Trollech "V Rachotu Hromů" CD

With my introduction to Trollech being their music video for “Ve Stínu Starých Dubů,” I gotta say that its very difficult to take anything this band does seriously. The band pictures here on the archives don’t help that much either, though behind the image is berserk black metal for forest dwellers around the world. The guitar tone is muddy and dark – tremolo picked most of the time and, if not, wretched and melodic. The atmosphere is tenuous, but music manages to flow naturally with some sweet bastard riffs owing up to thrash. For pagan black metal, there really isn’t a whole lot of invigorating themes or moods. I’d expect to feel like I’m in a forest (Odal (Ger)) or surrounded by nature in some other way (Drudkh). Sometimes I get the feeling, but most of the time I’m left in the studio.
Drumming combos work nicely with the riffs, spewing out catchy patterns and a ton of pillow-smacking double bass. It’s a drum machine, but it works well for the music at hand. Some people may get annoyed, but it doesn’t sound too triggered or clicky like other drum machines. Vocals are a combination, as well; Aura and Morbivod handle the vocals and both sound pretty alike. Asura does the main ones, but when Morbivod does his you can barely tell the difference. Morbivod does vocals for a decent amount of projects and I find his vocals more shrieky, but Asura’s work for the music; they’re lighter shrieks (throaty toad talking sometimes, too). The production isn’t raw at all so they both are clear, along with all the instruments.
A problem that I see many bands running into is just boring us to death. This band can definitely churn out some grimy songs, but there isn’t any emotion in them (except the last track). Since there’s also very little atmosphere, the formula works against the band. Only the final track, “Ve Stínu Starých Dubů,” gallops with its harmonized lead through forests unopposed. They’ve honed their rhythm down, but is there not more they could have done to charm the listener? The last thirty seconds of the song begs this question – it’s the most enthralling moment on the album that lures you into wanting more.
Where was that for the whole album? They made black metal without any backing to it; production was neutral, everything was clear, atmosphere was deficient – it was a recipe to make only a decent album that doesn’t have anything else to offer. I didn’t find myself connecting with any of these tracks or really getting into them (aside from the last track), and that’s not good enough to keep it around in my neck of the woods.

Official promo video: 

Sample: