#72 Flork Reviews: Porenut - Mislives (2023)

 

Porenut - Mislives (2023)

by Flork

 

When I first read the title to Porenut’s latest release, I knew the album would have a personal connection to me. Mislives resonates loudly to me, with my own life being one of such. And when I listen to the dark and raging music from this disc, I’m instantly hooked. As I listen to the first 3 tracks, Kráčam, kurim, kašlem (Crawl, smoke, cough), Klatba (Curse) and Svorad’s Castle, I’m immediately taken down a journey of deep introspective and questioning of life, and, more specifically, my own somewhat chaotic and meaningless existence. In fact, I read Porenut’s brief description on the bandcamp.com webpage and see that he has formulated in precise words (and in great English too) exactly what I need to turn it all around:

What if I suddenly found out that the world’d been, in fact, quite fine. It is I, who is empty and boring? I cannot give meaning to my being, within myself, in itself anymore. I need others. Others, whose Mislife is more interesting. Combine it with mine and thus move my work to a place where it should have been in the beginning. 

 

So, after listening to the light, yet foreboding intro Kráčam, kurim, kašlem, I’m totally excited to hear the rest of the album. First of all, there is a lot of speed and raw energy in each track. Some of them, like the closing Poorloop gets the adrenaline really pumping, yet it’s hardly a party song. This track is a total culmination of all the previous ones magnified a thousand times over. The vocals are what are most alarming, rotating between deep and throaty demonic and/or clean vocals with higher screeches and battle cries. I need to point out that there are 2 vocalists in this project, Porenut himself and his bandmate Neplex. Both of them handle this department very well. And, if I work my way backwards to towards the beginning, I realise that the big sound I am listening to was created by just 3 musicians. I would love to see these guys live.

One track that also particularly stands out is Jonáš (Jonas) with its fast changes and slowed-down interlude. It’s haunting and quite mesmerising, especially the guitars and their timing with the drumming.

The other tracks are all fast and full of dark anger, yet they somehow sum up the mood of Mislives. Bez života (Without life), the penultimate track, is a great lead-up to the grand finale and heavy crescendo of Poreloop, since it has great changes and foreshadowing of a desperate and meaningless life in a world full of mislives. The skill of the musicianship is really apparent here, as the band pays a lot of attention to the changes and timing.

Mislives is definitely worth a listen to, especially if you are a fan of black metal. Unlike other groups from Czechia and Slovakia who combine elements of folklore and the legends of the Carpathians into their compositions and themes, Mislives focuses predominantly on the individual and the core of existence. And if you are like me, and you feel that Porenut is singing mainly about yourself, then Mislives should be added to your collection.