Grieving - Songs for the Weary

GRIEVING - Songs for the Weary (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2021)

Greg from Godz ov War do surprise from time to time and puts some less obvious sounding bands in his label. But to hear such Grieving right next to Cultum Interitum was the biggest surprise of all so far hah. Luckily, it turned out to be good, so I can only admire this guy's nose for good bands. But what is Grieving? Well, they play classic (stoner) doom metal! And are Polish, what also surprised me, because I don’t think such music is so common on this land. All band members are also in more black or death metal acts, but I don't care about most of them, so that was not a selling point for me, by the way. But let's go to the business. 

I'm not big expert on that sort of metal. But I do like to spin some old Sabbath albums from time to time, like everyone else. And I do like some other old bands too, mostly giving them a listen when doing some work and just playing some music from YouTube with headphones on my ears. It is quite relaxing, you know hah! Well, to be honest Grieving really did surprise with their quality. Their music is so memorable and so catchy that it is impossible to resist it. I love these stoned riffs, which pit you in that heroin trance of some sort. They are just monstrous and super catchy. And fuck, vocals are excellent. Wojciech Kałuża sometimes sounds like the Stanley dude from Alice In Chains (“This Godless Chapel”), other time he reminds me Reverend Bizarre dude...  That flow and doomy riffage do remind me Reverend Bizarre, but also Cathedral, Saint Vitus or Count Raven. And probably many other bands, as I doubt that Grieving was doing anything extra original. I don’t even care, but I do enjoy "Songs for the Weary" a lot. This album is awesome and from the songwriting to its flawless, powerful production, it has everything you need. Damn, what a nice surprise (yeah, I already used that word few times earlier hah). And a great break from the usual black and death metal shit I terrorize my ears every day hah! Give them a spin! 

Verdict: 80/100

Cultum Interitum - Veneration of the New Dawn

CULTUM INTERITUM - Veneration of the New Dawn (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2021)

Time came for the second ominous presentation from Cultum Interitum. After confronting their debut "Poison of Being", I was fully ready with sharpened knives for "Veneration of the New Dawn" and I have to say that I do not feel disappointed with the content of this album. From its visual aspect to the musical offering, "Veneration of the New Dawn" is a solid and noteworthy piece of death / black metal, which you should not let go by. Although you need to remember that it's not really your typical black metal. Also, it is not music, which you would describe with such words as memorable, catchy or pleasant. Well, the whole aura of "Veneration of the New Dawn" music, as well as the riffage and everything else are incredibly thick, heavy and cavernous... They all are incredibly sinister and dark, echoing like in the deep, pitch black, in the obscure abyss, surrounding you from every side and taking into madness. 

Even vocals are not like your typical vocals, but more like blood freezing ghoulish voices. They do correspondent well with that vicious wall of harsh guitar riffage and the whole result gives rather disturbing experience. Definitely it is not something you hardly hear anywhere else, which is a great achievement of Cultum Interitum, in my opinion. But it is something what immediately let me put this album next to efforts from the likes of Grave Upheaval, for instance. Even if there can be some differences between these two bands, that general aura and style of their music can be quite alike sometimes. 

The music, with the riffs, arrangements, drumming, etc is rather simplistic, not to say primitive. I doubt that someone will call it spectacular, Cultum are not a band, which has "fireworks" in their songs. It is more focusing on creating that mentioned atmosphere, not on delivering headbanging riffs and other such stuff. It is one of these albums, which you better listen to in certain conditions, if you want it to speak to you properly. Most of that music goes slowly, almost crawling with its heaviness and fierceness. I do enjoy that trance like, sinister vibe it has though, there’s always a good moment to listen to such stuff in the night. And well, I have to say that Cultum Interitum do stand out on the Polish extreme metal scene strongly. 

Verdict: 80/100

Hegemoon / Wartödd - W majestacie bluźnierstwa

HEGEMOON / WARTODD - W majestacie bluźnierstwa (FALLEN TEMPLE - CD 2021)

After a longer break from reviews, time came for few words about the Hegemoon / Wartödd split CD titled "W majestacie bluźnierstwa", which has just been released by Fallen Temple. We have there two Polish black metal bands, whose music styles are quite similar... which is that harsh, obscure, necro stuff, with a bit of monumental feel too. So, it's not just boring and useless primitive guitar shred, but some great riffs with even more melodic parts can be found for sure. Especially Hegemoon was able to catch my interest, with tracks like "Zgnij na krzyżu kłamstw", where they really did a good job, also with the production, which has that proper balance between raw and ugly sound and its clearness. They surely have a better quality in their music, but Wartödd is not bad at all too. Even harsher when speaking of the production, their music really reminds me some of the 90's Polish black metal demos or albums - which may have exactly been their intention.  

Anyway, I really do like the effort from both bands, I enjoyed this CD quite much, even if I don't listen to such music often anymore. But maybe this is why "W majestacie bluźnierstwa" interested me more than I expected. It is just rare to grab something in this vein, what would be that good, I think. By the way, it's been more that 15 years now, since I have listened to Hegemoon for the last time. Back in the early to mid 00's I had their Hegemoon / Runes of Dianceht split and "Tron zła" CDs in the reviews section of my old fanzine. I would never believe to hear this band ever again. But here they are, still alive and well. 

Verdict: 70/100