Катарсис / Catharsis

I'm of the opinion that if you had to choose a single musician from the Ukrainian scene as the best the nation has produced in black metal, it would be Lutomysl. No other single musician from the Ukrainian scene has evidenced the sheer brilliance that Lutomysl has time and time again with each of the albums from his eponymous one-man project. 'Decadence,' of course, is highly revered for a reason: it's a classic of the Ukrainian black metal scene that's basically untouched by all but the best material Dub Buk or Lucifugum have released. More amazing than that, though, is that 'Catharsis,' the follow-up release to 'Decadence,' actually manages to be just as good as that release. It's a very natural sort of sequel, basically the same in tone and style as the last, but I can hardly complain when what you're copying over and over verges on genius every time.

For those not in the know, Lutomysl's style of black metal is simultaenously minimal and lush; the naturally threadbare feel of the one-man black metal project comes out, but in perhaps the best way possible on Lutomysl's music. With a racing undercurrent of ambient drum programming, Lutomysl's music surges forward with a uniquely Slavic sense of folk-driven melody that at once resembles and completely departs from the rest of the scene the project comes from. Take, for instance, one of the project's classic songs which open the release: 'Jet Black Metal Art.' Driven by an almost perpetual half-blast in the percussive section, Lutomysl winds through a series of traditional yet wholly unique tremolo riffs which in and of themselves carry the entire song. It's not at all unfair to say that Lutomysl's albums could likely be released as only guitar tracks and have much the same effect on the listener- in truth, the bass, drums, and vocals are simply additional cherries on top of the most immediately important element.

This isn't a problem, though, because Lutomysl's sheer ability to write incredible, stirring black metal riffs is essentially unparalleled in the Ukrainian scene. Strikingly simple in their construction, mostly using simple, textured patterns which stretch all the way back to the days of 'Transilvanian Hunger,' Lutomysl combines the sort of traditional Slavic black metal melodies one might hear on 'Misyac Pomsty' with a sort of romantic richness that sounds like something more out of the French or Italian melodic black metal scenes. Perhaps they could be described as an extreme elaboration on the basic musical ideas put forth by bands like Branikald or Forest, but to say that would be overthinking it: Lutomysl simply has an essential grasp of the art form of the tremolo riff, and manages to time and time again create new permutations of relatively traditional, straightforward ideas that never cease to amaze.

Of course, the rest of the music works as an elegant counterpoint to the guitar melodies; the incredibly simple drum programming is absolutely an asset to the music. Almost wholly devoid of fills or any sort of frills or elaborations on the most basic rhythms, it simply provides a primal, pulsing drone to propel the riffs forward. Similarly, the bass is audible but doesn't intrude on the guitars, providing root note support to help fill out what's otherwise fairly thin production. Then there's the vocals, a wonderfully unhinged post-Vikernes shout/shriek that's as much a trademark of the project as the unbelievable riffs. Every one of these elements works together to create an experience almost unparalleled in black metal today. It's almost unbelievable that such simple elements can still be woven together to make music so endlessly gripping, but Lutomysl proves that, thousands of black metal records after the inception of the genre, it can be done.

Need I say more? Like the rest of Lutomysl's output, this is essential.

Aesthetically, ‘Catharsis’ is a very similar album to the previous one, ‘Decadence’. Incredibly similar artwork, both limited to 666 hand-numbered issues and even when dealing with the sound of the separate albums, they both have a similar sounding style. However, the main difference between this effort and the fifth full-length from Ukraine’s prolific band Lutomysl is that this simply just isn’t as catchy or infectious. The album starts incredibly well once the brief introduction to the opening song evolves, but the rest of the album doesn’t feel as catchy in its essence. ‘Jet Black Metal Art’ is recognised as probably the ultimate song by Lutomysl fans and is up to the standard of the previous album, especially give how catchy and primitive its chorus is, which features English lyrics, which I thought was strange. I think the previous album was entirely Ukrainian, but in an attempt to perhaps reach a new audience with the new album, Lutomysl are now operating with English lyrics and English song titles.

Does this take away some of the charm of the band? Perhaps. It isn’t as authentic anymore and sounds like it might have been produced to become accessible to a new and freshly faced audience. The material feels like its been constructed to work wonders on a new audience, but that’s just aesthetically speaking because looking beyond that, the approach is still very much the same. The vocals sound the same, the guitars sound the same, the drums sound the same, the way the songs have been written was probably the same, his hair cut was probably the same. I’m not sure I understand the point of the album being released so closely after the ‘Decadence’ album and sounding so similar. Perhaps he just couldn’t fit all the material onto the aforementioned album that he wanted? Or maybe he wanted to make one catchy album and one of a more serious nature? It just feels that because of the almost identical nature of the albums, that one feels like a lesser version and, unfortunately for ‘Catharsis’, this one came out after ‘Decadence’ and was also the one I heard the latest.

In fact, I recall earlier albums sound distinctly similar to these latter ones, too, but ‘Decadence’ is just far more catchy and makes better use of the raw energy and primitive, cold style of black metal. Despite the distant feel of the music, the atmospherics are still quite engaging, just not as engaging as they were on the previous album. Reviewing this band, and this album, is made quite difficult because I’m basically left with one option, to repeat myself and state that, as a matter of fact, the previous album was the bigger and better brother of the two, leaving this one in cold obscurity. The song structures are the same, as shown on catchy, but not as catchy as ‘Decadence’, songs like ‘To Realize and Overcome!’, which has a really hopeful sounding title, but the music actually draws out a lot of negative energy reminiscent of the old school and how they managed to create wonderfully dark and distinctive atmospherics without the use of variety and solely through repetition.

Stylistically, nothing much has altered and, although I really loved ‘Decadence’, it still feels quite disappointing to know I’m walking into an experience almost exactly like my last with the band. I’m not really fond of déjà vu, it annoys me. The primitive, yet warmly melodic riffs are enjoyable but don’t have the blissful impact of the last album. Basically, this is a second rate version of the pervious album, so your best bet is to get that and stick with it through thick and thin because this album doesn’t meet its standards despite the occasional pleasant riffing and the raw energy that surrounds the entire atmosphere on the entire album, from beginning to end. Repetitive, monotonous, cold, negative, hateful but still quite good. Head and shoulders above the rest of Ukraine’s faltering scene.