It’s pretty amazing what geopolitical change in the world can do. for Europe, for example, Czechs and Slovaks were compatriots until 1992. When they parted from each other, both sides did not share many tears. Too many national differences had been shown up, not least because of a different destiny before and during World War II. But despite all the differences between them, there is in this region of the world a very distinctive and peculiar Black Metal brand. There is a different sound, marked by frantic riffs and a peculiar aggressiveness. Of course Master’s hammer dominated the whole scene and left other bands in its heavy shadows, bands like: Malokarpatan or Krolok. projects that have a lot to talk about.
Today we also have big names that win the European scene like Cult Of Fire and Death Karma that tread paths a little far from Krolok. But they serve as a reminder of the strength of Black Metal in the region.
Speaking of Krolok, we start with an important quote:
Says vocalist/guitarist HV: “This album is a retrospective look into the past, where old forlorn bad and obscurity reigns over desolate landscapes. my old band Helcaraxe, composed back in 2003. Delve deep in and listen… listen to the atmospheres of an arcane night and return within your thoughts into bygone times…”
So we look to the past and we have to place the magnitude of the Krolok in this spacetime. Regardless of the album’s temporal architecture, you could hear Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky any year, any time from 1990 to now. There’s no way not to put this album among one of the best of 2021. If you listened to the album in the mid 90’s it would sound like an album that would dictate what Black Metal should be. If you listen to it today, it’s a revival of what Black metal was like until Behemoth existed and everything sounded weird and modern.
Guitars flash across the album with icy, cutting riffs, but at the same time mold to a dark, lilting atmosphere. The slurred, guttural voices seem to be clamoring from a distant, icy ditch. The combination gets to be horrifying. Add to that a good battery work and atmosphere with an aura of BM as it should be performed.
This album is a must for anyone who enjoys Black metal and for anyone who thinks – like me – that real Black Metal sounds timeless. Krolok came from Slovakia and there he became small for these Black metal icons. KROLOK is definitely a band to check out for their new black Metal dimension close to the earlier period of Immortal “Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism” and Master’s Hammer “Ritual”.
Rate 666/666
