Khors was formed in 2004 by Khorus (ex-Astrofaes) and Mysticism is the band’s third full length. The band is rounded out by a bunch of underground black metal musicians including Saturious (Nokturnal Mortum) on keyboards and Khaoth from hate Forest on drums.

Mysticism goes under the atmospheric black metal banner but it’s a bit more than that. The band has its foundation in black metal but takes influences from classic heavy metal, thrash and even elements of progressive rock and wraps it all up in a gloomy doom friendly atmosphere and mid paced songwriting. As a result Mysticism has turned out to be quite a polished and classy extreme metal album. Lead guitarist Wortherax also used to be in Nokturnal Mortum and contributes some very tasteful classic heavy metal inspired lead guitar to the album that fits in really well with the music. It’s all held together by a sterling performance from the drummer and his inventive beats and patterns add a new dimension to the band’s sound and lift the songs above the ordinary.

Stand out tracks include Raven’s Dance which has a very cool keyboard melody mixed in with some melodic mid paced grooves, Winterfall starts out like the most black metal song on this album with an aggressive vocal attack before the clean guitars and keyboards kick in and the song takes on a doomy melancholic vibe. Pagan Scars is an instrumental led by what sounds like a flute and the album ends with more mid paced black metal goodness in the form of Mysticism and Red Mirrors which uses clean vocals, acoustic guitars and another great lead guitar spot from Wortherax.

Mysticism is a pretty impressive album. The songs are catchy without being saccharine sweet, the musicians are all more than just competent and each musician is given an opportunity to shine while the song always takes centre stage. I’m not sure if this album will appeal to the typical black metal listener but it should appeal to fans of doom metal and extreme metal in general.



Label - Paragon Records
Year of Release - 2009