In my opinion the Slovaks have built one of the most impressive local scenes over the past years and there are no signs of them slowing things down anytime soon. Thanks to quite a few connections between bands, labels and musicians from the country I keep stumbling upon more great stuff, so I am not afraid of running out of top quality music within the foreseeable future. One of my latest finds are Krajiny Hmly who released their second full length “Poza ćierne hory” only a few weeks ago. Their style of atmospheric black metal with pagan roots fits nicely into stuff that has been produced by some of their fellow countrymen and as all of the members are seasoned musicians you can expect a highly professional and expertly performed piece of black metal art.
When broken down into detail it could be stated that this is mainly second wave black metal, honest and true. With a production that combines the best of underground aesthetics with clarity of delivery, the band’s sound is just as stunning as the album’s artwork. One thing that I really love about this album is that every track features a unique characteristic, and while Krajiny Hmly have produced one stringent piece of music by staying true to their formula over the whole 40 minutes there is a lot to discover. The mood of savage enjoyment provided by cold riff magic will keep the listener intrigued for several consecutive spins.
Sweeping and epic in scope, yet possessing a raging heart of pure fire and fury, songs like the mighty opener “Vo Svetle Rannej Hviezdy” will immediately get the blood pumping. The band make very good use of dark melodies, seemingly teasing them into existence out of the grim haze of the guitars with loving attention to detail. These sit alongside some well-composed riffs and blackened grooves, forming the bulk of the songs with great passion and care. The band sound sharp and motivated, totally dedicated to their material, while still injecting it with an enthusiastic energy.
There is nothing truly new or innovative to be found here, but this is anyway not what Krajiny Hmly have in mind. However, the songwriting is top notch and delivers some of the most competently crafted classic black metal tunes I have heard within the past few months – and this is saying something. Most tracks keep providing the listener with substantive, memorable, and surprisingly catchy content form the very beginning of the album until the closing moments of the nearly seven minutes long epos “O Skalach, Burke a Vecnom Plameni”, one of my favorites here. In its middle part things are slowed down for a while, with a calm guitar melody delivering some atmospheric moments, before the final attack starts.
The vocals by singer Wyrd are howled in classic fashion. Of course I do not understand one word, but the Slovak language seems perfectly suited to express what bands like Krajiny Hmly seek to transport. The same can be said about the production, as “Poza ćierne hory” comes with a sound that is very organic, yet dynamic and diversified at the same time. Overall this album is a strong statement by a band that should be checked out by any fan of traditional yet fresh sounding old school black metal, and for me personally a strong contender for my year end list 2021. This is quality stuff and I for one will check out their previous releases as well.
Sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vpUIaRK34c&t=1584s
