ODRAZA - Esperalem tkane (ARACHNOPHOBIA - CD 2014)
Attention people! Achtung comrades! Uwaga kurwy! This album has not been released yet, but I can already say that most likely I am just listening to one of the best newcoming bands of 2014! Yes! And certainly this is going to be also one of the best releases of this year, at least according to me! And because I don’t care about others’ opinions, then this is a fact that no one should deny, because… I don’t give a shit hehe! Here is a band called Odraza who have their debut album “Esperalem tkane” released by Arachnophobia. Who stands behind Odraza? Well, two maniacs are on the board – Priest, who plays drums for few other awesome bands, such as Massemord and Voidhanger. And Stawrogin – who’s playing the bass and guitars and is also responsible for the vocals and who is also a member of Massemord. This duo has really created a truly impressive and insanely brilliant material; an album, which I think is just spotless.
OK., the front artwork may not be the most attractive of all, which I have seen lately, but certainly it fits the band’s name perfectly. Odraza means loath, abhorrence in Polish! And this albums is as filthy, disgusting and vulgar as fuck (especially in the lyrics). I have read somewhere that “Esperalem tkane” is very Polish album, that it is soaking with Polish feeling and Polish stench and I couldn’t agree more… There is something unique about this band, about their music, their lyrics and maybe the foreign listeners will have some difficulties with understanding all this, especially when the lyrics are in Polish, so it will be ever more difficult for them to capture everything, but in that case they can at least enjoy the music… And the music of Odraza is – in my opinion – just perfectly composed, arranged and performed. For instance the performance of Priest is just brilliant. This man plays drums like crazy, his blasts are so damn perfect and intense that I am impressed fully. Stawrogin’s vocals are another thing, which I must mention, as this guy did just excellent job. I guess many will compare his vocals and the lyrics to Furia, Morowe , FDS and all the other stuff, where you can hear Nihil and Namtar involved. Well, let’s be fair; there are many similarities, but generally I think that Stawrogin is slightly different, maybe more possessed, vicious and furious in his performance. Finally, the production of “Esperalem tkane” is just spotless! I love how they have done everything here; the guitar tone, drums’ sound, which is very natural and not so damn unnatural, plastic and trigggered…
The best thing about “Esperalem tkane” is that every song – I mean it, every song! – brings something different and spectacular, being very unique. And more so, I can say that each part of this album sounds extremely good, so I just cannot stop listening to Odraza. The variety of styles, which you can hear here is surprising, but don’t be worry – everything is done in black metal way, if I can say so. “Esperalem tkane” has a black metal sound and feeling, but it sounds like some schizophrenics have played it! Why? What else can I say, if one motif brings a total annihilation with brilliantly performed, utterly fast riffing and drumming, only to be followed by almost kind of bluesy or rock passages? There are many moments of melancholy here, where the guitars play some cleaner tones with melodic and peaceful parts and which will bring you the resemblance to the post rock / post metal styles… Obviously some of these fragments, especially with these unique vocals of Stawrogin will have to remind you such Furia, FDS or Morowe, but it is inevitable. All in all, they do sound fantastic, especially if are followed by more classic blackened riff. Priest’s blasts sound totally insane and guy is a real maniac, I must say. I love his playing (not just when he plays blasts, but on the whole album! Amazing performance!) and definitely these fast parts are some of the strongest points of “Esperalem tkane”. Arrghhh, just listen to “Gorycz”; what a ferocious and killer stuff! This is a total annihilation, in my opinion! Obviously Odraza doesn’t want everything to be straight and simple, so even in this song they have some moments, which sound… hmm, let’s say weird hehe! And did I mention “Wielki Mizogin”, which has almost kind of punk dirt and aggression and where even the vocals sound slightly different (and the lyrics… damn, they are controversial!)? Yeah, what a contrast! Sometimes it feels like a day and night or really like music, which was composed by some lunatics (give a listen to the title song, which is the sickest of all and see what I mean!).
And this is what I meant about the diversity of “Esperalem tkane”. Odraza composed and recorded a spectacular album, filled with so many different emotions, so many feelings and in the end I can say that they have found their own way of expression and add something unique into the overall sound and style of this black metal extravaganza. Such bands as Furia, Morowe, FDS and now Odraza are the best thing, which happened to the Polish black metal scene ever! And also to the black metal scene worldwide, even if I am afraid that these bands will never be hugely popular abroad… because they are just too Polish. Although I do hope I am wrong and people will value them as much as they deserve. Among my favourite songs I can mention “Gorycz”, “Wielki Mizogin”, “Niech się dzieje” and finally the brilliant “Tam, gdzie nas nie spotkamy”, which has a strongest accent putted on the long instrumental passages and it is also a reason, why it sounds the most like a post (black) metal track. Yeah, total avantgarde. But I enjoy it. For me it is an album, which will surely end up on the list of the best stuff released in 2014 and certainly it also is one of the strongest debuts. Very, very recommended!
