Thysia "Islands In Cosmic Darkness" (DigipakCD)

Translated from ancient Greek as “ritual sacrifice,” THYSIA was spawned in 2019 in Cavaso del Tomba (Treviso, Italy) by Nefasto on guitar and vocals, Mistyr on drums, and Nihil on bass; Fenrir joins in 2021 and takes over vocals. The band’s collective experience includes the likes of Haemophagus, Messa, Undead Creep, Assumption, and Nox Interitus. After a couple of interruptions due to the outbreak of the pandemic, THYSIA completed their first public work, the full-length Islands in Cosmic Darkness.

Just as THYSIA are aptly monikered, so, too, is Islands in Cosmic Darkness truly titled. Its black metal is deeply rooted in the ancients, but not just one corridor of this rich tradition; lurking within THYSIA’s cauldron, one will find Craft, Varathron, Mayhem, Celtic Frost, Tangorodrim, and early Rotting Christ among others. With a suitably cavernous but fully physical sound, Islands in Cosmic Darkness sends out undulating sinewaves of spiritual negativity, its lyrical references rooted in Greek mythology and its inner cosmic landscapes expanding outward from an austere core. Put another way, THYSIA in general and their debut album in particular sound astoundingly OLD – not simply “old” like ’90s black metal, but rather old as the earth itself. Dusty and dusky like so much Mediterranean black metal from the darkest past, these sonic bones and scrolls emit a blanching aspect that’s simply impossible to find these days. Modernity is left to rot in THYSIA’s world.

For those who thrill to the equally eldritch likes of Negative Plane, Malokarpatan, Cultes des Ghoules, and Funereal Presence, prepare to have your coordinates rearranged by THYSIA’s Islands in Cosmic Darkness.