The eleventh studio album “Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle” is a pure definition of these Finns; the album opens with the eight-minute track “Hymni I”. The hellish intensity of Horna perfectly showcasing its rhetoric and unorthodox blasphemous energy with drums erupting in a fierce inferno. The guitars are laden with sharp razor tremolo-picked riffs and vocalist Spellgoth spews venomous satanic poetry against the constant blast beats, we get something cold and furious black metal hymns that is reminiscent of the early wave of nineties black metal.

The riffs possess negative energy, making the album more atmospheric than the previous Horna albums and maintaining a fabulous level of precision. As the riffs continue to flurry out like churning lava, the out bursting of riffs are more effective and are displayed in the mid-tempo sections where Horna infuses its grim guitar hooks.

Relatively the signature style is honed on tracks like “Hymni II” and begins with catchy brooding tremolos played while the quintet wears a sly grin and the grim riffing erupting into a spectacle of brilliant musicianship, this is one of the prospects that highlights the new album. The mélange of the old classic Horna and the modern methodic of atmospheric melodies venturing into something epic; it is clear that guitarist Shatraug drew inspiration from the early Norwegian black metal bands such as Gorgoroth and Satyricon, with that being said “Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle” is a crown jewel in the band’s expanding canon.

Each instrument from the mid-tempo drums, bass guitar, and rhythm lead guitars captures the compositional work of the five new tracks, the songwriting is very cohesive with blazing tremolos embedding plenty of melodies but underneath these moving currents of cold blistering riffs, slow vicious sections are conveying a spiritual black metal potency.

Horna lays the groundwork for its present and future releases the songwriting goes beyond the contemporary sound of the current Finnish black metal bands such as Sargeist, Satanic Warmaster, and Behexen. However, Horna’s newest material portrays its grim trait of channeling various shifts in the tempo while still allowing the guitars to unleash profuse tremolo and atmospheric hooks in “Hymni III”.

The song structure is topped with cold and icy riffs without compromising on the malicious and evil fundaments of Horna and is well maintained, each song varies in tempo making it quite effective and has a mystical significant aspect musically. Founding guitarist Shatraug and guitarist Infection have emphasized the fusion of majestic Finnish black metal melodies as they imbue the unholy atmosphere of grimness throughout the forty-four minutes.

For instance, the overemphasis of melodies in the song “Hymni IV” conjures a kind of black metal mysticism with some unpredictable twist that combines the chilling shrills and the frail clean vocals in the background flow perfectly with the shrieks and blast beats.

Horna manifests raw and classic black metal magnificence; the influence ranges from vast Scandinavian acts that somehow define the songwriting in the eleventh studio album, the riffs create a grim atmosphere as the whole performance plunges you through the frosty pine forests of Finland. Within its sheer scale of harshness vocalist Spellgoth achieves a darker approach with his evil shrieks and the drums boast blistering blast beats, the rhythm sections in the track “Hymni V” weave a gothic feeling when combined with the ghostly chant, thus creating a haunting atmosphere.

The songwriting is by far the best the band has ever brought and captures different elements of black metal styles; even the nine-minute closing track “Kuoleva Lupaus” which features guitarist, bassist, and vocalist Hex Inferi (Kryptamok) starts differently from the previous songs. The acoustic folk elements present something magical, I consider this a Viking ode to Quorthon of Bathory. This multi-faceted track is instrumentally mesmerizing and includes beautiful epic moments played with acoustic strings and beating drums; the soaring vocals offer a stairway to spiritual enlightenment, and it’s played in the style of neo-folk which is something the band hasn’t done before.

Finally, Horna’s eleventh studio album “Nyx – Hymnejä Yölle” scribes a new legacy, this is nonetheless but a great achievement illustrated perfectly by the gods of Finnish black metal.

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