THE SYNN REPORT (PART 184): IMHA TARIKAT

Recommended for fans of: Dödsrit, Watain, Spectral Wound

We are no strangers to the works of existential extremists Imha Tarikat here at NoCleanSinging.

As a matter of fact, I was personally responsible for reviewing the group’s 2nd and 3rd albums, Sternenberster and Hearts Unchained…, and the only reason I haven’t yet written about their recently-released 4th record, Confessing Darkness, is because I wanted to save it for this month’s edition of The Synn Report.

With a firm foundation in (if you hadn’t already guessed) Black Metal – one which showcases a deep and abiding appreciation for the classics without sounding self-consciously (or self-indulgently) “retro” – the band’s distinctive formula also incorporates hefty helpings of gnarly, tooth-gnashing Crust and Punk influences, as well as lashings of heroic Heavy Metal melody, resulting in a sound rich in potential for possible cross-over success while still staying true (or “trve”) to the genre’s roots.

2019 – KARA IHLAS

In many ways their most primitive release – composition-wise, anyway – when compared to what would follow, there’s still a potent, primal energy to Kara Ihlas which is difficult (if not impossible) to deny, which the punchy, punky strains of opener “Çökmüş Mühür” make crystal clear right from the start.

Opening with a belligerent Crust-Punk bellow and a set of big, booming chords, it quickly lays the groundwork for the rest of the record with its killer combination of Old School influences (Venom, Bathory, and Celtic Frost immediately spring to mind) and New School nuances which recall, in part at least, the early works of their cousins and countrymen in Dödsrit and Der Weg Einer Freiheit.

Follow-up “Akan Sır” leans into this dichotomy and juxtaposition even harder (if that’s possible), marrying a ragged, edge-of-your-seat intensity to a punishingly precise (yet also subtly proggy) set of performances, shifting seamlessly from surging blastbeats to soaring leads to swaggering grooves without ever missing a literal or metaphorical beat, while the blood-pumping bass-work and raw, throat-scraping screams of “Omninihai Çözümü” double-down even more on that classic (proto) Black Metal sound of the band’s forebears.

“Katarsis Vaazı” then ups the aggression levels a little bit more, while also making sure to reserve ample space for both some shameless guitar heroics and an unexpectedly sombre and subdued mid-section, before the captivating lead melodies, coiling bass lines, and cathartic tremolo hooks of “Şafaksız Rüya” add another level of intensity and a touch of moody majesty to the album, all building to fiery, fretboard-scorching crescendo.

Smartly the title-track then doesn’t try to replicate its outstanding predecessor, instead opting for a crustier, crunchier approach which highlights both the virulent nature of the song’s underlying (albeit, frequently blast-driven) grooves and the visceral angst and anguish behind the belligerent, barking vocals.

Closing with the one-two combo of “Imha Tarikati” (a ferocious five minutes and change which combines all the best bits of the album thus far into one thrillingly dynamic ebb and flow of furious forward-momentum and introverted introspection) and the insidiously infectious, blackened Punk-Metal gallop of “Son Mistisizm”, Kara Ihlas may not be held in quite as high regard as the albums which followed it, but there’s no denying that it laid down the distinctive formula which they all would follow to greater artistic and critical success.

2020 – STERNENBERSTER

The band’s stellar sophomore release effort (and still my personal favourite) wastes little time getting to the meat of the matter, with opener “Ekstase Ohne Ende” – seven minutes of bristling riffs and brooding atmosphere, visceral blastbeats and virtuoso soloing, all topped off with an even more intense, yet also more purposefully and confidently delivered, vocal performance – immediately showcasing the myriad little ways in which the Imha Tarikat formula has been refined and sharpened over the last 18-ish months.

Across the length and breadth of Sternenberster it’s eminently apparent that both the vocals and melodies are more cathartic, the songwriting more challenging and ambitious, and the intensity levels even more charged, while the addition of a touch of almost Goth-Rock grandiosity has only enhanced the formula even further.

This is particularly apparent in the pulse-pounding grooves and cunning bass-propelled counterpoints of “Sturm der Erlösung” and the shameless strutting, stomping, and soloing of “Kreuzpunkt der Schicksale”, both of which combine the blood ‘n’ fire blastery of Misþyrming with the fearless bombastic flourishes of Tribulation at their best, while the artistic ambition and attention to detail – combined with a ravenous, devil-may-care delivery that frequently feels right on the edge of flying apart at the seams – evident on seven-and-a-half minute centrepiece “Brand am Firmament” shows you just how much more intricately intertwined all these elements (and a few surprising ones you might not see coming) are this time around.

Speaking of surprises, mighty mid-album cut “Klimax Downpour” has more than a little bit of mid-90s Rotting Christ and/or Samael in its DNA (to my ears, at least), reaffirming the fact that Imha Tarikat are firmly aware and respectful of the rich history of Black Metal as a genre, even as they refuse to be totally beholden to it (something which the showboating soloing, seething tremolo lines, and storming hooks of “Aufstieg” only further reinforce in a manner that sounds both “classic” and “current” at the same time).

With the penultimate title-track (which serves as the album’s colossal climax, after which the subdued instrumental epilogue of “Cosmos Dissolving” serves more as a poignant post-script than anything else) the band only further emphasise just how far they’ve come since their not-so-long-ago debut, with the song’s cunning blend of raw aggression and refined execution channelled into an even more stripped-down and streamlined form which simultaneously sounds bigger and bolder than ever before yet also even more lethally focussed on being the best version of what it can be.

