Iblis Returns With Raw Black Metal EP “Declaration of Heresy”

Iblis is back with “Declaration of Heresy,” a short EP that pushes the solo black metal project further into atmosphere, darkness, and unholy imagery without abandoning the raw 90s black metal foundation that shaped the debut album “Iblis.”

The project comes from a tiny village in Angola, western New York, which already gives the music a sense of distance from the usual scene-chasing nonsense. Iblis has always leaned into cold ambience, rough production, and the uglier edge of black metal. “Declaration of Heresy” keeps that intact, but this time the sound reaches for something bigger.

According to the project, the EP acts as somewhat of an extension of the debut album, but with a more epic direction. The addition of atmospheric and symphonic elements gives the songs more scale while still keeping the raw punch in place. It has not been cleaned up for comfort. It still carries that grim, unfiltered weight, but there is more drama sitting behind the aggression now.

The subject matter stays right where black metal listeners would expect it to be. The songs deal with all things unholy, with darkness that lurks outside the body and beneath the skin. That last part is probably the most interesting piece of the description because it suggests the horror is not only external. It is not just demons in the woods or hellish forces in the distance. It is also the rot, fear, temptation, and violence people carry inside themselves.

That is where Iblis seems to have a stronger identity than just “raw black metal project.” There is a mood here. The music is built around coldness, mysticism, nature, hellish imagery, and atmosphere, but it is also personal in that nasty black metal way where the sound almost scrapes at something internal.