Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Alatyr > Agoj > Reviews
Alatyr - Agoj

Agoj! Agoj! Agoj! Agoj! Agoj! Agoj! Agoj! Agoj! - 10%

sashkello, December 22nd, 2017

Got this one by accident on a whim, thinking it's some rare recording of Slovakian Alatyr. Well, it's also atmospheric BM, however of a very different kind. It's more reminiscent of Nokturnal Mortum's "Nechrist" album, but with black metal parts fuzzed-out into this kind of post-BM atmospheric muddied sound. Otherwise, same traditional folk inclusions drifting here and there into the mix. Production here is poor, although not horrendously so. It's quite listenable, especially for those used to BM demos. That's not the problem... Songwriting and performance are.

Including folk melodies into black metal is something I'm really fond of. However, too often it simply doesn't work and is out of place. This is one of those cases. First of all, if you are going to use traditional tunes, then try to use traditional instruments for it. Or at least use synth emulations which sound like it. These guys use simple lead synth sounds, which don't fit the melody at all and sound extremely cheezy. It's cringe-inducing. The tunes were obviously written for some kind of traditional flute, or maybe a fiddle, they sound wrong in this kind of interpretation.

Another thing which really annoyed me is this "Agoj" thing (was it meant to be Belarus' version of "Ahoy"?) They scream this over and over again in each song (apart from the last track I think). It's mildly entertaining to start with, but when they go on on every track it eventually gets on your nerves. It's so out of place, it's not a fast pirate-themed metal, it's simply inappropriate here. It would work in fun quick-paced songs, but it is simply laughable on a record which takes itself so seriously.

Vocal performance is another aspect of this demo which didn't work for me at all. They have two male vocalists. One for deeper growls/screams which sound amateurish, yet bearable. But another one is doing that high-pitched screaming which sounds like a deranged pig in distress. His hilarious attempts at sounding brutal (or whatever he wanted to achieve) are especially laughable on the third track, where two vocalists scream interchangeably. It really sounds like a parody, I can't comprehend how they refrained from laughing during this recording. If I wanted to troll black metal fans - that's how I'd try to sound, but to do it in all seriousness is on another level of cringe. The last track features female vocals, and sounds almost like pure folk-rock. And while being a bit out of place due to its dissimilarity to other compositions, to me it was the only listenable piece of music here. Still, it sounds good only in comparison to the rest of it...

I'll make sure to double-check I'm getting the correct Alatyr next time.

Belarussian Night... - 94%

Nargodath, November 16th, 2006

Nokturnal Mortum has a lot to answer for. While I'm a big fan of the band itself, some of their clones are getting nearly as bad as Discharge-worshippers. A few years ago, I was very excited about the rise of a new wave of folk-BM bands coming out of eastern Europe. While the original wave produced some classic albums, the "pagan metal" scene is starting to look as tired as the rest of the black metal scene was a few years ago. Which is why it's such a pleasure to listen to this, a recording which deserves to be considered one of the forgotten classics of Slavic folk metal.

Agoj has all the hallmarks of the sound-- murky blastbeats mixed with a soaring buzz, occasional folk passages on acoustic guitar, and repetitive keyboards echoing the guitars. And, of course, let us not forget the nature sounds before and after each track. The vocal style is gruff, a little like a faster version of Quorthon on Hammerheart, neither black metal- screech or straightforward folksinging. Actually, the singer for Alatyr sounds like a dead ringer for the guy from Rodovest. There are some black metal screams, but they fall more into the category of "atmosphere" than the main thrust of the music. There's also a (very good) female singer on the last track.

With this sort of music, it's really the originality and compositional talent of the band that completely makes or breaks it. If you're going to repeat a keyboard theme for ten minutes, it had better be damn catchy. Agoj passes the test with flying colors. Although the call-and-response vocals on the second track are rather annoying, the rest of the demo evokes a twilight world of Slavic gods most effectively. All hail.