2022 – HEARTS UNCHAINED – AT WAR WITH A PASSIONLESS WORLD

While Sternenberster remains my personal favourite of all the band’s albums thus far (including their recently-released fourth record), I can’t deny that with Hearts Unchained… they’ve taken things to a whole new level, adding even more Heavy Metal heroism and Crust Punk catharsis to their visceral blackened brew while also continuing to draw from a deep well of influences which seems to hold the likes of Killing Joke and The Cure in just as high regards as Celtic Frost.

That doesn’t mean that they’ve forgotten who or what they are by any means – superb second track “Radical Righteousness” is just under six minutes of some of the most scorching music ever put out under the Imha Tarikat name (and includes some of the most intense, yet intricate, drumming of the group’s entire discography) – it’s just that it’s even easier now to appreciate how the band aren’t just locked into the same old restrictive model of Black Metal (even as they worship at its altar) as some of their peers.

And while that’s not to say that the band don’t have peers – the grandstanding lead guitar work of “Touch of Mercy” infuses the blackened, punky gallop of the track with an extra dose of melodic magic reminiscent of Lawless Darkness era Watain, while the fever-frenzied assault of “Brute Majesty” marries ecstatic energy and blast-driven extremity in a hellishly hooky manner not a million miles away from Spectral Wound (and I’d be remiss if I didn’t state that Imha Tarikat deserve just as much hype as their Canadian cousins IMO) – they’ve clearly carved out a distinctive space and sound for themselves on the Black Metal spectrum all the same.

Songs like the broodingly infectious “Flood of Love (The Beast Trigger)” and the dynamic, shape-shifting “Dominator Proselytism Tactics” (whose punk-encrusted, brimstone-infused blastery feels just as indebted to Amebix and Discharge as Hellhammer and Dark Funeral) are as instantly recognisable – whether due to frontman Ruhsuz Cellât’s distinctively brutish battle-cries or the unabashedly epic lead guitar work which infuses every track – as they are shamelessly anthemic, yet never lacking in visceral aggression, while the strutting grooves and shimmering atmospheric undercurrents of “Streams of Power” suggest that the band could easily make a play for the Metal mainstream if they ever decided to pivot in that direction.

Until then, however, the blazing venom and burning fury of “Stardust Wisdom” (which, again, showcases the impressive – and underrated – technical talents and instrumental abilities of the group, all of whom are more than capable of shredding it up when the occasion calls for it) and unapologetically catchy, unceasingly cathartic, closer “Beast of Sovereignty” should continue to satisfy even the most jaded and burnt out Black Metal fans looking for something a little more fresh to sink their teeth into.

2025 – CONFESSING DARKNESS

On their fourth album Imha Tarikat continue the slow but steady process of further refining and polishing their sound to a gleaming obsidian edge, balancing raw intensity (“Wicked Shrine” is an unrelentingly ferocious blast of pure blackened fury) and bleak, haunting beauty (“Another Failed Ritual” positively revels in gloomy grandeur and melancholy melody) in equal measure.

Interestingly enough, this refinement has resulted in the majority of the songs clocking in at a slightly more concise, 4 to 5 minutes (as opposed to the more common 5 to 6 found on previous albums) and benefitting from a more streamlined structure – the fantastic “Voices of Bitter Epiphany”, for example, barely deviates from its all-or-nothing, in-your-face assault, while still managing to inject a devilish dose of melodic majesty into the proceedings, while the aptly-titled “Excellent Grief” is a devastating deluge of explosive energy and unexpectedly introspective intensity (climaxing in a sombre, subtly proggy outro that really hits the spot) – which really emphasises the inherent hookiness of the band’s songwriting without compromising their artistic integrity.

There are, of course, some exceptions to this rule – both the titanic title-track (just under eight minutes of almost unrelenting, fire ‘n’ brimstone blastery and bombast which culminates in a thunderously doomy finale) and the swaggering, Watain-esque “Chamber of Sin” take full advantage of their extended run-time to pack in even more righteous riffosity and spiteful, spiralling melody than ever – but the general impression of Confessing Darkness is that this is one album which truly lives in the moment and thrives on the spontaneous combustion and combination of Black Metal, Heavy Metal, and Punk.

In many ways this really sums up not just not just the band’s new album but their entire career, as while comparisons to the likes Dödsrit, Misþyrming, and Spectral Wound still prove useful in capturing the general vibe of Imha Tarikat‘s style and sound over the years they don’t define them by any means, and it’s ultimately the unpredictable collision of all their influences – both from within and beyond Black Metal – which makes tracks like the absolutely mesmerising “Horns In the Smoke” and the stomping, blasting, brooding “Memoria Dei (Profanity And Devil)” so catchy and compelling.

Closing with the killer combo of “Pitch Black Reflection” (one of the most eye-poppingly intense, all muscle, no fat, compositions in the band’s back catalogue) and the pulse-raising Punk-Black blast ‘n’ burn of “The Day I Died (Reborn In Flames)” Confessing Darkness firmly establishes itself as another outstanding chapter in the story of one of Black Metal’s most underrated acts… one which will hopefully help raise their profile and finally bring them the proper level of attention and acclaim (which they richly deserve).