efforts. But at least they came back to black metal sound. And that's good!

As we all know, Gehenna started as a mystic, very dark and melodic sounding "symphonic" black metal band. Their music was filled with keyboards and generated a real eerie, majestic sound. And songs like "A Witch is Born", "The Word Became Flesh", "She Who Loves the Flames" or "The Shivering Voice of the Ghost" were real highlights of their career and my personal favourited. "WW" returns to black metal roots, but it’s completely derived of all keyboards or melodic accents Gehenna music used to have. Instead, it offers much harsher, more primeval and traditional take on this style. You can compare it to Mayhem, Satyricon, mid-era Darkthrone or even Burzum. But at the same time the music is enough characteristic for Gehenna to defend itself. That's because Gehenna created their own feeling in the music - great combination of killer riffage with ghoulish vocals of Sanrabb, insane drumming from Frost (YES! Frost played drums here!!!) and that vicious, morbid atmosphere. It's incredible that within this style of black metal "WW" sounds so fresh and these songs are so memorable and catchy. It's aggressive and harsh, but every song is surprisingly hooky and stays in mind immediately, due to the presence of some great riffs or choruses, or whatever. "WW" is also pretty well diverse, with fast paced tracks like "Death to Them All", "New Blood", "Abattoir"... But slower songs like "Flames to the Pit" and "Pallbearer" are simply fantastic, especially that they tend to merge the Burzum-esque melancholy and harshness of slow paced Darkthrone riffage. And yes, Satyricon vibe could also be felt over these slower riffs, like in "Silence the Earth". The album is short, but really to the point and without a single second wasted. It kicks off with fierce, aggressive black metal and keeps you highly impressed for the whole duration. I'm very glad this band came up with such a splendid album.

Lyrically Gehenna seem to have changed a lot also, "WW" is about war, death, extinction, hatred ("dance to the rhythm of necks when they break!"), so the "message" is much, much more negative than the satanic, but "romantic" theme of the old albums. So, the album is different in every aspect. But it's a good turn for the band and I can definitely say that "WW" is one of my favourite releases in Gehenna discography.

Standout tracks: "Death to Them All", "Flames of the Pit", "Pallbearer"

Verdict: 90/100