Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Srd
Label: On Parole Productions
Release: year_month
Runtime: 39:00
Rating: 4/5
Black metal has always had a strong presence on Slovenian soil, ever since Noctiferia (originally still as Emetica) brought the genre here with the demo Gods of Počka (1996) and the debut Baptism at Savica Fall, followed soon after by Obalni Torka (members of the now-defunct band are today active in Grimoir and Ater Era) and Skorbut. That’s how it’s stayed to this day, with quite a few black metal bands active here, some of which have reached beyond our homeland’s borders, including at least Dekadent, Somrak, Cvinger, Nephrolith and Dalkhu. Srd are adding a big piece to the mosaic of the Slovenian Darkness with their studio debut Smrti sel.
The Srd story actually begins in 2012 with Goran Slekovec’s solo project Terrorfront, which released its only EP, Terror Arise, on Mater Tenebrarum in 2014. Last year he apparently found enough like-minded people who matched his vibe to put together a full-fledged band. The band has barely stepped properly onto the live stage last year, and already the debut Smrti sel is in front of us, coming out tomorrow on On Parole.
Smrti sel swings its scythe seven times: one instrumental, two songs in English, one cover of someone else’s work, and three in the mother tongue, and it’s that unholy trinity of Slovenian-language tracks that lifts the album among the better releases in Slovenian black metal. The scythe first lashes out with the five-minute, slightly overlong and repetitive instrumental intro Prologue, which still manages to set the right mood for the next half hour of black ‘n’ roll massacre, where you can pick up on the influence of bands like Taake, later Darkthrone and very early Vreid. Guitar-wise, Srd serve up relatively simple but sharp riffs that cut like Gabriel’s sword. From Goran’s throat comes furious, misanthropic rage at humankind, and his excellent, powerful, authoritative and raw yet still intelligible vocal sounds a bit like Hoest.
Strong, varied songs are the album’s hallmark, even though in a few places it runs a little short of steam and the tracks sound a bit too predictable. That goes first and foremost for the English-language songs, the war march Deathreign 40-45 and the nihilistic All Into Nothing, while the excellently executed cover of punk degenerate GG Allin’s immortal I Kill Everything I Fuck is in a class of its own, doesn’t stick out from the whole and blends nicely in with the originals. The central monolith of the album, though (for me personally), is the trio of songs sung in Slovenian, since black metal hasn’t sounded this good in Slovenian since Kres or Vigred from Dekadent’s debut. Beyond that, the title track and Kupa trpljenja are skillfully executed songs commanded by a clear, definite vision from the band. The magnum opus of the death-scythe, though, is without doubt the closing, almost ten-minute hymn Soči, a musical setting of Gregorčič’s eternal epic poem to the emerald beauty. With this track Srd are breaking new ground in Slovenian metal, since with the exception of Brutart’s setting of Poe’s Israfel, no band has tackled classic literature yet, let alone Slovenian literature. From the first moments of Goran’s whisper, Soči is a superb piece of music that fully explodes after two minutes into the scream of the butchery of the Soča Front, and with its baroque runtime illustrates the endless folly of man, who still remains a wolf to man.
Smrti sel is a debut any band would be happy to have. Sure, you can still hear the band’s relative youth here and there, but the album also lives up to the »hype« that’s built up around the band over the last month or two. If Soči alone is any indication of the band’s future path, there’s no doubt Srd can already be counted among the best homegrown black metal bands.
Srd will release Smrti sel tomorrow, January 20, 2017, at the release party and On Parole’s 15th anniversary at Orto bar!
Lineup
Goran
Miha
Dominik
Benjamin
Timo
Production
Tilen Sapač
Track list
1. Prologue
2. Deathreign 40-45
3. All Into Nothing
4. Smrti sel
5. I Kill Everyting I Fuck
6. Kupa trpljenja
7. Soči
