This makes the third time this week that we’ve premiered an album set for release on March 1st (a Bandcamp Friday) by the UK label Death Prayer Records (the others being from Ilat Mahru and Celestial Sword). The subject today, very different from the preceding two, is the debut album by the Bosnian black metal band TRIJUMF. Its title is TRIJUMF ILI SMRT – TRIJUMF (“Triumph or Death – Triumph”).
We don’t know much about the band, including who is in it, but we can infer from the group’s name, the album’s title, and the song names that their motivation derives from the atrocities that wrecked their country during the so-called Bosnian War between 1992 and 1995, and perhaps from even older conflicts. To triumph is the order of the day, and “NEVER FORGIVE, NEVER FORGET” is the epilogue.
In giving voice to their inspirations TRIJUMF‘s album provides four very long songs, ranging in length from 9 1/2 minutes to nearly 12, and in a word, they’re all remarkable.
The songs’ names are “Tijumf” (“Triumph”), which opens the album, “Sila bosanska” (“Bosnian force”), “1425 dana” (“1425 days”), and “Pad okupatora” (“The fall of the occupier”) — the translations are our own, furnished by google translate. The third song seems an obvious reference to the siege of Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serb army, which lasted for 1425 miserable and death-ridden days, from April 1992 to February 1996.
Given the inspiration and the subject matter, it’s not surprising that TRIJUMF‘s music often rages and blazes on a sweeping scale. In the opening song the drums fire like mortars, the heavyweight bass throbs like hearts beating in fury and fear, and the riffing scathes and scorches. Voices scream at the red edge of extremity, and in the upper reaches of sound, it feels like the skies are burning from horizon to horizon.
The combined impact of all this is enough to take your breath away, and even more so when the guitars brilliantly swirl and the chords blare like air-raid sirens, as they do in this galvanizing first song. The sounds are dense, richly layered, and almost overpowering in their immersive impact and broad sweep.
Moreover, the emotions being channeled are almost relentlessly intense. The fieriness of resistance and defiance rising under extreme pressure comes through loud and clear in the title track, but the music also creates sensations of severe distress, verging on despair. Apart from the subtle shifts in feeling that occur even in the most ravishing moments, the listener’s attention is further riveted by changes in the drumming, which sometimes canters and sometimes sounds like bombs going off.
While you’re still wide-eyed and drop-jawed from that first song, “Sila bosanska” immediately delivers a big surprise. It sounds like the melody of a jubilant folk dance performed with traditional instruments, and then the band carry that joyously spinning melody forward in much more extravagant fashion through the electrifying trill of the guitars and the thrills provided by the rhythm section and the howling vocal tirades.
The vocals are indeed no less wrenching than before, and again the band seamlessly shift the mood as they shift the melody, bringing in shadows of turmoil and sorrow. But that lively, transfixing melody re-surfaces and digs deeper as it re-cycles, as if proof that the spirit cannot be vanquished; the liveliness of the bass and compulsiveness of the beats underscore the point.
Once again, TRIJUMF use the lavish length of the song and the repetition of the morphing folkish riffs and compulsive beats to better carry listeners away, and to carry them far.
They do that again in “1425 dana“, though the nature of that song’s likely subject matter translates into a more harrowing musical experience. The music never descends into a trough of gloom — it’s as thrilling as what has come before — but it’s more stressful and more warlike in its atmosphere, and when the drums briefly vanish, the music sinks into desperation. Yet still, the extravagant sweep of the music creates feelings of painful endurance in the face of daunting odds.
“Pad okupatora” is the longest song of all, and by now you won’t be surprised to learn that the band don’t pull back (not until near the end). The music still operates at a panoramic scale, still thrives from the visceral, muscle-moving impact of the rhythm section, still drives on the fuel of repeating riffs and trilling lead-guitars that pierce the heart and spin the head.
At the end, the sign of victory is a folk song, another dance, with fervent singing and traditional instruments again, and it’s as captivating in its own way as the black metal has been.
“Epic” is a worn-out word, but sometimes there’s not a better one. In sum, TRIJUMF ILI SMRT – TRIJUMF is an epic album — rich in its folk-influenced melodies, extravagant in its sweep, rhythmically compelling, powerful in its ability to evoke strong emotions, and beautifully performed. To repeat, this one carries us away.
Death Prayer will release TRIJUMF ILI SMRT – TRIJUMF on vinyl, CD, and digital formats. You can find details about those and pre-order via the links below.
PRE-ORDER:
https://trijumf.bandcamp.com/album/trijumf-ili-smrt-trijumf
https://www.deathprayerrecords.com