It's been a while since we visited the realm of symphonic black metal on this site, which is a shame because the genre is overflowing with epic horror potential, already well exploited by legendary bands like the UK's Cradle of Filth, Poland's Behemoth and Norway's Dimmu Borgir... all of whom have graced these pages with their sweeping symphonies of horror.
Today's video comes from a band whose sound and theatrics are similar to those of their European counterparts, but Erimha (whose name means “Legion” in Sumerian lore) actually hails from Canada – a nation not known for many high-profile entries in this particular genre. They are obviously out to change all that, or at least make a dramatic mark in the black metal world with high-concept albums and equally impressive gothic videos like this one. In addition to being a fairly epic track on its own (the bridge/breakdown is particularly mighty), “Verdict of the Soul” is also brimming over with occult visuals that include hollow-eyed priestesses, skulls, black blood, cryptic symbols... and fire. Lots of fire.
“Verdict” is the second visual offering from the band's new album Reign Through Immortality, which made its debut last week. A previous video accompanied another grand and heavy track, “Condemned to Isolation.” That clip is not quite as visually impressive, but the track is pretty awesome nonetheless, so we'll include it here as a bonus.
Reign Through Immortality is available now from Victory Records.
