Review MYSTIC CIRCLE ‘Erzdämon’

After it was quiet around Mystic Circle for a long time, A. Blackwar and Beelzebub came around the corner with a new album in 2021. Simply called ‘Mystic Circle’ the band returned to their black roots and released grim black metal songs that caught people’s attention.

Now follows with ‘Erzdämon’ the second strike of the new era of Mystic Circle. Inspired by their own success, the duo set to work and release nine new songs these days.

‘Erzdämon’ stylistically ties in with its predecessor. It is the dark and sinister riffs that Mystic Circle pulls out of the hat. The opener ‘Erzdämon (Part 1)’ also shows immediately that the duo doesn’t leave anything to chance and starts with full steam into the new album.

Also the raging ‘From Hell’, which greets the listener next with a smirking grin reflects exactly what fans of the band expect. Screeching vocals, heavy riffs and quite melodic solos line up one after the other.

In addition, there is also a lot of drama and bombast, even if this is used only in parts, as in ‘Asmodeus and the Temple of God’, but gives the album a good arc of tension. Another song, which follows a similar pattern, is the rabidly frenzied ‘Skinwalker’. With all affection in speed Mystic Circle builds in skillfully a few breaks, which make the six-minute playing time seem to be shorter.

Mystic Circle are again a force to be counted on, as they indicated with the previous album, and they back it up with ‘Erzdämon’. Even if one feels reminded of bands like Cradle Of Filth and Dimmu Borgir from time to time, ‘Erzdämon’ is still an autonomous piece of work, which will appeal to fans of the above-mentioned bands.