Neoheresy "Potop" CD Digipack

I've found that with Neoheresy's heavily folk-influenced sound that is streamlined in effect but also can feel overbearing at times, Potop is somewhat of a refreshing album with its bigger concentration on pure black metal with straightforward riffing like in the song Dotyk Albo Miecz, while keeping the ambient and passionate feeling and ornamentation in the music. There is still a lot of atmosphere in Potop, with various changes in dynamics and prominent synths in every song. Even though the creativity by this point is still fresh and offers a lot in terms of though-provoking material, the symphonic aspects aren't done as well here as they were in the previous releases, with a lot of melodies held back and slightly monotonous in comparison. For example, there is a constant clean guitar motif that continues throughout most of the album, and while this creates a nice baseline for the rest of the music to take place while still keeping the atmosphere confined and fluent, this does become dull.
The experimentation definitely is the primary aspect of Neoheresy's music to appreciate, but it is relatively one-dimensional here, and the confusing attempts to divert towards black metal while having lingering vocal chants and ambient effects does come off as contrived at times. Don't get me wrong, this is still a very vivid and hypnotising release with its layered sonorities and more orchestral touches, as well as haunting passages that sound like something straight out of Lord of The Rings, like the middle section in Czarny Snieg. The very effective blend of distorted motifs and the ambience takes a more minimalistic approach here, which isn't bad, but it neglects the energetic burst of atmosphere and massive-sounding melodies in the first couple of releases. Simply put, Potop shows signs of the band burning out a little, but still containing a lot of quality in its creativity.

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