To those of you who have dismissed Polish death/black metal scene as a factory that churns out clones of Vader or Behemoth; you are definitely wrong. Underground veterans Atropos have their own sound and identity, which really shine through on this (rather short) EP. Despite cranking out a plethora of releases from 1996 onwards, and touring with some big names in underground death and black metal (Rotting Christ and Hate included), this band is still relatively unknown outside of Poland so it seems. This EP is self-released, and was originally recorded in 2008, although only seems to have seen the light of day recently. How they have remained so obscure for so long is a mystery to me, hopefully their fortunes will change in the near future.
Atropos are definitely not your run of the mill black metal band. For a start they have Riffs (with a capital R). No three chord monotony for these guys, instead they build up elaborate and intense songs, with some fantastic, heavy, creative and aggressive riffing. Among the mix of black and death metal, there are also some elements of muscular thrash metal, which help in making the music a lot more diverse. They also have a great grasp of melody, which really augments the music, and adds an epic feel and a huge amount of drama to the proceedings. There are also some subtle elements of other black metal scenes from different parts of the globe; in particular I can hear the melancholic atmosphere of the Greek scene, which seems to have influenced Atropos quite a lot.
The production is a really good balance between raw, underground heaviness and clear, precise perfection. It suits Atropos’ music perfectly and really draws out the atmosphere and the melancholic, epic harmonies as well as the pounding aggression.
It is a real shame that there are only two original songs on this very short EP, the other two songs are two different cover versions of the Vader song `Carnal’. Personally, I would have preferred to hear two more Atropos songs, with all the dark, heavy, melodic creativity they cram into their music, rather than a straight cover of `Carnal’, with a rather bizarre version of the same song at the end of the EP.
This band has a lot of talent, and a lot of promise. Hopefully 2012 will see them emerge from their dark, subterranean lair and stumble, blinking, to the surface to join the rest of us. If you enjoy heavy, dynamic, creative black/death metal with an epic feel I would strongly advise giving this obscure band a chance.
http://www.myspace.com/atropospl
Jon Butlin
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