Словенска крв

Every now and then, an odd feeling surfaces within my shattered self. I grow tired of the same old scenes, though only briefly, as most of which can be said to provide a general sound that generates a generalisation of that regions sound. For example, France is often associated with a series of overriding sub-genres, as opposed to a sound which is collectively diverse. We have the romantics; Alcest, Amesoeurs, Celestia, Mortifera and we have a well developed take on raw black metal. As well as this, France is also associated with the black metal and dark ambient hybrid of the Les Légions Noire. From this leading scenes, the audience can assume a general sound upon the area of the world and from then on, the nation, or region, is collectively known for this sound. Another example would be Greece’s Hellenic underground scene, which generates a lot of positivity from expert fans of the genre. These general views are imposed upon all major scenes, from North America to specific European nations, but a lot of the smaller, largely unnoticed black metal nations, given their underexposure, have no collective story to tell. Instead, bands exist without a canon to work within. Iceland is a good example of this and how one area of the world, against all the odds, can create some sublime bands on such a small underground populous.

Though there scene is given little exposure, and is relatively small in comparison to their major European rivals such as France and Germany, they still have a strong basis of material from talented and underappreciated bands. This is the feeling I’ve always gotten from Eastern European scenes, including Serbia, where The Stone come from. Perhaps not the most original name, or even the most original music, but in underexposed areas like this, bands tend to allow their music to do the talking, instead of relying on the nations history with the overall scene - which is something some Scandinavian bands could probably be accused of doing (leaning on its reputation to build them a fan base). Eastern Europe is a haven for undiscovered gems and whilst ‘Slovenska Krv’ is a much rawer effort than most others in the bands long discography, the talent still manages to shine through despite some errors in judgment. When I am faced by the feeling of being tired with the usual suspects, I tend to look elsewhere for a case of the sublime and Serbia is my choice on this occasion with The Stone. Often, I will set about turning over every stone, if you’ll excuse the pun, in “lesser” regions like Eastern Europe and Asia, but it didn’t take me long to come across this strong Serbian outfit as one of their records is actually much loved and regarded as one of the best Eastern records by a black metal band in the new millennium. That record, as you might have noticed from the reviews, is ‘Magla’.

As I already knew the associated band, May Result, I didn’t have to search very far to discover The Stone and given their positive reputation, checking them out was a foregone conclusion. To me, though a lot of the mystery has been lost in black metal when it comes to supposedly superior regions like Scandinavia, areas of the world, including Eastern Europe, still consists of this defined quality that makes the scene so much more impacting and the impression of the best bands is always longer lasting within the memory. As a fan, we’re easily brainwashed like some sort of naïve child into believing that areas such as Scandinavia are the deity, like God is to Christians, and smaller regions have nothing more to offer than a blasphemous bout of drivel, destined for the darkness of a Hellenic world where the material will not be given recognition as the light shines almost sickeningly down upon the one who can do no wrong - Scandinavia. Though The Stone’s first venture into the black metal world doesn’t go as far to rid this gesture as completely idiotic, it does dispel some of the rumours that so-called lesser regions can establish their own hidden talents. From what I have heard, ‘Magla’ is definitely the star in the sky amongst the full-length outings, though ‘Slovenska Krv’ shows some early promise despite issues with the production and ultimate downfall in the lack of real memorable moments (besides the glittering ‘Pevalo Hiljadu Maceva’).

As with most early black metal records, this is a sandstorm like debut. It combines combative guitars, with furious drums and sub standard rasping vocals that are clearly affected by the ineffectual production. This record is much like any early second wave record, though the production is better than during than era, though insignificant enough for this modern era. Given that this is the bands debut of any kind, being the first slice of material they have ever recorded, and the fact that they were a band only drawn up the previous year, the idea of creating a visionary debut was never bound to be the case. Instead, this is somewhat typical of the genre of black metal. Bags of early promise, but little conviction at this stage. Black metal is an evolutionary genre. It takes time to create your best material and, like sports teams, you don’t want to hit your stride too early on in the season as, like the old cliché suggests, a discography is a marathon, not a sprint. Once a band gathers momentum, the material will begin to slide off the soundscapes and into the memory given repeated listens. I suppose, given the fact that repetition helps humans remember things, black metal should be an instant winner given its often repetitious form, but that isn’t always the case - as with The Stone, who’re hardly innovative at this stage.

Though songs like ‘Pevalo Hiljadu Maceva’ show The Stone up for being a diversely structured band, with a great combinational atmosphere that doesn’t lean too heavily towards the guitar portrayal, the band doesn’t always live up to the glorious heights of this song. The production is the main limitation. it’s a bit too dense for the open hearted material, which tries to allow the emotions to flow off the record and into our bloodstream, but with a production that hampers any such beautiful symmetry in play, this doesn’t occur too often as the awkward vocals tend to overshadow much of the underlying features, which is where the best of the material lies hidden away from the public eye. The bass and guitars work well together, as on ‘Pevalo Hiljadu Maceva’. The drums are operational and fluctuate in patterns, never relying entirely on double bass blasts like the stormy material of the second wave bands, though the whirlwind atmosphere is akin to that era without being a blatant rip-off. As is easy to see, there is much promise to this sound and it is lived up to on ‘Magla’. However, right now, its too primitive to function as anything other than a mild spin-off to the second wave wintry atmospheric effects. ‘Magla’ should be your main port of call.