Obšar - Počornily horŷ, počornily lisŷ (2022)
By Flork!
No build-up, no suspense. Počornily horŷ, počornily lisŷ by Obšar opens loudly with the simply-titled opening track Album. This is a fast-moving and powerful melody that sucks you into an atmospheric production of well-mixed tracks, as well as well-written compositions that are slightly different from the mainstream as far as black metal goes. It‘s hard to say what this particular song is about, but no matter, it’s definitely an interesting way to kick the rest of the album off. In fact, the entire album is a bit hard to interpret considering how it moves from the centre of the black metal genre to its softer, intimate edges. But I have to admit that this is the first time that I can actually understand most of the words from a black metal vocalist (Note – the entire album is sung in Slovak). Of course the vocals on each of the tracks are deep and raspy, as black metal vocals should be. But these aren’t the typical screams of a constipated Satan or chain-smoking goblins, or even demons who eat air-raid sirens for breakfast. These are songs that are deliberately sung for the listener to hear the meaning of each track loudly and clearly. But don’t get me wrong, they aren‘t clean vocals by any count, at least not until later on in the track Anti, a song with real singing and a somewhat rock-n-roll rhythm (an example of what I guess could be called „black and roll“). It’s possible still, that the band has 2 singers (I have no idea as there is pretty much nothing written about this band on the internet). At times, some of the tracks are complemented with a female back-up, providing that element of an afterlife populated by fallen angels and misery in a beautiful, endless darkness.
Like many Slovak black metal groups, Obšar too, draws on folklore legends from the hills and forests of the Carpathian Mountains. The titles are possibly written in old Slovak (or maybe by someone who can’t spell very well) with the content of the stories describing places such as the land under Javorina Pid Javorina (a mountain in the Western Tatras and possibly depicted on the album’s cover) or a white bull Bilyj bŷk. But what makes the band stand out is their ability to make black metal also contemporary, with beautifully-constructed chord progressions and alternating between speed and beat drumming. Two tracks that stand-out for me are Červene sonce and Dovhŷ tŷni, both edgy and powerful and full of majestic ambience amplified 1000 times by the fast drums and weight of the guitars, especially the latter.
Overall, Počornily horŷ, počornily lisŷ will not disappoint fans of black metal or any fan of metal for that matter. Počornily horŷ, počornily lisŷ is available on compact disc and can be purchased via the bandcamp.com website, as well as unlimited streaming on the bandcamp app.
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