Мудрість століть (Wisdom of Centuries)

I fully recognize having a taste for Ukrainian black metal. Strongly inspired by local traditional music and Slavic paganism, it is gaining popularity due to excellent releases of pioneer bands such as Astrofaes, Nokturnal Mortum or Drudkh. Once confined to Eastern Europe, these groups are now able to obtain contracts with renowned labels and improve their audience. This is what happened for Khors, a Kharkov native quartet that has just sign a deal with Candlelight Records. For the occasion, the band launched a fifth full-length called Wisdom of Centuries (2012). This album is dedicated to Ukrainian first republic, which was founded 95 years ago and soon after crushed in blood by the Bolsheviks.

I do not know how this commemoration spirit influenced song writing, but Khors members borrowed a much more atmospheric and contemplative path on this new album. This is an important change of artistic direction compared to Return to Abandoned (2010), their previous album, marked by several bouts of brute force. This time, no less than four tracks are strictly instrumentals (including an introduction and a conclusion) and rely on a misty keyboard-generated music and distortion-free guitar. As for the other songs, I noticed that their construction and rhythms are really close to Finnish Melodeath practiced by groups like Catamenia or Kalmah, with catchy melodies and sequences. Developing a constant exchange between keyboards shaping the atmosphere and guitars that add roughness, songs Black Forest’s Flaming Eyes and The Only Time Will Take It Away adopt an epic and grandiose posture, but in the album second half, tempo slows down more, especially on title track.

It seems pretty obvious that the band seeks to give luster, majesty, to a record so important for their career. By choosing to emphasize a particularly tragic historical theme for their country, members of Khors probably manifest their desire to act as ambassadors for their nation. However, Wisdom of Centuries is not up to this ambition. The few good songs to be found are insufficient to dispel a general impression that the band had not pushed too much its talent or originality. Despite some nice effects and quick magical moments, the result is very thin and does not permit to fully appreciate band’s potential. 6/10

Originally written for Métal Obscur.