(Barely one week ago the Malignant Voices label released a new album from the Polish black metal band Martwa Aura, and our Norway-based writer Chile was tremendously impressed by it, as you’ll see from his review below.)
Once in a while, instead of devising some cute, little introductory story about how my childhood formed my adulthood listening habits, or how my lifestyle determines my deathstyle, or something, we could just go straight to the point, the good old in medias res. So this time, we dive head first into the deep, black end of the pool.
Not surprisingly, some metal bands just don’t care about matters of publicity or marketing and they’re just in it for the sake of their art, or so they say. Those in the black metal genre seem especially culpable of this by doing the bare minimum, dropping albums without any kind of big announcements or follow-ups, seemingly having no interest whatsoever to deviate from that path.
Anyway, Martwa Aura. Just by saying that they are a Polish black metal outfit should pique the interest of anybody even tangentially interested in the genre itself, as Poland has been a hot spot of black metal for a number of decades already and has produced some of the most magnificent music in existence during that period, as mentioned recently in the Wędrowcy~Tułacze~Zbiegi interview published on this very site.
You guessed it right by now, Martwa Aura dropped to minimal fanfare a new album called Lament on May 19th through the Polish label Malignant Voices, five years after their previous one Morbus Animus. This being their third full-length should make them an established name on the Polish scene, but the feeling is they’re still being a well-kept secret just waiting to explode like an atom bomb onto an unsuspecting population.
Lucky for us, Lament is exactly the kind of album bound to propel them into the higher echelons, as witnessed by the very first lament or “Lament pierwszy” which storms in with such a driving force that your primal instincts tell you to hold on to something in danger of being blown away.
Gregor’s venomous vocal delivery augments the thick riffs spraying hatefully from guitars of ones Sadogoat and Cadaveris (or CDVRS, if you prefer), all coalescing in a magnificent sounding mix made by Mgła’s M. The sound is appropriately massive and these songs absolutely use all the available space to a devastating effect.
Further evidencing this, “Lament drugi”, or the second lament, stomps in with a menacing picked riff before blasting full speed and finishing everything off on a high note with a great solo. Uncompromisingly heavy “Lament trzeci” ramps up the stakes even further, alternating the sheer tremolo-induced madness with the commanding Desolator’s drumming and riffs pushing us out in the battlefield crossfire in the vein of Marduk or even Bolt Thrower (take your pick).
“Lament czwarty” is a towering ode to Death, or more precisely the Death of everything, the pure disease of nothingness packed in an infectiously hellish four and a half minutes. Vocals again shine throughout the song, which serves as a perfect companion to the off-beat cover art photography taken by the talented Polish artist Dominika Macocha, while “Lament piąty” sees the band taking no prisoners still, harnessing us with them on a nightmarish ride through a world in collapse.
Bringing us to the end of the Lament, the sixth installment or “Lament szósty” channels all the best traits to ever come out of Poland and its black metal particularities. The devastating intensity, the subtle melodic leanings, the small details spread across and woven within the song’s canvas make it a sure live favourite.
Breaking off from the Lament cycle, for the closing track the band takes us back to the Morbus Animus days with “Morbus Animus II”, with parts I and III featuring on the previous album of the same name. Interesting choice in itself, this middle part (so far) feels like an even heavier affair, partly due to its slower pace, atmospheric ornaments, and borderline death metal riffing. Barabasz’s bass seems like a natural fit here by adding extra pressure to the already suffocating mix which make your lungs fight for air.
In the end, my greatest fear would be that not enough people will heed the good news about this album, so the sole purpose of this very review is exactly that, to help spread it out as wide as possible. Praises have been sung, but even now looking back at these words they don’t seem to convey even close to the mastery of Lament. Go out and get it.
Lament is out on May 19th on Malignant Voices on CD and digital formats. Orders for the record and all related merchandise are possible via label and Bandcamp stores.
https://martwa-aura.bandcamp.com/album/lament
https://www.facebook.com/martwaaura/