This is the fourth full length for Sznur (meaning “Rope” in Polish). I have followed this black metal war machine from the start, and this album sets another standard for the misanthropic horde. There is a much more refined production, there is great rawness, but the recording and the mix is much clearer, heralding strong connections to the suicide notes previous written by the likes of the Norwegian and Swedish scenes and some of their label mates. Raw yes, demo like, no. The album has employed a higher class of gallows for use on this heavyweight outing.
‘Kurwy’ is meaty from the start. Good flow and variation follows with a sense of “Sin”icism when the vocals begin with use a diminished chord progressions and simple yet effective movements up and down the fretboard. ‘Płyny’ has an almost black n roll feel similar to Carpathian Forest and Darkthrone (in later years), the energy is immense. The guitar sound cuts through you and blows a powerful bit of bass through your system also, whilst keeping the character of the sparse sound typical of the sub-genre.
‘Dwóch’ is head down, horns up in stance. Form the start you could be immersed in the atmospherics with many parts that can split your soul, the double time loses a touch of power, but retains the feeling. ‘Pole’ is a touch more sedate at its start, almost post punk, but then the tracks kicks in with the sinister vocals, the eerie nature of these take the track forward. Then the time signature changes a bit to a more metallic approach and then full on into Black Metal. ‘Ul’ is super-fast, super aggressive and remains cognisant with the whole album approach. If you take the character of Vomit Angel for example, but translate to Sznur, then you end up with a true blackened sense of dystopia. ‘Stosunek’ has all the classic first and second wave hallmarks, a complete assault of black metal in fairness and a remarkable trait of keeping a melody within the carnage that’s produced.
This is a highlight of the bands career to date, ignore the trendy stuff, this is raw, but has enough power in the production to make this a regular listener and more than relevant to the current scene without the need to go too retro as appears to be a trend in other sub genres. They keep it real, the rope is waiting for you…
(9/10 Paul Maddison)
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