Standout tracks: as mentioned in the review!
Final rate: 93/100
OK., the front artwork may not be the most attractive of all, which I have seen lately, but certainly it fits the band’s name perfectly. Odraza means loath, abhorrence in Polish! And this albums is as filthy, disgusting and vulgar as fuck (especially in the lyrics). I have read somewhere that “Esperalem tkane” is very Polish album, that it is soaking with Polish feeling and Polish stench and I couldn’t agree more… There is something unique about this band, about their music, their lyrics and maybe the foreign listeners will have some difficulties with understanding all this, especially when the lyrics are in Polish, so it will be ever more difficult for them to capture everything, but in that case they can at least enjoy the music… And the music of Odraza is – in my opinion – just perfectly composed, arranged and performed. For instance the performance of Priest is just brilliant. This man plays drums like crazy, his blasts are so damn perfect and intense that I am impressed fully. Stawrogin’s vocals are another thing, which I must mention, as this guy did just excellent job. I guess many will compare his vocals and the lyrics to Furia, Morowe , FDS and all the other stuff, where you can hear Nihil and Namtar involved. Well, let’s be fair; there are many similarities, but generally I think that Stawrogin is slightly different, maybe more possessed, vicious and furious in his performance. Finally, the production of “Esperalem tkane” is just spotless! I love how they have done everything here; the guitar tone, drums’ sound, which is very natural and not so damn unnatural, plastic and trigggered…
The best thing about “Esperalem tkane” is that every song – I mean it, every song! – brings something different and spectacular, being very unique. And more so, I can say that each part of this album sounds extremely good, so I just cannot stop listening to Odraza. The variety of styles, which you can hear here is surprising, but don’t be worry – everything is done in black metal way, if I can say so. “Esperalem tkane” has a black metal sound and feeling, but it sounds like some schizophrenics have played it! Why? What else can I say, if one motif brings a total annihilation with brilliantly performed, utterly fast riffing and drumming, only to be followed by almost kind of bluesy or rock passages? There are many moments of melancholy here, where the guitars play some cleaner tones with melodic and peaceful parts and which will bring you the resemblance to the post rock / post metal styles… Obviously some of these fragments, especially with these unique vocals of Stawrogin will have to remind you such Furia, FDS or Morowe, but it is inevitable. All in all, they do sound fantastic, especially if are followed by more classic blackened riff. Priest’s blasts sound totally insane and guy is a real maniac, I must say. I love his playing (not just when he plays blasts, but on the whole album! Amazing performance!) and definitely these fast parts are some of the strongest points of “Esperalem tkane”. Arrghhh, just listen to “Gorycz”; what a ferocious and killer stuff! This is a total annihilation, in my opinion! Obviously Odraza doesn’t want everything to be straight and simple, so even in this song they have some moments, which sound… hmm, let’s say weird hehe! And did I mention “Wielki Mizogin”, which has almost kind of punk dirt and aggression and where even the vocals sound slightly different (and the lyrics… damn, they are controversial!)? Yeah, what a contrast! Sometimes it feels like a day and night or really like music, which was composed by some lunatics (give a listen to the title song, which is the sickest of all and see what I mean!).
And this is what I meant about the diversity of “Esperalem tkane”. Odraza composed and recorded a spectacular album, filled with so many different emotions, so many feelings and in the end I can say that they have found their own way of expression and add something unique into the overall sound and style of this black metal extravaganza. Such bands as Furia, Morowe, FDS and now Odraza are the best thing, which happened to the Polish black metal scene ever! And also to the black metal scene worldwide, even if I am afraid that these bands will never be hugely popular abroad… because they are just too Polish. Although I do hope I am wrong and people will value them as much as they deserve. Among my favourite songs I can mention “Gorycz”, “Wielki Mizogin”, “Niech się dzieje” and finally the brilliant “Tam, gdzie nas nie spotkamy”, which has a strongest accent putted on the long instrumental passages and it is also a reason, why it sounds the most like a post (black) metal track. Yeah, total avantgarde. But I enjoy it. For me it is an album, which will surely end up on the list of the best stuff released in 2014 and certainly it also is one of the strongest debuts. Very, very recommended!
Standout tracks: as mentioned in the review!
Final rate: 93/100
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