Possibly an unfamiliar name, but new British/Lithuanian black metal band Miško Boba were formed by Leviathan (the guy behind Written In Torment, all instruments in the studio but holding drumming duties live) and Kanopa, vocals and very particularly lyrics, as a vehicle for expression her Lithuanian heritage, folklore and history. They are now a fully fleshed out gigging entity with Vilhelmas, Azuolas and Aganoras on guitars, guitar and bass respectively with membership of bands like Aubzagal and Sellsword, but this is their debut album. The band name means ‘forest hag/witch’ and is related to folklore about a witch with a house on chicken legs, Baba Yaga style, hence the (lovely) album cover.
Importantly the album title is translated as ‘Mourning And Hope’ a day marked in Lithuania to commemorate the 130,000 Lithuanians transported to Siberia by Soviet Russia during the occupation. The day being 14th June.
No this is not going to be gentle.
‘Ateik Pas Mane’ opens without hesitation straight into a bitter drum driven riff. The vocals are excellent, a truly merciless snarl. The riff has that melancholy edge to it despite the anger. It moves with a smooth speed, like a wind howling between trees and cutting through cloth to the bone. It’s an excellent opener; harsh and straight to the point. ‘Miško Broliai’ has a shift down in pace but the grim tone and the slow winding melody snare you. A translation of the lyrics, which are all in Lithuanian, appear to deal with resistance to the occupation, willingness to die in the cold earth. It is not a celebration, it is an acceptance of the way things are and the music is as bleak as the subject.
‘Pozemio Karalyste Jums’ begins with a folk acoustic melody before the glorious almost Sargeist-esque riff surges through. It feels bitterly cold, wrapped in the presence of death, or spirits and it utterly hooks me from beginning to end. The musical, lilting refrain, the clean vocals bringing a superb folk element naturally into the song, entwining themselves not simply pushed in. It just drags me in and never lets go through the shifting quiet passages, the howling riff, the snarling voice. It’s frankly mesmeric.
The title track is as bleak as you would expect. Once more the band’s grasp of how to bring a heartfelt, emotional melody to a pure black metal riff is superb. The song is relentless, pushing hard lyrics whose translation are full of pain and loss, of being torn from home to die. It leaves me just seeing images of bodies in the snow. Lost. ‘Take a deep breath, close your eyes. Wake up in your homeland…’
‘Dievu Ugnis’ translates as ‘fire of gods’ and his a hard, ripping affair of battle and priests, magic and five and axe. The drums power it on, the guitars and bass dextrous in keeping the hard edge, a touch of heavy metal to one brief lead break before the storm rolls over it. Bloody excellent.
We close with ‘King’s Whore’ or ‘Karaliaus Paleistuve’ the sad historical tale of a woman brought to the country to wed the king and greeted with little love. Once again the music and the vocals are just so on point. The riff is a rumble but still infused with a rich melodic vein and atmosphere. Some clean backing vocals almost whisper in the background, hidden eyes spying from the shadows. It’s a turbulent, bass heavy closer, one that brings so much emotion to the table just with the well written melody and the contrasting vocals but all wrapped in heavy, driving black metal. A moment of piano simply softly closed the door.
Honestly it’s a fantastic debut. A little over thirty-five minutes but not a moment wasted, not a minute of filler. The production is excellent, keeping the sound deep in biting black metal territory but allowing the rich veins of melody and touches of folk to shine. Deeply atmospheric, raw with real emotion and passion and with superb musicianship. Aye there is the prospect still of them growing in whatever direction suits, which is exciting particularly with the folk melody influence, but for me they already have the identity and the direction they want. It’s always kind of exciting when a band comes out fully formed like this (and can back it up live as I discovered at Warhorns) so you try not to go over the top. But.
If you are a fan of melodic, lightly folk tinged black metal you really need to give this some serious attention.
(8.5/10 Gizmo)
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