Review by Felix on May 28, 2023.

The Greek metal scene is well known for its bands who love experimenting with innovative sounds. But innovation is not the objective of Riffobia. They avoid new approaches like the devil avoids holy water. While feeling comfortable with old school thrash metal, the band walks along the well-trodden paths of the genre. I am not sure whether this approach is of great artistic value. But honestly, this is irrelevant from my point of view. Authenticity and attitude are more important. And it goes without saying that the production has to be right. So what about “Laws of Devastation”? The multi-coloured cover points in the wrong direction. The similarity with the illustrations of bands like Municipal Waste does not mean that you will find stylistic devices of fun punk. Riffobia hate to have fun. They offer a dry and direct sound that leaves no room for humour. One rather gets the impression that the band had to work hard for this output.

The eight songs last as long as they need to while avoiding redundancies. Nevertheless, it leaves me with a slight feeling of dissatisfaction that this album offers a running time of less than thirty minutes. I know, “Reign in Blood” and so on… But it gives a poor impression if a newcomer band offers a debut with such a short running time. Immense creativity looks different.

At the end, however, the music plays the key role. The strengths of Riffobia are based on the combination of rasping riffs and simple but well prepared melody lines. Although their name may suggest otherwise, they do definitely not have a phobia concerning metallic riffs. These riffs form the foundation of the songs which are conspicuously often presented in mid-tempo. But the pieces do not show a lack of tension so that you will not miss anything. Due to their outstanding guitar lines, “Invisible Hate” and “Remnants of Faith” mark the highlights of this record. With regard to the latter, the contrast of the casual riffing and the stressed singing gives this song a special touch. The vibrant double bass and the catchy chorus must also be emphasized. “Invisible Hate” develops from a distinctive bass guitar line which is attacked by riffs that become more and more dominant. It may well be that the Greek State has gone bankrupt. However, Riffobia draw from the wealth of coherent song ideas, at least for the album´s running time mentioned before.

The band does not add anything new to the genre. But while doing it in the traditional way, the music, and this is crucial, is well performed. If you find some completely new elements in the working results of this thrashing bunch, please feel free to add it here ____. Thank you.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 25, 2023.

The end of Christianity has yet to happen, but the end of the Finnish black metal freaks namely Nightside came very quickly. The debut from 2001 remained their only full-length. Even worse, this is no homogeneous work, because it compiles different recording sessions. It therefore makes more sense to speak of a legacy than of a debut. However, despite this difficult starting situation, "The End of Christianity" has its charm. Maybe Nightside did not enrich the scene, because they had no ambition to broaden its spectrum. The material mirrors a relatively generic approach that combines the typical harshness with some atmospheric keyboard lines. They do not gain the upper hand, but they also cannot be ignored in songs like "Night's Blackest Shadows". Voluntarily or not, Nightside deliver a kind of consensus black metal. They are surely not opportunist, I just want to say that probably every supporter of this genre will find some nice elements in the here presented sound.

One of the raw tracks must be mentioned expressly. "Summon the Holocaust" has a pretty catchy chorus, the keyboards are very effectively used and the throaty vocals are the dominating component. It is the most sustainable track and reminds me a little bit of some pieces of the debut of Norway's Ragnarok. In particular "The Norse Winter Demon" comes to my mind, because it has a similar keyboard line. Additionally, the degree of harshness is roughly comparable. For sure, the music does not lack vehemence, but bestial or barbaric ingredients did not show up in the recipe of its creators. On the other hand, the warriors from Suomi cannot be denounced for gothic or sweet melodies. They stay on the middle of the road - well, consensus black metal as mentioned earlier.

It's a little bit sad that a few number of tracks suffers from ill-defined sections. For example, the sixth song has a rabid section, but the leads of the guitars remain expressionless. No doubt, the corpse-painted guys can do it better. Already the next piece, "Demon Metal", is kicked off by a contagious riff that cast is spell upon the listener. The song is driven by this thrashy riff, nevertheless, this is pure black metal. By the way, I am speaking about adequately produced black metal. "The End of Christianity" is no prime example for transparency or brutality, but it conveys a mostly frosty climate and there are no quality differences between the two separate recording sessions. The strict and grim "Under a Thousand Stars" marks the best song of the second session, but the following "Where Darkness Shines" also takes the audience on a wild ride and spits on harmonic elements. So it's up to you whether you want to dig deeply in the underground in order to find this output and give it a chance. 17 years after its release, it still spreads belligerent vibrations.

Appendix: an annoying detail is that the pressing of the disc was not flawlessly executed. The strong, hammering opener is torn asunder by an abrupt, short moment of silence.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10