I have to begin by saying this is not my usual cup of tea. Or maybe it is. I’m a more or less stereotypical raw black metal girlie, and this is very much not raw in the raw black metal sense…and it’s debatably black metal on top of that. Rather, it’s a much slowed down iteration of Amenra which punches like Throane, depresses like The Saddest Landscape and Psychonaut 4, despairs like Sigur Rós, and even has a slight tinge of OG Batushka on the vocals on occasion.

But this album is so much more than a compilation of others. Indeed, I could talk endlessly about references and influences, but here they really mean nothing. It’s a slow and painful masterpiece, which displays a surprising amount of instrumental complexity for a piece so centered on emotion. Piano, violin, and jazz saxophone are just some of the instruments accompanying the standard metal array.

I’d say this is definitely Album of the Year material, but listening to it is such an oppressive experience. As the fourth track Hell begins, the punches Dymna Lotva throws go from metaphorical to very, very real. The crying child amid the sounds of active warfare is but a small glimpse of the reality of war. And while many will be able to listen to this album again and again for it’s musical merit, which is incalculable, personally, I’ll never be able to separate it from its core themes of life under totalitarianism and warfare happening at one’s doorstep. Indeed, Dymna Lotva hail from Belarus, Russia’s main ally in the war in Ukraine, but are now located in Poland, no doubt to escape Lukashenko/Putin persecution and possible involvement in this pointless war.

I come from a country in geographical proximity to Ukraine. The Russian shadow has always been prominent, as has been the ceaseless Russian propaganda – before the war, and even more so now. While not directly involved, my home country is close enough to the action that were a major accident to happen, it will be affected.

Equally, my native language is close enough to Belarusian for me to be able to understand much of the lyrics (also helpfully available on Metallum). I tried not to listen in to them or read them, as this is already heart-wrenching enough even without knowledge of what’s being said. Sixth piece The Pit really emphasizes this by using non-verbal vocal techniques – blood curdling screams, laboured breaths, sounds of death. But it’s not like the other 12 pieces don’t contain these.

In the seventh, Cruelty, all of these are further accompanied by manic laughter. I hate to be aware how much this is a reflection of reality. In my day job I often end up going down Wikipedia rabbit holes, and the most profoundly distressing and unforgettable one has been on Russian historical war tactics. Couple these with 2023 technology, and it’s a recipe for unspeakable nightmare. The nightmare of Dymna Lotva, Ukraine, Belarus, and so many other people across the world, sung or unsung, in moral or racial proximity to those of us in the West, or otherwise obfuscated due to historical colonialist narratives.

I so wish this album never had to be made.

(10/10 The Flâneur)

https://www.facebook.com/dymnalotva

https://dymnalotva.bandcamp.com/album/the-land-under-the-black-wings-blood