I must admit that I really
like the strategy, which Arachnophobia Records has taken right from the
beginning of its activity. This label release only Polish bands and basically
each band, each release sounds different to the previous and more so, majority
of them has quite unique sound in general. Sure, I didn’t enjoy all releases,
but most of them I did… but even if it happened that I didn’t like something
(Sigihl), then I am happy to say that Arachnophobia has a great talent for
promoting the bands, which have their own personality and quality. That
tendency is continued with the release number 13, which is Kurhan and their
debut album “Głód” (which means “hunger” in Polish). I did not know their
previous releases, so I had no expectations whatsoever, but I must say that I
am quite pleased with this album. It isn’t perfect, but surely a solid effort!
And again, it’s different to all previous Arachnophobia releases, there’s something
unique about Kurhan music but at the same time some elements are similar to some
other Arachnophobia bands, mainly the Polish lyrics, which give this quite
specific feeling to the music.
From strict musical point of
view, this is quite difficult to describe. Surely Kurhan has a strong black
metal feeling and the intensity, pace (mostly fast) and aggression are all
quite characteristic for this style, but I think there are also some traces of
death and even thrash metal as well. I like how violent and intense this music
is, filled with many killer riffs and total relentless, straight forward
attitude. This is surely the best characteristic of “Głód”; its sheer
aggression, also quite complex song structures, but with rather simple riffing
and richness of ideas (all played by the classic instrumentation, with no
keyboards, acoustics or things like that!), dynamics and still some trace of
the old school. I guess one can compare them to such bands as Voidhanger, I
feel also a similar attitude and aura to what we could find on Genius Ultor’s
“Nic co boskie nie jest mi obce”… Production wise, this album is not so much
obscure or dirt, but the sound is perfectly balanced between the harshness and
powerful energy and is rather on the cleaner side, making every instrument well
audible. It actually is quite specific for Czyściec Studio, smelling with
sulphur and coal. But I like how the guitars sound and especially drums – which
by the way were very well played by Namtar, also known from Furia and
Massemord.
And now, about the negatives,
I don’t really know what to think about the vocals. They’re just… weird. Yes,
weird. Surely I can’t think of any other extreme metal record, which would have
used voice like this. But the problem is that I think the vocals not
necessarily fit such an intense and aggressive music and I guess I would just
prefer to hear harsher and more powerful, more traditional shrieking vokills.
It does take many spins to get used to Mazur’s voice, but even after four days
of listening to “Głód” I still can’t say that I am fully used to and convinced
by them. Damn, it just looks like Arachnophobia likes to make my life difficult
every time they release something new haha! Anyway, those vocals are a reason
why I can’t fully enjoy this album. Still a solid effort though, but missing
something what would put it into the highest level.
Standout tracks: “Swiatłość
wiekuista”, “Ołtarze”, “Katedra”, “Czas”
Final rate: 65/100
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