ARTHEMIS – Black Society

Arthemis is an Italian Heavy Metal band that has been around since 1994, with their first album coming out in 1999. Arthemis has released four more albums since then, with Black Society being the newest.

Since the release of Black Society, singer and guitarist Alessio Garavello has left the band.

Unlike many other Italian Metal bands who like to go big and over-the-top in everything they do, Arthemis sticks to more Traditional-styled Metal, exchanging floridness and camp with equal amounts of grit, speed, and heaviness; if you like your Metal to be Operatic and Theatrical, Arthemis isn’t your sort of band.

However, if you like plenty of power, big grinding riffs, catchy solos, attention-getting vocals, and lots of dirty energy, Black Society will please you: it’s 10 tracks of no-nonsense European Heavy Metal. There are no ballads or atmospheric tracks to get in the way of Arthemis’ 46-minute Metal attack.

Arthemis has a simple plan on Black Society: riffs, catchy vocals, riffs, a few nifty solos, some more riffs, “shout it out” choruses, a punishing rhythm section, lots of energy, and some more riffs. And, if that isn’t enough, they throw in a few more riffs for good measure. All of Black Society‘s songs follow this game plan to the letter and it works out pretty well for the band, although album-ender “Mr. Evil” turns down the heaviness a little bit.

If you’re looking for a favorite song on Black Society, it’ll be hard to pick just one, since they’re all pretty good, from the lead-off tune “Fright Train” all the way through to the end. The riffs on songs like “Angels in Black,” “Medal of Honour,” “Zombie Eater,” and the title track will knock you down, and the overall energy level and speed never flags. Garavello keeps things interesting on the vocal side of things, displaying some good power and range. Everyone does nice work on this album, and the solid production makes everything shine.

Arthemis did a good job with their newest album, and fans of European Heavy Metal will get a kick out of it. Always bet on Black!