Pagan Records are fast becoming one of my favourite labels to work with. Based in Poland, most of the bands on their roster are new to me but often are of a high quality and Kry is no exception. Of course, with Striborg now on their roster this relatively new label has their work cut out for them, bearing in mind Sin Nanna churns out albums and E.P’s faster than I do reviews, and Hellveto will no doubt keep them on their toes too; I got a real shock when, out of sheer curiosity, I sought out this bands discography expecting perhaps 2 or 3 albums behind them and instead discovered closer to 20. Now, I have to say that I haven’t heard anything by this one man project until now, so in relation to past works I am hardly qualified to comment but the best endorsement I can give is to begin by saying this album was a real pleasure to listen to and certainly has me intrigued enough to begin delving through their Extensive (with a capital E!) back catalogue.
Now, symphonic black metal doesn’t always win me over. It can sound fantastic when it is done right and one track that really springs to mind at this moment is Dimmu Borgir’s Sorgens Kammer which purveys that kind of dark mysticism and atmosphere I really want from this style. On the other hand, I can think of plenty of examples where symphonic sounds just don’t come across well at all, there is none of the atmosphere required to make it work and “symphonic” becomes synonymous with cheesy, overbearing keyboards that drown out the rest of the music. Here, the orchestral components are just enough to add a splash of grandiosity and mysticism to the mix and works to back up the melodies rather than to compensate for anything else. Opening track ‘Kry’ draws you in with a certain mystique that has you really intrigued to hear what else is left to come; with its pompous violins this feels rather dramatic while there’s a soothing melody beneath just waiting to emerge.
There’s a real steady flow to this album, and from the classically influenced opener we move into ‘Glod’ which picks up with a much more organic feel closer to that of Drudkh. There are some ferocious, blackened guitars suspended above a blanket of chaos and as the album progresses it feels to take on far more of a harsh and raw blackened approach. The orchestral elements still hang about but become less obvious. On this one I especially like the melancholic choir that emerges through the chorus which suddenly halts and opens into a fierce staccato rhythm.
‘Kraina Mgiel’ is especially good, and while this begins with a hint of Finntrollian mischief this is swiftly usurped as we arrive with some really beautiful, thick sounding melodies that soar above some harsh and relentless black metal which actually seems to bring to mind England’s finest blackened shoe-gazers Fen. This is almost cinematic in parts, there is a horror soundtrack-esque creepiness on ‘Powledz Mi’ that really gets under the skin while the grand orchestration adds a real sense of urgency to the proceedings. On this track, the vocals are delivered in a heroic fashion, clean and soaring, which is a break from the harsh, ravaging rasps that are more often delivered in a Moonsorrowian fashion, portraying a Paganic anger towards the evils of Christianity.
At just over half an hour in length this is hardly a lengthy album. It is one that I would highly recommend to any fan of Paganic black metal, and I will, without a doubt, be buying more of their stuff in time.
http://www.myspace.com/hellveto
