Review by Vladimir on March 14, 2023.

There are plenty of countries with quite extreme black metal bands, with Brazil proudly being one of them. Among such extreme bands is Outlaw from São Paulo, which carries the everlasting flame of Anti-Cosmic Luciferianism, similar to that of Watain, Dissection, Thy Darkened Shade etc. Outlaw has been dominating the scene since 2015, carrying 2 full-length albums in their roster, with the addition of the third one named Reaching Beyond Assiah, to be released on March 31st 2023 via AOP Records. Let us enter the spiritual world of Assiah and reach out what lies beyond. 

From the very get-go, the album starts with a killer track 'Bliss Of Soul', commanding with blast beats, harsh singing vocals, dissonant melodies and aggressive riffs, which are altogether sound very Watain – "Lawless Darkness" formulaic by going from fast and aggressive to slow and melodic. The second track 'To Burn This World And Dissolve The Flesh' approaches with more thrash metal and double-bass drumming next to the already established blast beats, while the guitar work goes full on Dissection with tremolo riffs and melodies. The fifth and sixth track, 'Everything That Becomes Nothing' and 'The Serpent’s Chant', go full on with Dissection – "Storm Of The Light’s Bane" style songwriting, dominated with thrash metal and blast beat drumming, tremolo riffs and melodies, with piano and orchestral in the mid-section of the fifth track and a clean guitar mid-section in the sixth track, that both successfully build the epic atmosphere carried throughout the other half of the song. The final title track 'Reaching Beyond Assiah' starts out with a very slow atmospheric riff that occasionally switches to double-bass drumming and melodic tremolo picking section, serving as an outstanding conclusion to this album. The sound production is a big highlight next to the music, doing justice to each instrumental and vocal performance on this album, not failing a single bit to deliver what it promised. 

If there was doubt at any given moment if this was going to be a good album in the end, I would seriously question your thoughts. Outlaw has an already established reputation for heading towards the musical and ideological direction of all the aforementioned bands, proudly carrying the flame that opposes the weak and the ignorant, therefore being a worthy follower, not a false prophet. Reaching Beyond Assiah is another great addition to their discography and I hope to get another chance to see them live, since I sadly missed them during their European tour with Power From Hell back in 2021. Overall, if you are a big fan of Outlaw, I highly recommend that you check out their new album Reaching Beyond Assiah, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. 

Rating: 8.8 out of 10