Затемно - В петле

Затемно - В петле (AESTHETIC DEATH Productions - CD 2019)

Затемно is another mysterious band from Aesthetic Death Productions, which I had a chance to learn about recently and "В петле" is actually a debut album from this Russian project (you can pronounce their name as Zatemno). And well, Russians have quite a vast pagan / folky black metal scene, with an impressive number of better or worse bands. Затемно blends into this scene perfectly, I think, but at the same time I think that their music is unique and has quality better than most of the Russian bands I have listened to before. 

On one hand there's enough of black metal there to please some orthodox fans of this music, with that harsh sound and vicious riffage, often played in fast, ferocious tempo ("Вступление"), what gives a huge contrast to some other parts of the album. To be honest, as a black metal band Затемно is already good enough to capture my interest. Especially when they combine harsh black metal riffs with an accordion for instance. That sounds just awesome. But there's also a second face of their music, which is more experimental, intriguing and is like day and night / completely opposite to the black metal sound. It’s folky, calm, acoustic music. Song like "Лишь только ветер" takes you into the Russian vast lands, if you close your eyes, you could feel like sitting by the fire in such desolated place. And this music is a nice soundtrack to such visions. Towards the end of "Лишь только ветер", this calmness and melancholy in song is abruptly interrupted by great black metal storm - and I have to say that I really like how Затемно kept here that folky atmosphere in metal riffage, when they combined accordion and harsh guitar riffs with angry screams of Vasily, without sounding like happy “humpa-humpa” type of shitty folk metal. 

Generally "В петле" contains only four tracks and is just 36 minutes long. But I actually like that this album isn't longer, as often projects such as Затемно exaggerate, prolong their albums, extend them into barely bearable limits. I prefer shorter, but more interesting and impressive stuff. I definitely think that "В петле" comes into this category. I enjoyed this album, more than I expected, and can only recommend it. 

Verdict: 75/100