LOTAN – Yetzer Hara
Release Date: 15th August 2025
Label: Emanzipation Productions
Bandcamp
Genre: Blackened Death Metal, Death Metal.
FFO: Behemoth, Hate, Mgła, Belphegor, Anaal Nathrakh.
Review By: Andy Spoon
The immediate thing that I loved about LOTAN was the outrageous level of vocal attack. The distortion and power that is present is just palpable. I think that if you are a fan of that Morbid Angel vocal style, LOTAN is going to be up your alley. I think that a good percentage of the album is going to really appeal to the blackened death crowd, as the howling, dissonant chatter of the lead guitar is a sound to behold. The overall tone is dark, melodically-twisted, and evil, only giving further articulation to the extremely-harsh vocals.
Obviously, the term we want to look at here is “blackened”, as the word can either allude to the manner and means of making a death metal track sound more eerie and Norwegian, or the process by which catfish is prepared. One of the most important things is going to be the pervasive use of suspended and minor chords over and over, as if chanting an apocalyptic hymn, on top of the use of higher pitched leads and dark vocals. We layer these elements on top of a very modern death metal attack, drums, vocal attack, and structure to get “blackened”. I’m not a fan of spending any time determining which little boxes to put metal bands into, but it’s important in some of these cases for the nerdy enthusiasts of us who like to delve deeper in the more radical subgenres.
Recording quality and production is average-to-above average. I really liked how the vocals are SUPER far forward in the mix, meaning that they are extra loud and clear, not being muddied or upstaged by the guitar and drums, which seem to be thoughtfully mixed. This is important to me as a listener because the internet of the artist is often found in the soundstage. Oftentimes, you hear the band as they want you to hear it. If the vocals are hidden behind mountainous layers of reverb’d guitars, they probably aren’t trying to sell you a lyrical album. However, consider the vocal soundstage for bands like Cattle Decapitation, who want you to pick up every lyric.
For the most part, it appears that black metal bands want you to feel overwhelmed by a huge wall of dissonant, harrowing chaos, barely controlled, the nemesis of peace. The back-and-forth of the suspended chords often lead listeners to be lulled by the screeching, howling nature of the sound presence. In death metal offerings, and certainly on display on Yetzer Hara, the soundstage is in-your-face and requires an active listen, as opposed to a passive experience. At the same time, LOTAN incorporates the menacing structures of black metal forebears while surgically-executing its plan on the audience, to actively engage. Generally, it’s multiple tracks of ferocity and high-energy dynamics, which really should excite fans of Mgla, Belphegor, and older (and better) Behemoth.
Overall, I think that fans of black metal-inspired death and extreme metal are going to absolutely enjoy LOTAN’s newest offering; I’m especially talking to the Belphegor and Behemoth fans out there. I think that this one is going to be for people who lean 75% black metal and 25% death metal, even though the album might feel the opposite upon first listen. The stuff that sticks in my head is the gloopy, wet dissonance that just goes on relentlessly.
(4 / 5)
