Comes in standard jewelcase and with 4-page booklet.
“Słowiańska Duma” is Saltus’ second demo, but the first real one, nicely released by Nawia Productions, on cassette, of course. The expanding cover contains not only texts and photos, but also praise of old times and respect for the forces of nature, as well as a white and red background decorated with images of an eagle. Saltus honors native tradition, but brings war, death, hatred and anger to the cross and the rampant Jewish religion. The demo begins with the sounds of a great battle, which lasts quite a long time against the background of a subtle keyboard backing. This is of course the intro, but it turns out that there will be more of these extended keyboard interludes here and they constitute an important element of the whole. Apart from the intro, there are four of them and they divide all the black metal tracks. Their author is Jacek Mielnicki from Cedamus, who has previously guest-participated in various black metal projects. Here, he grew to be the designer of half of the material, although this should be treated as an addition to the mainstream. It certainly adds to the atmosphere and brings Saltus closer to the forest and ancient climate that the band wanted to achieve.
The main courses are therefore four rushing black metal pieces with a rather dry sound, clear melodies and vocals in Polish. It is threatening and unpleasant by design, but quite understandable and spiced up with declamations that give it an additional aura. The most spectacular impression is definitely made by "Wielki Las" not only because of the catchy entrance of the verses, but also the wildness of the war message, as well as more marching and calm fragments. But this sinister, combat convention is also carried by the other numbers. This music actually sounds as if it were spinning through a forest covered in brown leaves, among bare branches swaying in the wind. All you have to do is take a sword and fly, instead of mushrooms, looking for Catholics hiding behind junipers. In "W Krainie Cienia" there is even such a quite folk guitar motif, supported by a high-flown, warlike: "Hey!"
Although the production itself leaves much to be desired, the compositions are solidly constructed and come out very decently. As I have already mentioned, you can hear the melodies in them, and also feel the naturalness emanating from them. Saltus is able to engage the listener in his fight against evil and evoke in him a feeling of dignity and spiritual coherence with what was important in the past and still lives in the hearts and thoughts of modern warriors. So if you want to set off on a path through the forests, then "Remember that you are a righteous and proud Slav".
Sample:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRUTKbcpjJA
