Non Opus Dei / Morowe - Dziwki dwie

NON OPUS DEI / MOROWE - Dziwki dwie (WITCHING HOUR - CD 2013)

This split CD has caught my attention from the first second, when I saw its announcement. First of all, you have the title, which is equally controversial as it is unusual, especially for this sort of music. I won’t translate it for you, try doing it yourself, but some feminist bitches may feel offended here hehe. See if I care hehe! Then there’s the artwork for the CD – damn, I have no idea what this photography on the cover shows. Finally you have the music… and both bands play “experimental” black metal, if I can call it that simply, even if I really hate such term for the music… I only use it here for lack of something more accurate for such unusual and sometimes even bizarre black metal… And it will be even more difficult to listen to if you’re not Polish, because both bands have all the lyrics written in Polish, so not only the vocal lines will sound weird for you, but also the lyrics are quite an important part of the whole music and give it some special mood, if I can say so. But even if “Dziwki dwie” may give you a headache, I still think it is good enough to listen to and check what is this all about.

First band on “Dziwki dwie” is called Non Opus Dei and bizarre, experimental (?!) and unusual black metal has been their style for many years now. I actually know NOD from their demos era better than from the recent albums, which they released and the reason is that I just didn’t like them so much and to be honest I think that “...Sem al Diavol Va Porti al Mal” was the last release of Non Opus Dei, which I have really enjoyed. This band just crossed that line, where the music tends to be too weird for me and becomes too difficult to swallow and digest. So, being a very sceptical about their music I didn’t expect anything from Non Opus Dei’s three songs, which are featured on “Dziwki dwie”. And honestly, I was quite right. I don’t wanna say that their music is not good at all, because it’s OK, but I’m still having troubles when trying to convince myself to it. And I just cannot. Non Opus Dei still sounds too bizarre for me and their riffs, with weird rhythms, song structures, finally also with the vocals of Klimorh are all not make cup of piss. Take “Dziwki dwie” song for example… damn, I don’t like these riffs in it, sorry! I’ve read some reviews, where people were saying about aggression, ferocity of this sound… Well, somehow my feelings are completely opposite. This song is the weakest of all from this CD. “Kres hańby” sounds better, as it is faster and more straight forward and the riffs have some sense, rather than sound like some groovy metal from “Roots” era Sepultura, which you can find in the first track. Anyway, as I mentioned the music of Non Opus Dei in its entirety cannot convince me fully, these few riffs or moments are not enough to say I like their music as at the same time there are always some things, which I don’t like and generally I just feel like I’ll never become a fan of this band.

Besides, it is even more difficult to enjoy the music of Non Opus Dei, if Morowe does such an awesome job on their part of the split. Already first riff, which opens “Obustronne oczy patrzą” is an instant ear-catcher and I think it just sounds damn awesome. And the entire song is just excellent, I like the atmosphere of Morowe music a lot, also the vocals of Nihil are – as always – really fantastic and so is the production of these three songs. Really, if I was hesitating so much with NOD, then with Morowe I have no problems whatsoever and it catches my attention totally, from the first to last second and with every sound. Morowe’s music can be easily described as kind of post metal or post black metal or avant-garde blleeeerrghhh, if anyone would bother putting them in some boxes. Ah, who cares… Their riffs are excellent, the atmosphere of the music is also really possessing and I simply cannot say anything bad about it. “Obustronne oczy patrzą”, which I mentioned above, has some truly memorable parts, but I think that it is “Kat kota”, which shows the full potential of Morowe. It has great instrumental passages, many killer ideas and finally these vocals and lyrics make such a great difference and are one of the reasons, why Morowe sounds so unusual. Just read these lines: „…Dziwko ty szmato, dziwko ty szczurze, od dnia pierwszego leżysz tu i pachniesz. Najpierw ogniem, mięsem, później potem i perfumami a potem perfumami…” – damn it, speaking of provocative lyrics in metal hehe... the only thing, which I don’t like about Morowe part of the split is the final song of theirs, “Czyj to głos?”, which is short instrumental and which hasn’t got much sense for me and is rather useless... but I can always skip it and go back to the two previous songs, right?

All in all I think it is really worthy to get “Dziwki dwie”. Non Opus Dei is not my cup of tea so much, but I may be the only one in this country, who this band cannot convince hehe. Most people seem to like it, so you may also enjoy it. Morowe for me is the main reason, why I would recommend this CD. It’s awesome band and two really fantastic songs. Someone may say that they could easily have been released as Furia and I agree, but it doesn’t matter. Great music is great music. They alone would get 90/100 for it, but NOD lowers the final rate...

Standout tracks: “Obustronne oczy patrzą”, „Kat kota”

Final rate: 75/100