Trup - Ecce Satanas

TRUP - Ecce Satanas (DARK OMENS / PUTRID CULT - CD 2021)

Sometimes you just have no idea what lurks in the shadows nearby the area you live in. Here is Trup, which is a band located not so far from where I live (Pomerania in general) with their EP "Ecce Satanas". Prior to this CD, Trup released an album titled "Krew Diabła", which I have to admit I have not heard a word about. Or if I did, then I just don't remember that. Anyway, I was lucky to get "Ecce Satanas" from Putrid Cult and with no expectations whatsoever I started to listen to it on one cold winter night. And the impression is great. This material is simply fantastic, it immediately caught my attention and from something what I thought is gonna be just "yet another black metal releases I will not remember about next week", it turned out to be "one of the best black metal releases from Poland I've heard recently". 

There are several aspects of Trup music I like the most. First are the riffs, of corpse, which are a nice combination of very traditional black metal style with a bit more original way of playing, where along fast, savage parts you will find some more atmospheric and let's say almost mesmerizing sounding stuff. The music is far from one dimensional; sure, fast, hateful outbursts dominate, but there's much more to it and basically, I find Trup's style as something really capturing and interesting. In some ways this is something alike to Cultes des Ghoules, but without doing ten minutes long songs and much more straight forward and to the point. 

Secondly, I really like vocals here. They are again not necessarily your typical black metal shrieks, von Bronk's voice is furious, but without sounding hilarious, it is also quite deep and he also came up with lyrics entirely written in Polish, what also gives a different,more unique character to his howls. Finally, the production! It's just perfect. It is raw, but clean enough to hear everything, it's also powerful, I love how the bass works here also... it kind of reminds me old Greek scene on one hand, but also old Czech black metal sound, but updated to more powerful XXI qualities. 

Anyway, "Ecce Satanas" is a fantastic release, it surprised me a lot and I need to strongly recommend it. I am definitely looking for “Krew Diabła” now. 

Standout track: “Opus Diaboli II”, “Opus Diaboli III” 

Verdict: 80/100