Warsaw After Midnight (2024, Compilation)
By Flork
Natures Mortes/Eat My Teeth/Nameless Creations/Marie Laveau
There‘s something spooky yet pulsating beneath the streets of Poland. I was introduced to Warsaw After Midnight after the upper echelons of Jablka made contact with our Polish counterparts. It is a 15-track compilation which captures the above-mentioned pulsating energy from four of the country‘s most compelling underground acts. Just the title alone evokes images of a city shrouded in darkness. It‘s like wandering the streets of Warsaw after everything has closed and the conventional world has gone to sleep, where every corner holds a secret, and every shadow feels alive with the restless stirrings of vampires, lost souls, and midnight rebels. I long to be one of them.
With roots in Warsaw as well as beyond, the compilation plays like a manifesto of nocturnal resistance. Listeners can hear both female and male vocals from several of the performers, all of whom wail, snarl, or even croon over post-punk ruins and gothic-hardcore grit. What ties these artists together isn’t genre so much as attitude. Defiance, decay, desire and just enough hope keep the lights flickering.
The album kicks off with Natures Mortes, which is a perfect title to set the mood, a sick aesthetic so to say. The Poznań group adds a touch of Gothic-punk with macabre flair, providing an element of drama with a touch of decay. Hailing from Poznań and standing as the compilation‘s only male-fronted act, their sound leans into gothic-punk territory with a deliciously morbid twist. Think less eyeliner-and-romance and more vampires waking up hungry—Nosferatu‘s Orlok with a hangover and a grouchy start of his day (or in his case, night), yet determined to make great art. Tracks like Liars Web and Bruises are slow-burning and shadow-drenched as they pulse with an eeriness that‘s as disturbing as it is hypnotic. But Natures Mortes isn‘t all doom and gloom. Pulling Strings and Inside Out bring a lively energy to the table. These tracks are still pinched by the bands affinity towards morbidity, but with hooks sharp enough to almost dance to (if dancing in a graveyard counts). I mean, there‘s an ambience of theatrical stillness to their presence, a solemn gravity of sorts that lends the compilation a cold, haunted core.
Eat My Teeth brings a gothic-hardcore fusion you won‘t hear every day, and it hits with serious emotional weight. Their music doesn‘t just play—it bleeds, cries, snarls. All Junkies Go To Heaven and Salt in My Eyes even sound like they hurt, but they are definitely highlight material. I particularly like All Junkies Go To Heaven, since it‘s a seething, sacred dirge—part prayer, part scream and anchored by jagged guitars and vocals that oscillate between the unhinged and heartbreakingly lucid. Salt in My Eyes is another great track that is vulnerable, confrontational, and utterly unforgettable. If Warsaw After Midnight has a breakout act, it‘s Eat My Teeth.
As I listen on, I become evermore enraptured by the sounds of the CD. Nameless Creations stands apart on this compilation—not just because they’re the only band with only three tracks, but because their sound feels like an introspective, bleak realm. With male-fronted vocals that lean into the macabre, their music drips with a kind of darkness, something like wandering a haunted house where every room echoes with lost stories. I really like their sound as it can be sometimes chaotic yet still orderely in their compositions. Each of their tracks also carries a healthy dose of reverberation (but not too much), giving their compositions an atmospheric weight. Pain-Powered Machine standouts for me, since it grabs you right away with its distortion-heavy, post-punk energy, as though Talking Heads met the gritty bite of the Sex Pistols. There‘s also a nervous, yet tight energy to the guitar work, and the vocals are deep and comparable to Pete Murphy, compelling and never overstating the darkness, instead pulling you in deeper with every word. Things That Serve and Hate Creates continue the streak with angular rhythms and a balance of aggression and introspection, the latter of which totally blows my mind. Great lyrics that mix well with the band’s ability to blend sharp distortion with a more cerebral quality that feels fresh and a little off-kilter. This is what I meant about chaos and order in their compositions.
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And finally, it’s Marie Laveau who is the unexpected spark of fire. This is a pirate goth-punk band from Warsaw that brings energy, intensity, and a heavy dose of goth to steal the show. Named after the famed Queen of New Orleans and creole practitioner of voodoo, their sound is fittingly vibrant and rebellious. The track Naivety is a sure standout. It’s a well-written piece with a fast-paced rhythm and a melody that lingers like a burning afterthought. The energy is sharp, driven, and defiant. Marie Laveau shines in their ability to blend ferocity with musical finesse. Take Confessor for example, with its infectious bassline and high-string guitar solos that bring a fresh sense of technicality and speed. The song rips through the air with an undeniable punk energy, but it’s the little moments of musical complexity that elevate it to something more than just another goth-punk tune.
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And Flork‘s prognosis? Warsaw After Midnight gets high marks from this reviewer. Listening to the compilation makes me want to stay up late and wait for dawn. The album is like a set list where each track was carefully selected, showcasing Poland’s underground scene in its best light—or rather, it‘s darkest moment of the night.
