Hurtling into the melodic black metal sub-genre this fairly new Croatian act has penned a debut album that harks back to the origins of the genre but enhances all their songs with a quirkiness and atmosphere that few are able to replicate making this a truly unique album. The clichéd opening of thunder, rain and backing noises is nothing new of course but it leads into a bereft guitar hook that possesses a lingering almost off key aura that makes the lengthy opener listen like an intro piece before ‘Beneath Mount Hasan’ slashes into the listener with an isolated bleak riff. There is an eeriness that permeates the song as pulsing bass work infests the song and the album creating one aspect of this albums’ uniqueness. The pause for a haunting acoustic phase is executed with aplomb before the song detonates with a soft blasted section and a cool guitar hook. I did think some of this release was like early Satyricon and very early Dimmu Borgir to some extent but there is something about this album that is uncannily effective.
With melancholic guitar work ‘The Blackening’ pierces the listener with a chilling riff that is massively catchy before the harsh vocal assertions pepper with corrosive malice. As the song develops, a ghoulish croaking chant is revealed that adds another layer of charisma to this fabulous song. With their band name originating from someone who has been badly affected by severe cold or winter it matches the ethos of a song like ‘…And Darkness Followed’ where the slower pace is enveloped in an iciness within the riffing, as the atmosphere of the track is glacial adding another aspect of this release that is unique.
I absolutely adore ‘Storms Of Adria’, the song opens with a barbaric gelid riff accompanied by haunting chant like vocals alongside a harsh throat stripping variety. The fantastic change in riff is super catchy as the bass work again punctures the song with its twanging like style that you don’t hear on black metal releases. Diverting into sound effects maybe cliché again but it is effective in channelling the aura of the song down a more poignant avenue making this song truly epic even though its only about four minutes long. That epic flavour continues into ‘We, The Winds Of Winter’ which follows a short bridging interlude ‘Keepers Of The Ancient Secrets’. As the opening blackened strains epitomise the melodic black metal style of the band it quickly unveils a whole raft of other touches such as sorrowful acoustic guitar work and spoken clean vocals that hints at our own Old Corpse Road for style. As the song detonates with the blasting assault it is sprayed with ghoulish hooks and again the vocals take on multiple levels of character that all fans of this genre with enjoy.
The morose opening of ‘The Embrace’ is funereal like, steeped in a sadness that imbues the song with a sense of despondency before the metal punches in. Retaining the slower style is very effective emphasising the drum work as the song develops cohesively towards the malice stricken vocal style. A wonderful riff drifts into the mix like the materialisation of a ghost leaving only the acoustic outro ‘Reincarnation’ to end this fine album. This band should be on every melodic black metal fans hit list, their ability to write charismatic songs is excellent and I urge fans of the genre to investigate pronto.
(9/10 Martin Harris)
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