IATON – portit pohjolan – LP

Formed in 2022, IÄTÖN initially began as a duo of Woewrb and Penetreichtus I, with the latter having played in HATESPIRIT and Serpentfyre. Two demos followed, in 2023 and 2024, respectively on the well-respected Altare and Korpituli labels. Even early on, IÄTÖN were defiant of the prevailing Finnish black metal paradigm. With Woewrb’s keyboards prominent in both the soundfield and songwriting, the duo’s largely mid-paced but still-energetic sound strongly reminded of First Spell-era Gehenna or, closer to home, Behexen’s majestic Eternal Realm demo and the likes of Musta Kappeli, Funerary Bell, and Orfvs: rarefied-yet-esteemed company indeed.

Now, IÄTÖN are prepared to stake their claim to be counted among such elite names with their debut full-length, Portit pohjolan. While the approach thankfully hasn’t changed here, it’s the subtle details as well as the charisma & confidence in which they play that render this IÄTÖN’s undoubtedly strongest recording. The cover artwork to Portit pohjolan is evocative of its contents: earthy, verdant, and just a bit icy, beckoning and portending in equal measure. Expanding upon that “largely mid-paced but still-energetic” element, the band’s expansion to a quartet has provided quite the boon, filling out their mystical black metal with a hugeness that’s somehow intimate simultaneously – perhaps it’s those organs / keyboards of Woewrb working some strange, intoxicating magick? – and even when the pace quickens, there’s equally a mournful grace to IÄTÖN that didn’t exist before. Any way you approach it, Portit pohjolan is truly olde-worlde black metal transported from forgotten realms and ​glorious times.

Lineup:

– Woewrb – Vocals, guitar, keyboards

– Penetreichtus I – Drums, backing vocals

– Drühten – Bass

– Kalmo – Guitar

Recorded and mixed by Penetreichtus I at Duumilaakso Studio

Mastered at Trollhouse Audio by Henri Sorvali