In the world of Slavic black(ened) metal, you’re most likely to find these three things: awesome music, an awful lot of hilarious-looking bands that like to dress up and play flute in the forest, and, last but not least, lots of tags and labels pointing to the ever-controversial NSBM. (For those of you not familiar with the term, NSBM is an abbreviation for National Socialist Black Metal.)
This text is about exposing you fine readers to Slavic bands well worth your time that you may not have had a chance to hear about.
We, of course, have our giants like the Ukrainian band Drudkh, or the legendary Czech band Root, or the über-productive, mighty Polish Hellveto or his soul-crushing countryman Mgla, and I encourage anyone who hasn’t yet been familiarized with these bands to definitely do so (you may start by clicking these links). But for now, let’s focus our attention on bands that don’t get so much exposure, or that don’t get any at all.
Like, say, Devilish Impressions, a Polish quintet formed in 2000 with two full-lengths in their recording history, a little under 3,000 listeners on Last.fm, and just about enough weirdness for my attention to be drawn. As a person who loves her Ved Buens Ende, her Angst Skvadron and her Solefald, and, well, most things avant-garde, I found these Polish cats to have the pleasurable amount of avant-garde for my taste-buds to be satisfied.
Their breed of black metal sometimes transcends into black/death, is always accompanied by synths, and wears a touch of humor, a touch of horror, a touch of the bizarre, and a shit-load of tasty riffs. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my favorite on the ol’ YouTube, “Dracula’s Mechanized Universe,” from their 2005 effort Plurima Mortis Imago, so this will have to do: “SataniChaoSymphony” from the same album.
For the next stop, we’re going a different route, one of tears and sorrow that only a black forest can heal. His name is Raventale and he hails from Kiev, Ukraine, where, I hear, the woods are darker and the howls are louder. Only in such forests of solitude can one man produce these heavy sounds of blackened doom and solitary despair.
Join all the unspoken and dispelled
Left your shade for emptiness to excruciate
Of all the far and so empty faces
Cut the last unassured way from her
Who doomed you to carry
Her emerald ghost forever
Astaroth is the name behind the Raven, and the project was formed in 2005, rapidly releasing albums almost every year, with the latest one – After – being released in 2010. (Yes, perhaps not the greatest idea to have an album named exactly like Ihsahn’s that came out in the same year.) The heavy-riffed, murderous ballads that Raventale sings are for those who care for beauty oh so dark, and for the wanderers doomed to roam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKvTreK15I
And speaking of Ravens… Let us step inside the deranged realm known as Pogavranjen, a Croatian outfit whose name means “one who was given or has gained raven-like features.” Raw black metal: three words one need not stray too far from when discussing Pogavranjen, who have one EP and are preparing their first full-length to be mixed by a person of importance, I hear.
The band was formed in 2008 and is made up of musicians who have ties in other notable Croatian bands like Chang Ffos and Throm. Quickly gaining recognition in underground circles, they began to perform live gathering even more followers to their front. In their own words: From the barren Balkan dirt where humanity crawls in its luster of never-ending disgust;enter the Pogavranjen.
While we’re already south, we might as well mention Serbia’s best-kept secret, a band of corpse-painted lads that call themselves The Stone.
Some of you who have been readers of Metal Review for some years now may remember this fine review published here in 2007 that spoke about the band’s third full-length Magla (translates to Fog). Even though this outfit has been around since 1996, they released their first full-length Slovenska Krv in 2002, and have piled up a bunch of EPs. splits and 3 more full-lengths since then. It is worth to mention that The Stone have in their lines a guitarist named Kozeljnik whose Deeper the Fall also received praise here at MR.
The Stone Horde call upon their ancestors and their Slavic blood while they run with the wolves under the night sky of the full moon breathing fire in remembrance of ancient dragons.
When they’re not doing that, they make ass-kicking, gorgeous black metal that easily stands shoulder to shoulder with some of today’s most praised BM acts like Drudkh, Negura Bunget or Enslaved. And yet, they have a mere 33 fans on Facebook.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1nK_4J_sKU
The last hidden gem rearing its head is a Macedonian band called Maras. Now, I have to admit, I was oblivious to the Macedonian metal scene, didn’t know it existed. I’ve been there many times, hung out in bars, drank beer, and yearned for metal, but metal I did not find. But then, one fine day, and a gazillion internet clicks away, I discovered these Skopje-based dudes that have a few demos and splits in their discography and a full-length that came out in 2009, Raskol (meaning: Schism). This discovery made me rejoice, especially when I realized that this band has some serious goddamn potential.
