Primordial Movements

Polish death and black metal have been thriving a lot during the 2010's thanks to the forming of several bands/projects that managed to go beyond the borders: ironic, when you conisder Poland's recent politics. Among the projects that have been unsung and mostly unrecognized is Lilla Veneda, whose members are also active in Voidfire, Shodan and Thy Soulless Empire: unfortunately, despite being formed in in 2009, they managed to release only three albums so far, including their latest one, 2024's Primordial Movements, and are under no record contract so far.

Poland's is recently most known for anxiethy-themed black metal, but this album verges more on the other side of the spectrum: it's sonically closer to death/thrash metal, with touches of metalcore (due to use of slamming breakdowns) and some outer psychedelic/stoner rock influences during the quieter sections. Opener Fury Dimension announces the style with a repetitive Phrygian-mode riff with high-tempo blast-beating, goes on less technical C-based chugging breakdowns and ends with a lengthy, less violent coda with prominent, distorted bass, distant guitar harmonis and slower double-bass grooves before a final slam. Main reference points are Behemoth, Fleshgod Apocalypse and Septiclfesh.

Other tracks feature some influence from post-Watain orthodox black stylings (Sleeping Knight's Sky, particularly its initial semitone-clashing arpeggios), In Sorte Diaboli-era Dimmu Borgir (the chug-fest Biomechanic Algorithm) and even their cormrades Mgła (Scratched Crown, title track). Most of them can be barely distinguished among themselves, being mostly based on C-D chugging and slams, though the opening pentatonic power-chord riff of Colossi, repeated also on the chorus sounds somehow epic. The title track includes also the lone presence of melancholic acoustic guitar strumming on the whole release, while Pytasz Co W Moim Życiu is a final step into more minimal blackgaze.

Production is digital-made, but sounds alright, with plenty of low-range punch from the bass and the rhythmic guitar, though there's excess of volume and compression on the vocals. Mostly devoted to slams with some space left for astral-tending melodies and post-rock arpeggios, the album sounds like a decent death/thrash/shoegaze hybrid with more fixation on single-chord impact than the relenthless dodecaphony typical of death metal. Though the band doesn't seem to have made much of a progress from their first releases, they have done no dud so far. Not my favorite stuff, but once in a while I can let it blast my speakers.