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Baskíria > Megtorlás kezdete > Reviews
Baskíria - Megtorlás kezdete

Not great but very bid fair - 77%

davkov85, October 6th, 2004

It seems very much what Baskiria would like to do: melodic, pagan black metal. First of all, Baskiria originally means the ancient home of Hungarians, somewhere in Middle-Asia. You can do the conclusion.
The music is a mixture of pagan black metal and a slowed variant of Swedish “norsecore”. It means that the music is usually midpaced, but the melodies are similar to Marduk’s ones. Interesting match. Therefore (because the drumming doesn’t coerce the guitar melodies) the music is surprisingly harmonic. And I’ve told you with this the “dark” (not the dark as it should be…) side of the music: sometimes the melodies are “too catchy”, and the music is a bit lighter than optimal. If it were darker or heavier (one is enough), I would give it more than 90%, because there’s no doubt that the musicians are talented and full of good ideas. Technically I see no problems; the drumming is mid-paced and - fitting to the musical concept - less monotonous than one might have got used to in black metal.
The lyrics are the usual: the majority are about the destruction of Christianity (I’ve heard much worse ones), the remaining are Hungarian nationalism (but not national socialism!)
The production is clear but in my opinion too light. The guitars are ‘thin’. This constellation is not really lucky: even if the tempo is not so high and the atmosphere is not so dark, a heavier sound of riffing would have increased musch the power of this album. Overall: it’s a really enjoyable material, and the failures are not serious ones. Baskiria is a bid fair band, and the next album might be much better. Best tracks: Ezredik év (Thousandth Year), Kard által vész el a szentek országa (The Land of Saints Shall be Lost by Sword). Try it!