Their philosophy is one of “Slavic paganism, anti-nationalism, and eternal war against the Christianization of the pagans in Europa”. Stylistically, their sound falls somewhere between the black metal bands of old and the typical black metal one calls pagan nowadays.
The video below – “Dushosushci, ochopii“ – is their latest single released in 2009 and presents the band’s progression towards more cleanly produced black metal.
Now…I know there’s still this elephant in the room called NSBM, and, really, searching through Slavic black(ened) metal bands is like swimming in a shark-infested ocean: You have to be careful as fuck and smooth as an MF to avoid those NSBM sharks. That is, if you want to be careful about those things. And I sure as hell do, ‘cause I don’t want something like that to bite me in the ass.
So, what would be the geography of this ocean? Well, you have your Russian Walknutsout there that are pretty much straightforward NS, or if you just click on Last.fm’s Russian black metal page you’ll see a shitload of those sharks swimming about, like for example the very first band listed – Djur. Their inspired lyrics go a little something like this:
Look at this world – it full of lies
Chained by jewish serpent that leaves
The scent of fetters rust
Blood, Honour, Loyalty, Fatherland!
Blut, Ehre, Treue, Vaterland!
Right… But, let’s face it, Russia is a big-ass country, and in terms of history, they were pretty much always the oppressors and never the oppressed, so I call bullshit on the NS in their bands, especially since, you know, they were on opposite sides with them folks in the Big War.
Then, you come to smaller Slavic countries like, say, Ukraine (okay, it’s still a big-ass country, but it’s smaller than Russia), countries that have been oppressed and under foreign domination for a long time, so the nationalism in their bands might not be so straightforward as with some of their Russian colleagues.
That nationalism can still be present, but can be of a different breed; it can be nationalist without the Socialist. Still, and it has to be said, sometimes the line between the two is not so clear, and one can easily drift into another. Take a look at Kroda, for example: an excellent pagan black metal band, perhaps one of the best in the (sub)genre, but if you talk about them on forums, in articles or in review lashes, you’re bound to have the subject of NS come up, specifically because they’re a Slavic pagan black metal band, and also because they do have questionable lyrics at times. For example:
“It’s time for the Aryan Spirit to rise, To fill the veins with Hoarfrost of Blood!”
(“Hoarfrost of Blood,” from the Cry to Me, River… album)
Also, Kroda did cover a Branikald song named “A Stormride” on their Fimbulvinter album. (Branikald is a Russian band typically represented with this dude.)
But they have never declared themselves as an NS band.
The same problem arises with Drudkh – they have numerous ties to NS bands, except thatDrudkh explicitly stated on their official Myspace page:
The absence of any comments or information from Drudkh’s side gave an opening to a few ignorant internet warrior-fans to spread rumors, that the band embraces extreme political views. This is absolutely misleading and a total profanation, since there is nothing in Drudkh’s music or lyrics that would suggest any political outlook. Drudkh praise individualism, self-improvement and estrangement from modern values.
Bands hailing from smaller Slavic countries, whose national identities have been historically suppressed, need not be classic NS metal bands with controversial subjects and themes in their lyrics, but may simply have a stronger nationalistic feel in their lyrics and themes. ‘Tis good to have that distinction in mind when one goes off to swim in said shark-infested ocean.
Now, as much as it is hard to talk or write about Slavic black(ened) and pagan bands without addressing the NS issue (because the elephant has not left the building), I will not engage in further (long and tiresome) debate about the origins of NSBM, about white pride and nationalism, about who’s wrong and who’s right, and about what’s wrong with the world, for I do that at my day job (which, yes, I will not quit).
This was about music, as it’s always about music, and I hope I shed some light onto deserving bands for you folks.
And that’s it for now. Thank you for taking a stroll through the Black Forests of Panslavia.
[MIRELA TRAVAR]
