Patriarkh is reborn with this new album.
Stemming from the Batushka name dispute, the band is led by vocalist Bartlomiej Krysiuk, but also Pawel Jaroszewicz (drums, Antigama, ex-Hate, ex-Vader), Jakub Sliwowski (guitar), Rafal Lyszczarz (guitar/bass, Hore), Andrzej Poplawski (backing vocals), Jacek Wisniewski (backing vocals) and Michal Staczkun (backing vocals) change their name for the release of their new album, Prorok Ilja, for which they sign with Napalm Records.
Comprising eight tracks named Wierszalin, recalling the band’s origins, the album opens with a fairly calm sound, quickly joined by a few voices creating a dissonant chorus that leads into the second track. The haunting rhythm then kicks in, welcoming the first howls in a heady dissonance that feeds the dark yet majestic aspect of the sound, anchored in this unhealthy opaque Black Metal, before stopping abruptly to let the few words introduce the third part. You can feel the intensity growing, then adopting saturation once again in the company of folk elements and soothing backing vocals, giving the most aggressive moments softer, more ethereal tones. At times, the tone becomes more ethereal and ritualistic, before moving towards icy savagery and then mystical tones on the fourth track, always accompanied by diversified vocal parts and the contribution of Eliza Sacharczuk, a Polish singer who accompanies the darkness. This track is undoubtedly one of the most imposing on the album, with the following movement opening with a few words and then terrifying howls to reinforce a surge that only subsides to move on to the sixth track and its soaring clear tones. Vocals join in and get carried away, followed by the instrumental, which intensifies and then leads us into a seventh track that is initially more disquieting, then ignites again and once more sweeps us along in its fury filled with imposing riffs and all manner of vociferations. The very last section – which is also the longest – begins again in tranquility with a few words, then a few soaring notes, and finally a majestic Black Metal with piercing leads, sometimes accompanied by orchestrations and howls, which ends its run in silence.
Although the musical coherence remains understandable, Patriarkh moves away from its roots and offers a rather different sound on Prorok Ilja. Black Metal and orthodox themes are still present, but the folk and airy elements give the album a very different flavor.
85/100
Interview coming soon.