I discovered Flame in 2006 and ‘Into The Age Of Fire’ immediately grabbed my attention Saatana Perrrkele! There was something seriously filthy about this record. The combination of Finnish Black Metal, primitive Thrash Metal and that unmistakable old underground spirit hit me straight away. Fast, rough and aggressive, this was the kind of record that made me think, jumalauta, this is exactly how I want my Metal to sound.
Released by Iron Pegasus Records in 2005, ‘Into The Age Of Fire’ is Flame’s debut full-length, recorded in 2004 with Blackvenom handling guitars and vocals, Infernus on bass and Blackspirit666 behind the drums. At just under half an hour, it is a compact album, but Flame waste absolutely no time getting down to business.
‘Hell’s Flame Is Burning’ leads into ‘Satan’s Flame’ and from there the record is already cooking. The guitars have a filthy Thrash foundation, but there is enough Black Metal darkness running through the riffs to give the whole thing a distinctly Finnish character. Blackvenom’s vocals sound raw and pissed off, while the drums keep everything charging forward with plenty of momentum.
‘Arts Of The Black Wisdom’ is a great example of the band’s approach. The riffs are direct, aggressive and memorable without getting buried under unnecessary nonsense. ‘Lust, Flesh, Desire’ comes in shorter and nastier, while ‘Darkness Shall Rise’ and ‘Internal Wrath’ keep the attack going. ‘Dark Demonic Domain’ follows before ‘Poisoned Kingdom’ brings the Age Of Fire theme back into the picture, leading eventually into ‘Roots Of Evil’.
What I have always liked about ‘Into The Age Of Fire’ is that it sounds like an underground record first and everything else second. The guitars are dirty, the vocals are harsh and the drums have that primitive punch that gives the whole album its character. There is plenty of old Thrash Metal buried in the songwriting, but Flame push it into darker territory rather than simply recreating something from the 1980s.
And that Finnish attitude is all over the place. This is not some carefully polished piece of Metal designed to make everyone comfortable. It has that rough, stubborn and slightly mad quality that makes you imagine someone in Finland sitting around with a guitar thinking, vittu, let’s make this even nastier.
The short running time also works perfectly. Flame get in, burn through the material and get out before things start dragging. Every song has a purpose and the record keeps moving without unnecessary padding. Thirty minutes is more than enough when the music is this relentless.
Nearly twenty years after I first discovered Flame, ‘Into The Age Of Fire’ still has that same dirty punch. It is one of those records that takes you straight back to why you got obsessed with underground Metal in the first place. No bullshit, no fancy tricks, just riffs, drums, attitude and a whole lot of saatana.
‘Into The Age Of Fire’ remains a killer debut. A filthy piece of Finnish Black Thrash that still sounds like it was made by people who simply wanted to play some evil Metal and tell the world to helvetti with everything else.
If you don’t get ‘Into The Age Of Fire’ : it’s better to be burned as false and died!!!
