Finland’s Azaghal have been around for quite awhile, Teraphim being their eighth full-length album. Founding member Narqath, who handles contributes guitars and vocals, also later went on to form pagan black metal band Wyrd. On Teraphim the band displays a refined style of black metal that isn’t overly raw, aggressive or melodic, but contains a good balance of these elements.

The first few tracks of the album get things off to a good start, but some things like the melody in opener ‘Elilum - Suuri Tyhjyys’ or the clean vocals in ‘Filosof’ just don’t quite work. Teraphim quickly finds its footing as it progresses however, with several standout tracks like ‘Teraphim - Puhdistava Tuli’, ‘Uhrattu’ and ‘Pimeyden Kutsu’ along the way. ‘Filosof’ starts off with an awesome headbanging riff, while the bridge of ‘Teraphim - Puhdistava Tuli’ contains a devastating palm-muted section that seems to come out of nowhere. The band also displays an uncanny ability to morph their style on different songs. Tracks like ‘Samaelin Kuiskaus’ or ‘XI Omega’ torch your ears with a frenzied tremolo picked black metal assault while ‘Kyy’ is more thrash-based, and the midtempo, melody-driven ‘Hänen Musta Liekkinsä’ is surprisingly effective.

Admittedly, this album took some time to grow on me. The combination of the slightly subpar production and some of the odd touches like clean vocals or the occasional Wyrd-like bluesy solo kind of turned me off at first, and the drums never do much, but as you listen to it more the flow of the songs and the intricate riffing starts to reveal itself more and more. Definitely the more you listen to Teraphim, the more you’ll appreciate it.

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