Greek black metallers Kawir have been sent down from Olympus to unleash their latest album, Father Sun Mother Moon. The band has been at it since 1993, and this latest outing shows that they don't plan on slowing down any time soon. Names like Rotting Christ, Varathron, and Necromantia are being thrown out there, but for me this is a great return to the early releases froom Nokturnal Mortum. The band is reportedly "on a Hellenistic crusade to celebrate their native gods and mythology in their lyrics and sartorial presentation." What follows are hymns to the Hellenic Pantheon, delivered in Ancient Greek. The album was even recorded just kilometers away from the legendary Thermopylae.

"The title Father Sun Mother Moon symbolizes the circle of life," Therthonax explains, "a return to the ancient days when we were celebrating the male Sun deities at the longest nights of the year - the Winter Solstice - and female Moon deities at the longest days of the year - the Summer Solstice - at the full moons and at nights when the silver light wasn't visible. The two opposite edges of the cosmic pendulum of equilibrium where the eternal forces, although in constant battle, coexist and where, in their ever-changing balance, the world is manifested - the same world where we find ourselves in. For the life-giving principles of light and darkness, for the male and female forces that surround us, all honors due!"

I must say, first and foremost: the passion clearly shows. The use of traditional flutes, pipes, and other instruments mixed with the blackened guitars and harsh growls really takes me back to the 90's, when this style was just taking form. Each song has its own hook to carry it forward, my two personal favorites being on "Dionysus" and "Hail To The Three Shaped Goddess." The compositions have so much character and truly carry the weight of history. Somehow this music sounds like the crumbling of old ruins.

Unfortunately, this album does suffer from a few problems. For one, the tracks are simply too long. There's just not enough happening to warrant the runtimes, to the point that unfortunately they can become tedious at around the halfway or two-thirds point. The same ends up being true of the album. While each track does have its own hook, they are quite similar which is not aided by the lack of dynamics or pace changing. The entire LP sticks to roughly the same speed, volume, and effect. A little variation and/or tightening of the songs could have gone a long way here.

I hate pointing these flaws out, because honestly I still really dig what Kawir have done here. On the offset, each song gets me going and certainly takes me on a journey to the past. It's just that the effect is constantly being broken by the repetetition. Even so, I plan on spending more time with Father Sun Mother Moon. It could be that it grows on me more, and worst case scenario is that it will still hold up as great music to have on while I'm working. I'd just like to see these guys take their compositions to the next level. Check out one of my personal fav's below.