(written by Islander)
We always relish the opportunity to brandish the paintings of Paolo Girardi across the top of our page, especially when his artwork adorns music that’s as noteworthy as the album we’re focusing on today.
That album, Химните на разрушените светове (Hymns of the Broken Worlds), is the second full-length from Цар Стангра (Tsar Stangra), a Bulgarian pagan black/folk metal project based in Quebec City, Canada, who have dedicated themselves to forging a fusion of extreme metal and Bulgarian ancestral tradition.
The band was originally founded as a solo project in 2007, evolved into a full band, and released their debut album Небесният ковач (The Heavenly Blacksmith) in 2017. Much time has obviously passed since then, but Tsar Stangra is at last ready to reveal new works through this second album, which is is set for release on July 1, 2026 — a date (they tell us) that is “symbolically aligned with the celebration of July Morning, freedom, and Rock And Roll.”
To help spread the word about the new record, today we’re premiering a rollicking yet also sinister track named “Taga za Yug“.
The song is a relentlessly head-spinning and heart-pounding experience, one that involves a multitude of instrumental contributions, all of them racing, spinning, and levitating with captivating passion. The richly layered sounds include fleet-fingered dual-guitar harmonies, nimble drum-and-bass adventures, spritely keyboards, and an array of traditional folk instrumentation, including tambura.
The band establish melodies and then lead the listener through evolving adaptations of them, and changing the moods as they do. In its initial phase the music eventually spawns images of dancers spinning in circles and wildly reveling in their celebrations, though at the outset there’s also a melancholy edge to the proceedings and a felt need for resilience.
But after the celebration extravagantly spins up the mood takes a darker turn as well, less jubilant and more menacing. Part of that is due to the appearance of a long beastly snarl and ensuing vocals that viciously gnash, but the music itself also shifts into more menacing and distressing timbres.
The music shifts again, back toward those more jubilant moods, even though the vocals (sometimes doubled) remain bestial and scorching. Again richly layered, the instrumentation (including that very nimble and heavy bass) is thrilling to hear.
One need not be Bulgarian or knowledgable about Bulgarian musical traditions to get a charge out of “Taga za Yug“. All you need are a beating heart and an open mind (and a taste for vicious voices).
Hymns of the Broken Worlds was recorded by Olivier Vaillancourt-Girard (who also mastered the album) and Stanislav Stefanovski (who also mixed it). It will be released on Bandcamp and streaming services, and comes recommended for fans of Rotting Christ, Arkona, and Negură Bunget.
For more info about Tsar Stangra and the forthcoming album, follow the band via the links below.
Bandcamp: https://tsarstangra.bandcamp.com/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5q1GFoO9NQj3xoWRvEymOF
YouTube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCzBoZTxHYJywkL6-CGIEdaw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TsarStangra