01. Mutter Astarte
02. God I Hate them All
03. Lost
04. Whispers Of Chaos
05. Demonized     play
06. Lycon
07. Queen Of The Damned
08. Heart Of Flames (Burn)
09. God Among Men
10. Everlast      play
11. Black At Heart
12. Black Star
13. Princess Of The Dawn (Accept cover)
14. Everlast II (Pheonix Rising)

Personnel:
Tristessa (aka Lady Lilith) - Vocals, Bass, Lead/Acoustic Guitars 
Derketa - Synths
Lycon - Session Guitar, Bass
Ice – Drums

All-female Greek black metal trio Astarte returns with another crushing release of blasted fury. On their fifth album, DEMONIZED, leader Tristessa howls her scorched banshee vocals while machine-gun drums tumble around her and crushing riffs pulverize the listener. While black metal is generally regarded as a (usually Norse) boys' club, Astarte prove that they should be taken seriously with epic songs like "Lost," which recalls classic black-metal forefathers Immortal in its mix of raging aggression and majestic guitar passages. On "Lycon," micro speed-metal solos poke through the thrash storm as Tristessa duets with guest Attila Csihar from Mayhem. With its paint-peeling shrieks, DEMONIZED reminds metal fans that women aren't just hood ornaments in rock videos. ---AllMusic Review

Astarte - greckie black-metalowe trio, które narodziło się w 1995 roku z inicjatywy Tristessy (wł. Maria Kolokouri) pod nazwą LLOTH. Członkami LLOTH byli wówczas Tristessa (bass, gitary akustyczne, teksty), Kinthia (wokal, gitara elektryczna) i Psychoslaughter jako perkusista. W maju 1997 roku wydali pierwsze demo pod nazwą „Dancing In The Dark Likes Of Evil”. Muzyka ta prezentowała styl czysto blackmetalowy i agresywny. Wtedy to właśnie zespół zmienił nazwę z LLOTH na Astarte.

W lutym 2007 roku miała miejsce premiera albumu zatytułowanego „Demonized”. Z biegiem lat styl grania Astarte zmienił się od black-metalowego straszenia po deathmetalowe, miażdżące brzmienia. Z początkowego składu Astarte została wyłącznie Tristessa.

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1 Passage To Eternity (Prelude)
2 Voyage To Eternal Life
3 Thorns Of Charon (Pt1) - Astarte's Call
4 Doomed Dark Years     play
5 Thorns Of Charon (Pt2) - (Emerge From Hades)
6 Thorns Of Charon (Pt3) - (Pathway To Unlight)
7 Empress Of The Shadow Land
8 The Rise Of Metropolis
9 Intro
10 The Offering         play
11 Empress of the Shadowland
12 Satisfaction of The Dead

* Nemesis – guitar (1995–2003)
* Kinthia – guitar, lead vocals (1995–2003)
* Katharsis – keyboards (2003–2008)
* Psychoslaughter aka Aithir – session drums (1995–1997)

In a scene that is primarily dominated by men, there have been a few notable all-female Metal bands. Whilst Heavy Metal bands like GIRLSCHOOL paved the way in the early days, there have nevertheless scarcely been any all-female bands who have made it out of the underground. This is even more so the case in the Black Metal scene. However, one exception here is the Greek band LLOTH, who became better known as ASTARTE, and are thought to be the very first all-female Black Metal band. Formed in 1995, LLOTH changed their name to ASTARTE shortly after the release of their first demo in 1997. From then until 2014, the band played under the moniker of ASTARTE, releasing five full-length albums, the last of which was unveiled in 2007. Following the death of founding member Tristessa in 2014 after a struggle with leukemia, ASTARTE split, only to be reformed that same year, albeit under the original name LLOTH. This year saw the reissue of ASTARTE’s 1998 debut full-length album “Doomed Dark Years”, including spice-up artwork as well as quite a bit of bonus material.

“Passage to Eternity” provides a sinister intro to the remaining 70 minutes of the reissue, setting a tableaux of a haunted castle on a stormy night, howling wolves, creaky floorboards and all. And with this backdrop, ASTARTE’s unique style comes oozing out of the speakers. From the first few notes of “Voyage Of Eternal Life”, it becomes immediately apparent that care has been taken to keep the music as true to the original as possible, albeit with a cleaner and clearer sound that really allows the more melodic parts to shine. I’m not going to get into a description of each song, as those who know ASTARTE’s music will already be more than familiar with the album. But whilst there will undoubtedly be those who prefer the rawness of the original, the revamped reissue does take the harshness of the music up a notch, and does give the music a fuller sound. New on this reissue are five bonus tracks, the first of which is an exert from MAYHEM’s famous song “Deathcrush”. This as well as an unreleased track from a studio rehearsal provide a low-fi behind-the-scenes look at what went into this iconic Black Metal band. The organic melody of “The Rise of Metropolis” without vocals is even more spell-binding than the released version, and is an absolute must-hear for fans of this album. Ending things off is an extract of a radio interview Tristessa did back in 2000. Although not in English, one of the most striking things about this interview is how sweet and innocent her voice sounds; a stark contrast to the gravely snarl she used in later vocal lines.

I’m usually fairly skeptical about reissues; usually there’s a lot of hype about basically the same album. However, the reissue of “Doomed Dark Years” is one of the few exceptions to this. The changes in the mastering have given the music more body, and the instrumental version of “The Rise of Metropolis” is simply stunning. With all the previously unreleased studio/rehearsal bonus material, this is definitely something for the collectors out there. And something else for fans to look forward to: Sleaszy Rider will be reissuing the remaining four ASTARTE albums in the future. ---Erika Kuenstler, metal-temple.com

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