Artist: Remina
Country: Greece / Japan
Label: Metal Throne Productions / Rat Covenant
Formats: Cassette EP / CD EP
Year: 2025
In spring 2025 Menschenfeind Propaganda released a split tape between Eternal Ice from Japan and Yūrei, that, even though the name is Japanese, comes from Greece. That tape was not only a very interesting and thoroughly entertaining piece of underground Black Metal, it seemingly also laid the foundation of a new band. Multi-instrumentalist of Eternal Ice, Ryotaro teamed up with the sole member of Yūrei for this new band called Remina. This debut EP was digitally released mid-2025, but only saw a physical release late that same year through Rat Covenant (cassette tape) and early this year via Metal Throne Productions (CD EP).
The title of this first EP is obviously in Greek, but the song titles are all in Japanese, underscoring the international character of this collaboration. Musically, however, it is not at all that exotic. Just like Eternal Ice (and Yūrei for that matter), Remina is quite conservative and obviously built on traditional Black Metal values. It harkens back to the brand and level of Black Metal that came into vogue around the late 90s and early 00s. At the time that usually went under the moniker of “Misanthropic Black Metal”, and you can clearly hear why that is. It is Black Metal in quite a nihilistic and primitive form, without any unnecessary frills, stripped down to its core. Raw riffs and a predominantly fast pace with shrieking vocals that makes you wonder what happened in the last twenty-five or so years. Blunt and uncomplicated, but surely effective and enjoyable throughout.
The only exception to the riff-heavy approach is the penultimate song, that is a noisy track that reminds of the classic Cold Meat Industry days. But while that might feel like a bit of an outro that you can either love or think is misplaced after such a solid bit of Black Metal, it is followed by a cover of Rotting Christ’s ‘Archon’ that originally appeared on the Greek icon’s debut album for Century Media, ‘Triarchy Of The Lost Lovers’. But while Remina made it their own, it is still very recognizable and therefore feels a bit off in the whole picture. Well, at least it shows Yūrei’s origin.
All in all, a solid start for Remina. But, in all honesty, it doesn’t differ so much from the regular Eternal Ice material, so time will tell whether this is a band that will develop a style of its own or “merely” remains the product of two like-minded individuals playing together – and there is nothing wrong with that!
