The Finnish band Horna has all the black metal stereotypes like an unreadable logo, bizarre band member names and evil posturing. Those type of things may be important to some fans of the genre, but when it comes down to it, the measure of any band is their music. And when it comes to black metal music, Horna is the real deal.
Aania Yossa is a four song epic that clocks in at nearly 50 minutes in length, including the 22 minute closing track. Horna's style is bleak, dark and cold, and their songs have a layer of bile and crust that makes it that much more desolate sounding. They also manage to inject just enough melody to make the songs stand up to repeat listens.
The vocals are in the usual raspy, demonic black metal style. Apparently all the songs are in the band's native Finnish, although the vocals are unintelligible anyway so you'd never really know if it weren't for the Finnish song titles. The production on the CD is old school and muddy, which is perfect for Horna's style.
