Plagueswept

From the English part of the Canadian territories, occurred one promising solo band called Haiduk, led by the mastermind Luka Mjolica, this young man served and reflected his love for nature and Slavonic tales into his first effort untitled “Plagueswept”. The demo contains 8 tracks in approx of 30 min of sheer melodic death with atmospheric thatches. The production of this release is rather good, for a self financed release this was well done, also to mention the nice evil looking artwork and the professional CD print.

The musicianship on this demo is merely fantastic, I got to be stunned when I first heard the guitars intro, they are so tight and melodic, and apparently Luka is a talented guitarist, I wont argue about that, fully obvious in the leading guitars harmonies and the memorable riffs provided in every track, in addition to the nice solos here and there will certainly force you to bang your head as fuck; some great examples concerning this are the tracks: "Entering the lair”, “Dark forest path”, "Timestill Abyss" and “Demon descent”. From time to time a nice acoustic parts were thrown here and there filled out very well and diversified the sound. Besides that, the vocals are another high notch in this demo, i could not recall that i heard such style before, they are harsh but not powerful, but honestly they are mesmerizing, they sound majestic and they complete the leading guitars work.

The thing I would like to complain about a bit is the drums, I wont say they are bad neither good, obviously Luka is not a drummer and he used a drums machine to support, it is okay, but I could not hear them well as it must be, but hey, don’t get me wrong, they sound okay in general. Technically the patterns are nicely done, with interesting double bass work, also the percussion throughought the demo is good and it supports the guitars, they are mainly fast, sometimes mid paced, they caught my attention in the track “Subterranean”, i believe if it was a drummer instead, this could have been just perfect. The bass doesn’t sound very active, but it is there, and there is nothing to complaint concerning its role, since it does not ruin the process of the musicianship.

Ultimately, the first effort of Luka is so solid, very promising start from a talented musician, with such unique music, I really prospect much more from this man. Myself i enjoyed too much this demo, certainly it worth your money and time, very recommended, specially for those melodic death metal fans, do not miss it! Go get your copy now and you wont ever regret buying this masterpiece.
Highlights: Grom, Entering the lair, Dark forest path, Timeless Abyss, Demon Descent, Subterranean.

Written for Encyclopaedia Metallum 01-05-2010
© Kimiwind