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Links:
https://naturesmortes.bandcamp.com/album/blind-submission
https://eatmyteeth.bandcamp.com/album/salt-into-my-eyes
https://namelesscreationsmoonmusic.bandcamp.com/
https://batcaveproductions.bandcamp.com/album/are-you-blind
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Natures Mortes / Eat My Teeth / Nameless Creations / Marie Laveau
Niečo strašidelné a pulzujúce sa skrýva pod ulicami Poľska. Kompiláciu Warsaw After Midnight som objavil po tom, čo sa vrchné poschodia Jabĺk dali do kontaktu s poľskými kolegami. Ide o 15-skladbový výber, ktorý zachytáva túto pulzujúcu energiu štyroch najpresvedčivejších undergroundových kapiel krajiny. Už samotný názov evokuje predstavy mesta zahaleného tmou. Ako keby si sa túlal Varšavou po zavretí všetkého konvenčného, keď každý roh ukrýva tajomstvo a každý tieň vibruje nepokojným šepotom upírov, stratených duší a polnočných rebelov. Túžim byť jedným z nich.
S koreňmi vo Varšave aj mimo nej, táto kompilácia znie ako manifest nočného odporu. Počuješ mužské aj ženské vokály, ktoré kvília, vrčia či spievajú ponad trosky post-punku a gotického hardcoru. To, čo tieto kapely spája, nie je žáner, ale postoj. Vzdor, rozklad, túžba a práve toľko nádeje, aby svetlá ešte slabunko blikotali.
Album otvára Natures Mortes, čo je dokonalý názov na nastolenie nálady – estetika skazy ako vyšitá. Poznaňská kapela prináša gotický punk s morbídnym nádychom a dávkou dramatickosti. Ako jediný mužský spev v zostave, ich zvuk má morbidný šmrnc – menej "linka na oči a romantika", viac "upír vstáva hladný – Orlok z Nosferatu s opicou a nočnými plánmi tvoriť umenie." Skladby ako Liars Web či Bruises pomaly plápolajú a sú nasiaknuté tieňmi, až sú znepokojivé aj podmanivé. No nie je to len o skaze – Pulling Strings a Inside Out do toho prinášajú energiu, hoci stále ponorenú do morbídnej poetiky, no s háčikmi ostrými takmer na tancovanie (ak tancovanie na cintoríne považuješ za legit). Ich prítomnosť má divadelný pokoj a chladné, prízračné jadro.
Eat My Teeth prináša fúziu goth a hardcoru, akú len tak nepočuješ – a trafí ťa to rovno do srdca. Ich hudba nehrá – ona krváca, plače, reve. All Junkies Go To Heaven a Salt in My Eyes doslova znejú, akoby boleli – no sú to highlighty. Obzvlášť All Junkies Go To Heaven – posvätná, zúfalá pieseň, niečo medzi modlitbou a výkrikom, plná rozbúrených gitár a vokálov, ktoré oscilujú medzi šialenstvom a krutou jasnosťou. Salt in My Eyes je ďalšia silná vec – zraniteľná, konfrontačná, nezabudnuteľná. Ak by mal Warsaw After Midnight jeden breakout act, boli by to Eat My Teeth.
Ako počúvam ďalej, čoraz viac ma to vťahuje. Nameless Creations sú na tejto kompilácii výnimoční – nielen preto, že majú len tri tracky, ale preto, že ich hudba má introspektívnu, temnú atmosféru. Mužský spev, ktorý sa nevyhýba morbídnosti, ich skladby znejú ako potulky strašidelným domom, kde každý roh odráža stratené príbehy. Páči sa mi, ako sú niekedy chaotickí, no zároveň presne zložení. Každá skladba má správnu dávku reverbu, ktorý im dodáva váhu. Pain-Powered Machine ma chytila hneď – post-punkové skreslenie, ako keby sa Talking Heads zrazili so Sex Pistols. V gitarách cítiť nervóznu, no presnú energiu a vokály evokujú Petra Murphyho – hlboké, no nikdy prehnané. Things That Serve a Hate Creates v tom pokračujú s hranatými rytmami, agresívnym aj introspektívnym výrazom. Texty sú skvelé, hudba ostrá, no zároveň inteligentná. Chaos a poriadok v rovnováhe.
A nakoniec Marie Laveau – nečakaný plameň. Pirátsky goth-punk z Varšavy s energiou, nasadením a dávkou gothu, ktorá ukradne show. Názov podľa kráľovnej New Orleans a kňažky vúdú – ich zvuk je rovnako rebelský. Naivety je jasný highlight – výborne napísaná skladba s tempom, čo zanecháva páliaci dojem. Confessor má basu, ktorá ťa vtiahne, a rýchle sóla, ktoré pridávajú techniku a rýchlosť. Punková energia s detailmi, ktoré ju posúvajú ďalej.
A verdikt od Florka? Warsaw After Midnight si zaslúži vysoké známky. Počúvanie tejto kompilácie ťa núti zostať hore do svitania. Je to ako setlist, v ktorom bola každá skladba starostlivo vybraná – ukazuje poľskú UG scénu v jej najlepšom svetle… alebo skôr v jej najtemnejšej nočnej chvíli
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