Ljosazabojstwa - Głoryja śmierci

LJOSAZABOJSTWA - Głoryja śmierci (GODZ OV WAR Productions - CD 2020)

I know Ljosazabojstwa from their "Staražytnaje licha" demo from 2015. But I'm sorry to say, I don't remember a shit from this demo, it's been lost somewhere in my collection and I am too lazy to look for it. It's better to give an extensive listen to their newest recording, which is "Głoryja śmierci" album, released through Godz ov War Productions. 

This album contains five long tracks, of music which I can truly admit you won't hear often. Ljosazabojstwa is not a band, which would play something very common, so if you're searching for a bit more unique black / death metal effort, here is one for you. And that’s without doing all those avantgarde or progressive takes on this music. Even if it's not the most groundbreaking record of all, I do believe that it's quite unordinary with its riffs style, vocals and the atmosphere. This black / death metal has that Eastern European character, which not many bands dare to bring. And by that I don't mean some cheesy folky melodies or other shit, because Ljosazabojstwa is purely metal band. It lies within the dark, obscure and quite cold aura of the music, with its mysticism as well. Riffs are sometimes reminding me the two latest Cultes des Ghoules albums, other time it is almost a bit like Master's Hammer or Root - that kind of unique black metal bands, with the difference that "Głoryja śmierci" has much heavier and more modern production. But the feeling is quite alike sometimes! And vocals - well, with the lyrics in the band's native language, you can be sure that they will never sound common or just like standard black metal shrieks or growls you've heard hundreds of times before. I can again compare them to these two Czech bands I mentioned earlier, even if vocals in Ljosazabojstwa are deeper and heavier. 

Interestingly, for some reason I expected to hear some keyboards or something else what usually accompany such lengthy songs, but it turns out that most of the time Ljosazabojstwa focuses on the traditional metal instrumentation, so the whole music is very riff based. I think that something like church organs appears just once or twice only. Such additions always sound nice, but when I listen to "Głoryja śmierci" I don't really feel like they were much needed to be more. It's because these songs have enough good ideas and riffs to defend themselves. They are able to create the atmosphere with the vocals, and have enough diversity, from fast, savage parts to more melodic and slower bits. Tempos are also changing constantly; they could never keep the same pace for long, which makes the music more interesting, especially in “Pachawalnyja śpiewy”.  

"Głoryja śmierci" is not the best album I have heard this year, nor even this month. But I like this album. There's something intriguing about it, what doesn’t let you stay away and careless. It may even have a bit of monotony here and there and generally it can take a while before you will delve into its atmosphere. But it is worth it. Surely Ljosazabojstwa is the first band from Belarus I know, which I can tell plays a great extreme metal music. 

Standout track: “Pachawalnyja śpiewy” 

Verdict: 75/100