Heathen Brotherhood

I acquired this CD upon reading the blurb which claimed that it provided great insight into areas of the Slovakian underground, Always interested in discovering new bands I ordered it right away along with several other cds- I was certainly not disappointed and view it as £7.50 well spent.

Algor kick things off with a unique bland of minimalist black metal, not bad, but far from great, the vocals certainly a considerable degree of strength to them, but the guitar is barely audible above the drums most of the time. In general the production on this section of this recording really lets it down in places, as it is very poor indeed, even by black metal standards, The opener, "Vyzua k pomste" pretty much epitomises the above description more than any of the other tracks on this release. "Cas Odplaty", the second song, contains some very nice riffs and there a is a pretty generic thrash solo in here at one point, musically it is more technical than the first track, but ultimately lacks the atmosphere.
The third track commences with an almost Darkthrone-like riff (the usual drill) before breaking into riffs barely on this side of melodic, the drumming sounds very tinny on sections of this track. However that overwhelming sense of cold seeps into the atmosphere, creating a song which, despite its poor production doesn't fail to capture you.
The finale of Algors participation is an instrumental which begins with some doom-like drumming before adding some riffs of a pretty original nature to the mix (a change of pace indeed), however it becomes increasingly apparent that Algor lose some of their appeal when bereft of vocals, which in Algors case contribute significantly to the melancholic aura. With that said there are some nice smoother moments later featuring excellent guitar work once again.

Korium tear right in with an unintelligible wall of noise which makes up their first track "Krainia ticha", then the vocals begin, they are slightly too high-pitched at times, like Keep of Kalessins "Itch" the music behind in them resembles Enslaveds "Vikinligr Veldi" once they begin but is soon drowned at again by incomprehensible riffs which create a “forest at midnight” style atmosphere. The Production in this segment of the release (known as Side Battletime) is slightly better but only equal to regular black metal standards but the music makes up for it and as opposed to an excessively thin sound this is loaded with density. This is by far their best track on this release.

Cachticky hrad (Slovakian members will have to forgive my poor spelling/comprehension of their mother tongue) begins with a ravens caw amongst other sounds before the riffs seep ominously from the threshold supported by what sounds like a flute for a while. After this a picked electric guitar appears before moving up and down a scale of some kind, then the drums and melodic riffs appear along with some seriously twisted effects to create a nightmare soundtrack, not overly heavy, but the contorted vocals with manifest only add to the nightmare. Then the growls return, sounding something like Chewbacca from star wars before the song fades into silence

”Mraziua nor primasa pokol” begins with sinister growling before stop start riffing and the song itself commencing. The drumming is quite hidden in the production and the guitars aren't innovative, but isn't that the way that black metal is expected and indeed often best appreciated?. This is many ways a regular black metal track and far from one of the best on this release. However for a “regular” track as I just described it it is very nice indeed.

Hromovlad start off slowly, creeping forward from the black sewers of Slovakia, there is a lot of tangible folk influence in evidence at the intro of their first track. The production is poor, though the vocalist is doing that whispered-growl made famous by Ihsahn, though at some points it also resembles the growl of Ad Hominems infamous Kaiser. The drumming is partially buried again but the guitars are simply inaudible for the most part except when they appear to deliver a vicious line every now and then.

”Ohnom Uokny spalena zem” is a pretty standard song really, nothing incredible about it apart from the fact its not that good, but not bad, its just one of those song that is present to take up space- filler, however while not enjoyable in its own right it compliments the song before it.

”V Ziani zuiezd” begins with clean, almost tribal singing present in the background behind some slow drums, which get increasingly louder as the riffs and Vocals eventually supersede the tribal sounds before ending slowly, with a fantastic mix of minimalist riffing and folk influence fading back out of existence. Probably the most emotional and folk-based piece on this entire record.

In conclusion this CD provides much insight into the Slovakian underground and suggest much potential from these three bands, I am looking into purchasing more by them in the very near future.