Perunwit "Tears And Blood" CD

Re-edition of debut demo "Łzy i Krew' (1994). Released in cooperation of Eastside and Hammerbolt Productions.
The material has been re-mastered, added two songs from those past times, and five new songs, composed in 2010.

Perunwit needed another six years to release new material. Moreover, “Blood and Tears" is not a really a new album, but a kind of compilation, containing both premiere and old compositions. It's more of a reminder of the band about themselves and a sign that they are still functioning. Finally, it’s a harbinger of another change of style in the history of Perunwit.
The rock and metal style from the album "Na drodze do sprawiedliwości" turned out to be a dead end for Perunwit. At least that's my opinion and I think the band get the same idea. The premiere compositions on "Blood and Tears" are the band's return to what they were best associated with, i.e., folk/ambient with a pagan undertone. Perunwit was the undisputed pioneer and for some time the leader of such music on the Polish underground scene. The five tracks included here are a kind of return to those times.
These compositions are instrumental, played mainly on folk instruments. While in his early years Perunwit willingly used keyboard instruments, there are fewer of them here. There are more dynamic compositions, reminiscent of movie music, such as "Battlefield" or "Last days of Rugia", or a bit more trance and ethnic, such as "Wooden Temple" or "White horse of Svantevith". There is also a place for a more formally developed and a bit more ambient "Twillight of the Gods". I really like this new sound of Perunwit. It's a return to the times of "W kręgu dębów", but with a new musical quality. We have a better sound here, a stronger rhythm of the drums, practically no typical vocals, but here and there sampled choirs.
The rest of the compositions from "Blood and Tears" are older stuff. "Opowieść" is one of Perunwit's most famous recordings, originally from Promo '95, and more widely known as a track from the album "W kręgu dębów". Later, it was published on the CD attached to the popular Polish metal magazine Thrash 'em all. "It is a characteristic, long song with an acoustic sound and a memorial to the guitarist of the first line up of Perunwit" - Obscenus, who died in 2008. "Lindisfarne" is a hitherto unpublished composition with a bit of a trance sound.
Virtually the entire second half of this album consists of recordings from the demo "Tears and Blood" from 1994, previously released in a split with Kraina bez Wiatru. It presents probably the most ambient period in the history of Perunwit. Long keyboard parts dominate here, sometimes supported by acoustic guitar. The compositions are quite gloomy and moody, mostly slow. They have this very nostalgic atmosphere characteristic of the first Perunwit recordings. I myself have a lot of sympathy for this material, although it is not the best thing in the band's history. It is characteristic that this is almost purely instrumental music - just like the new compositions included on this album.
"Blood and Tears" is an album more for collectors and faithful fans of Perunwit. However, when it came out, it gave me hope that the band was back to the kind of music for which I valued them the most. The next album, "Heathen", confirmed these hopes. But that's a topic for another story.

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