Band: CALYX
Country: Spain
Title: Vientos arcaicos
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
Year: 2019
Style: Black Metal

Review:
Debut album from this band founded back in 2013, Vientos arcaicos (Archaic winds in Spanish) is made of 8 tracks clocking 45 minutes of playing time. The album title is spot on as the band presents an old-school Black Metal that to me sounds like a mix of old Greek Black Metal with Bathory-like Viking Thrash Black Metal, alternating between fast-paced passages and mid-tempo structures with even some doomy slow riffs thrown here and there. The core of Calyx's music are the primitive-sounding guitar riffs, repetitive and predictable but somehow catchy and expressive, but I have to also mention an organic sounding rhythm section lead by a heavy, oppressive even and wide-sounding drumming. The vocal part isn't on my taste for two reasons: Spanish isn't what I would call a Black Metal-friendly language, it's too warm for it, and to me Humungus sounds more like an angry kid than a demonic force, his tone is not natural and it's obvious he's pushing it to the max in order to get something out of it; kudos to him for hiving his all, but Calyx's music would have benefited much more from a visceral, bloody voice. Anyway, give it a listen, you might like it much more than I did, and if you already follow Iron Bonehead you should know what to expect from their signings, they are like a mark of quality. What I loved on this album was the guitar intro and some guitar leads here and there that are absolutely memorable making the tracks they are played on stand apart from the rest.
Reviewed by Adrian
Rating: 6.5/10

Contact:
calyx1.bandcamp.com
ironbonehead.de