Vragvmesiton

It is really rare for me nowadays to find a record that has as curious concept and phenomenal execution as much as this one. By releasing "Vragvmesiton", Srd once again proved why they are one of top slovenian bands and let me tell you why is it a must listen for every black metal fan who likes his music dirty, yet catchy and true to the core.

To understand Srd, one must understand the genre of the band. While being udisputably black metal, some of its music is being drawn from hard rock/stoner metal, which is probably adequate, once you realise that one of guitarists plays in Britof, another slovenian band, which plays stoner metal. This results in every song containing furious tremolo riffs, angry but rhytmical stoner/rock ones (some reminding me of Shining, no wonder they did split together), which are amplified by drums utilizing both blast beats and hard rock beats and sometimes squized in melodic riffs that add atmosphere. The unusual, yet extremely flavourful additions are the vocals which aren't your typical black metal shrieks but yells and screams. All those elements combined make me imagine (while listening) some drunk black metalhead looking for either a buddy to drink with or someone to beat up in mosh and I don't know which one he percieves me as. This uncertainty works wonders considering black metal conceptually is dangerous and fearsome music you listen to at your own risk. At the same time, rhythmic foundation provided by drums and some sludge riffs make your blood pump up faster, making you feel more powerful and ready for powerful punches served by vocals.

I told you already what were the ingredients used in creating this album but what makes me love it so much? As I said in beginning, the execution is phenomenal. Band doesn't try to be technical, it doesn't try to have every beat perfectly lined up to a milisecond. Its rather this feeling of unification between band members understaning their roles that make sometimes contradicting ideas transform flawlessly one into another. Every single one of them is doing his best to deliver his best performance and none of them drag others down. It really makes me happy, that there are people who treat their art serious, who understand that metal song is more than some wank fest playing 7 solos in a 5-minute song and that playing good riff whole band can base a piece upon is much more valuable and preferable.

I must say, however, that mix and production is not as perfect as music itself. While being really good compromise betweeen sludge and black metal, I feel like bass and vocals could be just a little more audible. I am preety convinced both of those issues could be fixed with mix used on previous album "Ognja Prerok". My second issue is with cover art, while being good looking I do not think it is too fitting. As I said before, its dirty sounding black/sludge and cover art makes me think of some hateful medieval themed black metal and it just creates some dissonance between what I expect and what I got.

Best Song: Orji