Trollech "Každý Strom Má Svůj Stín" CD

Black metal with a marginal Pagan touch is what Trollech stands for. Their blatant weakness for nature, especially forests, is a bit strange, but on the one hand it results in stylish designs (artwork, booklet and back of the disc) and on the other hand it goes without saying that the music is much more important. (Especially in view of the fact that I don’t understand a single word of the lyrics due to the use of the band’s mother language). Given this dogma, I am glad that Trollech’s latest album does not disappoint.
The quartet has eight songs under its belt that commute between mid-harsh black metal and even more intensive parts. Outstanding moments show up whenever the band finds the key to create extremely well flowing sections. The double bass powered, fast parts of the title track have a lot of quality and that’s not all. The entire song consists exclusively of good-to-fantastic parts. In short, it’s a truly worthy representative of the full-length. Even its calm break at 4:21 minutes blends seamlessly with the remaining parts. It does not hurt the primordial force of the song, but adds an atmospheric element that makes a very good song still better.
While the musicians present themselves as vital and agile in the title track, they are otherwise sometimes caught in deep melancholy. The beginning of “Cestou dál a dál”, for example, could also originate from Bathory’s Viking period. Aesthetics and melodic line show parallels. Anyway, this track holds faster parts as well and especially the chorus goes straight into the ear. I notice how a suspicion arises in me in the face of such songs. The West (and I personally) have only marginally noticed the qualities of the Eastern European black metal scene for far too long. Trollech are in no way inferior in craftsmanship and composition to the great mass of their Western European peers. In addition, their experience of around 18 years at the time of the recordings helps them. They successfully balance harmonies and outbursts of rage, keeping the album variable and the tension high. I can't say that I dislike it - to say the least. It's not that every riff and every melody blows me away. In addition, the guitars sound a bit squeaky in places. But if you reflect on the album as a whole, these minor weaknesses don't really matter.
Trollech’s seventh longplayer (English name: "Every Tree Has Its Shadow" - great finding!) is not a milestone in black metal and it does not trample the works of their competitors into the forest soil. Nevertheless, it is a coherent, intense and accessible (but not primitive) work. Finally, it holds a very important feature: the integrity of the protagonists shimmers through every tone of the album. The guys even know how to offer almost optimistic guitar lines (in track seven) without sounding embarrassing, because these lines are framed by unbridled eruptions. The comparatively thoughtful closer is also well constructed and therefore I hope that this was not the last sign of life we received from the Bohemian forests.

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