Haan Valar – Devotion To Xemzara [Demo]

Apart from the big commercial success of Rotting Christ, that mythical sound of Greek Black Metal has always been loved, it was mostly appreciated by a small but dedicated group of aficionados. It has been since the last decade that this specific sound seems to be getting a bit more recognition and admiration. Not only relatively new bands like Cult Of Eibon and bands with seasoned Greek musicians such as Yoth Iria and Funeral Storm are keeping the flame alive, there is a whole new generation of bands that are not exactly copying the infamous and unique Hellenic sound, but keep its occult vibe alive. Amongst them there are the Belgian horde of bands like Forbidden Temple, Moenen Of Xezbeth and Perverted Ceremony or the great Necromantic Worship from The Netherlands and Black Edifice from Norway. To that ever-growing list we can now also add Haan Valar from the USA.

Haan Valar is a collaboration between Lord Mephisto and Der Nachzehrer who are active in bands like Bezaliel, Nachzehrer and Mephisto. While most of their other work also delves right into the dark and the occult, it is this first demo with Haan Valar that they are truly showing their full potential. ‘Devotion To Xemzara’ is as close as one can possibly get to the early sound of Rotting Christ and Varathron. Sakis “Necromayhem” Tolis’s signature guitar sound is literally written all over the musical composition on this demo, but it is moulded in that unparalleled atmosphere of Varathron’s ‘His Majesty At The Swamp’. It is really finding the essence of what the Hellenic sound was all about, striking just the axis of evil in between Rotting Christ and Varathron. Some other comparisons to other early adaptors out of the Greek scene can be made, but most of them are just sounding a bit further off from what Haan Valar is able to put on the table here.

‘Devotion To Xemzara’ has the same incantatory Mediterranean warm guitar melodies that we all grew to love so much as well as the archetypical drum sound, completely with those trademark fills. This is a demo that is to be released on tape my Mamzer Records in 2024, but you could have easily been fooled, for it sounds really like it has been recorded three decades ago in a steaming hot Molon Lave Studios in Athens.