Yoth Iria release their third album, Gone With The Devil, via Metal Blade Records.

GONE WITH THE DEVIL

Gone with the Devil is the third studio album from the Attic quartet Yoth Iria, with Jim Mutilator, former member of Varathron and Rotting Christ amongst their ranks. The name Yoth Iria itself refers to a personal “apocalyptic demon” or guardian entity first envisioned by founder Jim Mutilator back in 1992. In interviews, he describes it as a kind of “daemon angel” or personal guardian existing between good and evil; something deeply personal rather than purely symbolic. This idea fits the band’s identity well. A project built around the idea of balance between opposites, where darkness and light are not separated, but constantly in tension.

Dare To Rebel opens the album. It is epic, Mediterranean with lots of heavy metal cliché thrown in. The vocals are not typically black metal, harsh vocals. In fact, with a clean voice, the guitar solos are open and airy – even if the themes are strictly black metal from the off. The usual dichotomy between evil and good shows the sound differing from what we could consider classic black metal. Gone With The Devil sounds more like an epic battle between heaven and hell with the battlefield being the ancient Hellenic land.

THE BLIND EYE OF ANTICHRIST

The Blind Eye of Antichrist, the lead track, leans heavily into a ritualistic atmosphere. It builds its identity around contrast, where different vocal layers and traditions collide. Female vocals by Androniki Skoula add a haunting, almost disembodied presence. This moves the track into a more mythological space before it moves into heavier passages. A Serbian Orthodox choir is introduced, performing a verse from Pobedna Pesma, a traditional spiritual hymn by Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović. The main lyrics remain in English, but this shift in language and tone alters the scale of the track, giving it a cathedral-esque sound.

I, Totem is one of the most aggressive moments on Gone with the Devil. It pushes the pace forward with a sharper, more direct energy. The intro is totally tribal. It is as if you are actively participating in an Orphic ritual, obsessively dancing around a fire, completely drawn in. It works as a kind of rupture breaking into something more forceful after the opening. At a certain point, there’s a repetitive chanting in the song that reinforces that ritual feeling, almost hypnotic.

Lyrically, the track revolves around self-deification; the idea of the individual becoming a pillar, something unshaken against the pressure of the world. Musically, it has that classic Hellenic black metal feel. There are galloping riffs and a driving rhythm that immediately recalls the early work of Varathron and Rotting Christ. The momentum never really drops. Plus, the vocals come through in a harsher, almost chanted delivery, reinforcing that sense of ritual and repetition.

BALANCED INTENT

All the tracks on Gone With The Devil are balanced and the intent stays steady for the entire work. This is not one of those black metal concept albums that you want  to listen in the darkness of your sitting room, candles and incense on in the calm of your home but more an energetic, action filled black metal album that brings together classic black metal topics and battle hymns.

Yoth Iria: Website

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