Review by Dominik on August 5, 2026.

There is one fundamental truth that many sociopaths like Mr. Donald Taco will probably never understand: you can’t command respect. It doesn’t follow titles, and it cannot be bought or gained because you have the means to inflict violence upon others. Respect follows character and needs to be earned. Finnish veterans Azaghal have earned mine.

Ironically enough, violence is exactly what helped them achieve it. Not the real-world variety, but the sonic kind. For almost three decades, the band has demonstrated an unwavering understanding of what makes good or even excellent black metal work. The guys walk the talk. If you worship the devil, you sleep in corpse paint and very likely have a dead goat tucked in your bed instead of a plush toy teddy bear.

Since their inception, they have repaid loyal listeners with a currency of relentless sonic violence, while staying true to their vision even when the occasional release stumbled along the road to glory. Azaghal shows a specific form of black metal empathy. When they did deliver a merely average album, they apparently felt guilty enough to atone and answer with something that comes dangerously close to an orgasmic nuclear detonation. In short: they are everything this orange clown is not: genuine, consistent, and incapable of faking conviction.

“Nekrohelios” may well be the finest album Azaghal have released to date. The reason it stops short of true greatness, or a 95+ rating, comes down to a few details my German upbringing simply won’t allow me to ignore.

First, timing. Releasing an album in 2026 that channels the spirit of early Dark Funeral and Marduk with the sole objective of flattening everything in its path is immensely satisfying, but hardly groundbreaking anymore. Minus three points.

Second, if you’re trying to create a seamless monument to sonic destruction, maybe don’t sabotage yourself with yet another lame and forgettable intro. And while closing with 'Noitalasia' isn’t a bad decision in itself, the song feels oddly misplaced. After forty minutes of merciless punishment, the band suddenly hands you three minutes to collect the shattered pieces of your soul and glue them back together. Very considerate. Entirely inappropriate. Minus another three points.

Lastly, the vocals. I genuinely admire how committed the frontman is to sounding as evil as possible. He spits his venom with absolute conviction. Yet somewhere along the way, the performance begins walking a very thin line. Whether it’s the tonal pitch or simply the cumulative monotony, I can’t tell. But by the album’s closing stretch, the vocal delivery started to wear on me. Minus three more points.

Beyond those minor “complaints,” “Nekrohelios” is an absolute beast and fires on all cylinders, and believe me, there are quite a lot of them. The sound is excellent, the bass is at times audible, and everything sits where it should. Generally, Azaghal shows what seems to have been their mission since day one: subtlety belongs in the next dumpster.

Instead, they bombard the listener with relentless blast beats, crushing mid-tempo passages, and those unmistakable Finnish melodic undercurrents that drift beneath the chaos like malevolent spirits refusing to stay buried. The perfect demonstration arrives immediately after the intro with 'Elävän Kuoleman Tuhannet Kasvot' (“The Thousand Faces of Living Death”). Quite surprisingly, and even though the vocalist sounds like a demon being exorcised in reverse and Finnish is hardly the easiest language to decipher, the title somehow remains recognizable.

My absolute personal highlight follows with 'Elysium.' The basic formula remains intact, but Azaghal wisely introduces subtle variations. Timid clean vocals occasionally emerge behind the infernal rasp, which lends the song unexpected depth. At the same time, restrained keyboard melodies creep through the cracks like cold smoke escaping a coffin. It is those tiny deviations that make all the difference and elevate the song above an already formidable tracklist.

'Haava' (“Wound”) is another standout, driven by a memorable recurring melody and a bass performance that occasionally muscles its way to the foreground. This is also the song where I first noticed that the vocals may have an impact on my listening experience going forward. Their sheer ferocity is undeniable. They hit you with enough vehemence to make your own vocal cords ache in sympathy before proceeding to claw apart your eardrums. Which, in all fairness, is probably exactly what a song called “Wound” should accomplish.

Another black gem arrives with 'Saatana, Olen Miekkasi' (“Satan, I Am Your Sword”). Its opening instantly sticks in the memory and, were this not Azaghal, I’d almost suspect the band had briefly developed a twisted sense of British humor. Add some subtle black ‘n’ roll swagger in the middle section, and you have yet another winner.

Compared to its exceptional first half, the album loses a little momentum toward the end. An exception is 'Olen Unohtanut Isäni Kasvot' (“I Have Forgotten My Father’s Face”), which rises clearly above its neighboring tracks, particularly thanks to its crushing double-bass-driven mid-tempo section, which demonstrates that Azaghal don’t need constant hyperspeed to leave a crater.

