Unconventional and exotic, Athens' Necromantia are not only the most distinct of the classic Greek black metal bands, but one of the hidden treasures in the entire 'second wave' of the genre, if we are to extend that classification to artists outside of its preferred Northern European sphere. Duly atmospheric, to an extent surpassing even peers Septic Flesh or Rotting Christ. Simultaneously refined and lewd, with their fingers upon the pulsing artery of the entire 'cult' aesthetic that so characterizes the black metal pioneer, and yet as the stoic and regal vampire on its cover would imply, fully prepared to sink its fangs into that very same vein and draw sustenance to its own, belabored creativity. Conceptually, it treads a path often too broad for itself, and yet the musical content permits naught but vile, life sucking rapture. You've got such a large range of elements, from the hellish chanting intro to "Les Litanies de Satan", to the Gothic piano/synthesizer overture "Tribes of the Moon", to the drawling 13+ minute black/doom epic "The Warlock", that it takes several listens to truly ingest. The use of a second 8-string bass to supplant the traditional guitar gives the album not only a streak of unbridled distinction, but a primitive aesthetic that parallels the pioneering wrath of the great Hellhammer. The admixture of raw drumming, dueling distorted bass and the malicious rasp of Magus Wampyr Daoloth through "The Warlock", "Lord of the Abyss", or the more rampant rocking of "Unchaining the Wolf (at War)" is memorable and authentic, and the synthesizers are used sparingly to create a haunting efficiency to the ghoulish landscapes the Greeks are extracting. Crossing the Fiery Path is rather amazing in its vision and sincerity. Necromantia loses nothing for its uncanny decision to run with the 8-string throttler over the range of the guitar, and this debut remains both grim and endearing nearly two decades later.