I may have been late on the scene arriving to meet Greeks Kawir, but my fascination with the band continues ever since I experienced Father Sun Mother Moon, so my exploration of Kawir continues. Aiding in my efforts is the band’s resurgence and recent prolific streak on Iron Bonehead Productions, as Adrasteia is their third album in 5 years.

If Father Sun Mother Moon was an epic splurge and Exilasmos was the exercise of anger and frustration, then Adrasteia is the sort of combination of the two. Still deeply steeped into mythical and mystical Greek black metal, that will never seize to be for Kawir otherwise the band is no more, Adrasteia may provide a false notion that it is calmer than its predecessor. That first impression is dispelled after expansive and grand opener Tydeus, with its epic choral and flute, ends up spilling raw emotions in its final third. From there the album’s tracks tend to alternate somewhat. Atalanti still boils, anger, pride and rawness in one pot, throws the rhythms from double bass to blast beats, without ever losing sight of Hellenic approach to black metal. It could be a stretch to compare Atalanti to Rotting Christ Aealo, but if one blends the epic and extreme together, maybe the stretch is not as big as it seems. Flute still makes an appearance, and squirming drilling guitar spills over from Tydeus, but it is still melodicism of Atalanti that is unmistakable. So is solemn and warring melody of Limniades, where Kawir spins the whole track around it. Danaides on the other hand is all intense and angry, despite a brief epic middle, and Kawir extreme vocals here shine. Electroacoustic and female vocals carries Colchis and it is on that track where Kawir takes a break, bells percussion and all, sounding more like Wardruna or Heilung.

Interestingly enough, if Exilasmos had a strong male connection and told stories of tragic male personalities, then Adrasteia, named after female goddess of revenge, probably invokes stories of female heroines. Medea, to whom the album’s closer is dedicated, was spurned by Jason the Argonaut, who retrieved the famous Golden Fleece, after originally helping him out to obtain it. Her revenge was horrible. Medea, the track, is then another fine example of epic black metal and mythology combining. Tremolo melody just carries Kawir to the epic towering and tragic unraveling, something the band have become the masters of, at least in the short period of time I have been following them. Adrasteia did nothing to extinguish my desire to continue on the Kawir streak, so here is to hoping more albums will come.