“Nekrohelios” is yet another reminder of the almost disturbing high quality and consistency of the Finnish black metal scene. I’ve said it before, and I’ll happily say it again: nowhere else has such a dense concentration of world-class black metal bands. It will be fascinating to see how fellow countrymen like Aegrus, Horna, or Sargeist answer this challenge. They have just been handed a flaming gauntlet forged somewhere in Satan’s own backyard.

Rating: 9.1 out of 10, because “Nekrohelios” executes its chosen formula with frightening conviction. Trim the unnecessary intro, end the album with the same murderous intent it begins with, rein in the vocals ever so slightly, and we’d be looking at an undisputed modern classic. As it stands, it’s still a devastating lesson in how to wage sonic warfare the Finnish way.

Review by Felix on May 25, 2026.

It always strikes me as rather paradoxical that ice-cold black metal can be so fiery, so intense and so hot at the same time. But maybe it is the same with the "Sun of the Dead"? I guess this is the meaning of "Nekrohelios" and this is the name of a new load of inhuman, sinister art. By the way, it is supplied by Azaghal, one of the most consistent creators of Finnish black metal – and one of the best simultaneously. I don't say that each and every of their albums is a sonic paradise for fans of the subgenre, but they have more than enough fantastic stuff in their discography. So if I have to separate their material into solid to good on the one hand and (totally) great on the other hand, "Nekrohelios" falls under the second category. Therefore those of you who have realised the enormous value of previous albums such as "Nemesis" or "Omega" can stop reading and buy "Nekrohelios" blindly. Nevertheless, this very remarkable work is worth describing more detailed.

Very characteristic elements of the release are its production, the vocals and the omnipresent bestiality of the material. To start with the last one, Azaghal are definitely experts in the creation of totally hateful compositions, but they never forget to sprinkle in just the necessary amount of melody. The fanatic yet melodic guitar line that gains control at the beginning and the end of "Haava" shows this competence of the band impressively. Given this fact, Azaghal spread hate, hate and hate with every note they play and the harmonious choir at the beginning of "Saatana, Olen Miekkasi" remains nothing but a mockery. The misanthropic terror begins with the initial notes of "Elävän Kuoleman Tuhannet Kasvot", the first regular song after the intro which gives the album its name. I am almost sure that no fan of intense black metal will not fall in Satanic love with this track immediately. It is strict, merciless and devastating, in other words: a perfect opener. But don't think that "Nekrohelios" belongs to these dubious works that have nothing more to say after the first song. Already the directly following "Elysium" teaches us otherwise. Due to a few keyboard tones and nearly spheric background vocals, the song delivers one per cent more harmonies than the opener, but do not overestimate these differences. At the end of the day, it is another first class outburst of destructive negativity.

The background vocals build the bridge for the next dominating feature of the full-length. Mr. Thirteen was introduced with "Alttarimme On Luista Tehty". His voice kicked off the album – and for good reason. This guy seems to be a member of the rare species of natural born black metal vocalists. This population is usually found in Finland, if at all. Either way, his raw, demonic, imperious and evil announcing approach is not unique – how could it be, more than two decades after the start of the second wave of black metal? But it is an excellent example of a flawless performance at the microphone. And despite the horrifying basic tone of his vocals, it gets quickly obvious that Thirteen's voice does not lack charisma. I don't know if I would be able to pick him out from a crowd of ten similar Finnish loudmouths. But I know for sure that he does his job brilliantly. With that said, we can take a look at the production. "Nekrohelios" sounds brutal and dense, relentless and impactful. What more do you need to know? Azaghal were not interested in stupid sound gimmicks or highly individual experiments. Both in terms of material and mix they have stayed true to themselves. I wish more bands would consider this maxim.

"Nekrohelios" focuses on brutality without ignoring spiritual elements. Moreover, it embodies the murderous strength of black metal every second. It is not the first album which comes that close to the core of the fascinating genre. But that is not a criticism of this work; rather, it speaks to the successes of the global black metal community over the past few decades. However, even glorious scenes need a new impulse from time to time in order to stay vital and vigorous. This is precisely what "Nekrohelios" delivers. Its wild, ferocious and dynamic compositions have the power to catapult you into another world for 43 minutes – a horrible, maybe frightening yet breathtakingly exciting one. If I had to find fault with anything here, the only thing that springs to mind is a slightly odd, primitive guitar line which pops up now and then in "Juuret". From this follows that this devastator (enjoy the martial "hey hey" shouts in its middle) deserves only a 9 out of 10, but come on, nobody's perfect. All I can say is that "Nekrohelios" marks an almost dramatic improvement after the already strong "Alttarimme..". This means nothing less than that it has a good chance of becoming "my" black metal album of the year – and it is already a new landmark of the genre.

Rating: 9.6 out of 10