Published: January 25, 2018 

After their formation in 2015, the American atmospheric black metal band Mavradoxa released their debut full-length, Sojourners, in 2016. Since June 22nd guitarist/vocalist Nival and drummer/vocalist Lux got a successor released. This successor is titled Lethean Lament and was released via Hypnotic Dirge Records. 

Lethean Lament contains four track surrounded by a folky intro and outro. In the intro, called Cicadan, one of the two guest musicians of Lethean Lament can be heard immediately. It is Andy McGirr, whom you might know from the American black metal band Hubris, playing violin. Right after this relaxing intro, Mavradoxa gets unleashed, especially guitar-wise. The guitars on The Phantom Visages sound loud and heavy, but also melodic, executed in a very great way. Meanwhile, the drums are really on the background in the mix, but not too much. The drums sound very flat, making it sound a bit emotionless. Luckily this gets better in the remaining tracks. This track, The Phantom Visages, and the track before the outro, From Fog are the heavier, faster tracks. The tracks in the middle, Crimson Waves Of Autumnal Flame and Across The Nival Grove are the more atmospheric tracks on Lethean Lament. The first of those, Crimson Waves Of Autumnal Flame, even starts with an intro only consisting of an acoustic guitar. Later in this track the second guest of the album can be heard. This time it is a vocal addition by Mark Welden, vocalist of American grindcore band Blurring. At the end of the other more atmospheric track, Across The Nival Grove, Andy McGirr and his violin make a comeback, while the guitars are also still very present. This combination makes the end of this track very loud and noisy as well as beautiful and atmospheric at the same time. Vocal-wise Mavradoxa lets us hear atmospheric vocals as well as screams on Lethean Lament, which is a very nice combo. 

Mavradoxa delivers a great album with Lethean Lament. It is very guitar-oriented, music-wise as well as production-wise, but it isn't something which is annoying. This one is definitely recommend for atmospheric black metallers!