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The one-man black metal band from the United States, Paimon Gate, led by Jake Kohn, after releasing a demo in 2022 and an EP in 2023, is now releasing its first LP, "From Womb to Cauldron", in these June days of 2025 through the label Nuclear War Now! Productions.
The third release from Paimon Gate is a fiery journey into the dark world of medieval witchcraft: a pounding and brutal sound narrative, composed of monotonous riffs, somewhat unintelligible and with a granite-like cut, which penetrates the very fabric of the diabolic evil of antiquity, leaving little space for nuances and rhythmic variations (though present), focusing instead on evoking a disturbing, desperate, and claustrophobic sentiment, with traits not dissimilar to those of an evil litany.
Musically, "Advanced Satanic Witchcraft", with its eight tracks, perfectly aligns with the narrative thread we’ve already mentioned: legends of satanic witchcraft viewed through the lens of medieval Europe and colonial Americas.
If we also wanted to indicate some stylistic coordinates to frame the album—presuming that anyone approaching such sounds is a connoisseur of the genre—there is the impression of being faced with a kind of mixture between Black Funeral—who, among other things, have often dwelled on liturgical and ceremonial tones—the early Demoncy, the Mayhem of albums like "Esoteric Warfare" (2014), and the Behexen of "Rituale Satanum" (2000), the latter, in particular, for some characteristic elements of the vocal style adopted by the American.
The long-play debut of Jake Kohn represents an excellent start and is undoubtedly a more than appreciable work for anyone who favors the more disturbing, less accessible, and alienating sounds of the ancient black flame.
Perhaps a few more variations—just some particular accents or a melodic idea capable of creating some hook to capture attention—would have benefited the overall enjoyment of the tracklist... Nevertheless, sometimes the charm of black metal lies precisely in its "not flowing": in persisting under the skin.
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