Standard jewel case. 8-page colorful booklet adorned with artworks of Belarusian artists.
Booklet contains original lyrics and English translation.
The new mini-album of Imšar was out in the night of Winter Solstice
Chthonic Slavonic Black Metal from Belarus. New minialbum.
I remember the release of the IMŠAR album in early 2022, which I liked very much from the first sounds. Nevertheless, I did not expect that still at the end of the same year, I would be given the opportunity to hear EP material that would attract me even more to their compositions. It must be admitted from the very beginning that the new release of this Belarusian project is better than its predecessor in every way. As for the earlier material, we wrote about it in our pages a few months ago, and the project has been active since 2012 and has accumulated three albums and several smaller releases in its discography. So let’s listen to the latest material entitled 'Klič Minulych Časoŭ’.
The material may not be one of the long ones, nevertheless these five tracks, lasting a total of over thirty minutes, do a good job of holding the listener’s attention. In the introduction I mentioned that I enjoyed this disc more than the last album and this is related to the fact that on this material aggression is combined with melody in equal proportions, and the production is at a good level, so that every instrument is well heard. Although I associated the earlier material with pagan metal atmospheres, the new disc pulls strongly towards atmospheric playing filled with folk sounds, and at a few moments melodic keyboards capture the spirit of dungeon synth. The tempos contained on this material range from slow to fast. Riffs playing tremolo are responsible for melodiousness and dynamics, but also somewhat rather rough guitar solos, the amount of which absolutely cannot be complained about. The aforementioned keyboards are not the dominant instrument, but every now and then they appear more forward, adding to the melody with, above all, a unique atmosphere. You can also hear the flute, which is no novelty in black metal – you can even cite SATYRICON’s 'Dark Medieval Times’ here, although that music there is a completely different story. I was very surprised by the sound of the drums, where without putting your ear to it you can hear the footwork, and also the fast parts do not blur the sound. Everything sounds as it should. There is both weight and melody. The vocals are a bit throaty, but they are far from black metal screeches, nevertheless they can draw out a good dose of darkness, and by using a clean voice in a few bars they emphasize the melodiousness and give an original character. If the name IMŠAR is familiar to you from previous material, the new CD is a must buy. If you are not familiar with this project, then be sure to familiarize yourself with the new title.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13DsGks94Hk&t=1031s
