Abusiveness - Krzyk świtu

ABUSIVENESS - Krzyk świtu (DARK OMENS Production CD 2016)

I think I can say that I've been fan of Abusiveness music since the early days of this band. Their "Dwie twarze mroku" demo was one of the first demo tapes I ever got from a band (in 1999 I think) and I liked it a lot back then (I still do). And some of their latest recordings, especially "Bramy Nawii" and "Trioditis" are fantastic. With the CD reissue of "Krzyk świtu" I have an opportunity to come back to the very first Abusiveness album, originally released in 2002 by Strong Survive Records. I only had it on tape before, so I am happy to see new CD version from Dark Omens Production, because the original pressing is quite hard to find. 

Generally, what I can say about Abusiveness is that this band managed to create their own style already on the demo and through all these years they've been consequently improving it and getting better and better. "Krzyk świtu" is not their best album, but it shows a band, which was aiming towards their own direction and already sounded like no one else, with quite unique take on the Polish pagan metal. Abusiveness definitely had original style for writing riffs, arranging the songs, for melodies and even Mścisław's vocals were unique.  

"Krzyk świtu" is a good mixture of some older songs, from "Dwie twarze mroku" demo and split tape with Hefeystos, with a bunch of completely new songs. Obviously, those old songs were re-recorded, maybe slightly re-arranged also. There are some fantastic tracks on "Krzyk świtu" and really Abusiveness managed to create unique atmosphere in their music. Nowadays it may all sound slightly archaic, the production is quite harsh and it's not always clear what band plays at the moment, because the sound is sometimes quite messy. And it's not another primitive black metal, but the music, which has many layers, with harsh riffs, melodic guitar parts, acoustics, keyboards. different vocals (which, to be honest, sometimes don't sound so well and could have been improved, but who cares) and damn awesome drumming of Wizun – so with all the complexity of the music, limited budget must have been a pain. But even if archaic, I still like it a lot and love to listen to it. Songs like "Lędzianin", "W leśnym majestacie", "Kontyna" and "Zródło mej mocy" are just damn good, I like the melodies, fast tempos, keyboards parts... The vocals could have been better, I already mentioned the problems with sound clarity, but who cares. This is good album and a nice introduction to Abusiveness music, which got so much better on their next albums. It's worthy reissue then and very recommended one, if you want to dig a bit through small part of history of Polish pagan black metal. 

Standout tracks: "Lędzianin", "W leśnym majestacie", "Kontyna", "Zródło mej mocy" 

Final rate: 70/100