ALBUM REVIEW: I Iść Dalej – Gruzja

Poland’s GRUZJA are a mysterious band that put out a dark brand of acerbic, vicious and nihilistic black metal, which ties together a variety of other musical influences as well, from drum and bass to psychedelic rock. Their debut record, I Iść Dalej, is a truly visceral and discordant piece of music that creates a grim and raw wall of noise that is every bit as nauseating and intense as any band out there. At just under 29 minutes in length, this record makes up for its short running time with excellent, sonically punishing music.

Gruzini is a foreboding and bleakly atmospheric piece of music, which quickly bursts into a monstrous, groove inflected slab of black metal. It’s thunderous drumming patterns, arid vocals, and thick, grating guitars all come together to make a massive cacophony that is at points impenetrable. It’s a short, sharp shock of a song that sets a sombre and sepulchral tone for the rest of the album immediately. Moja Ratyzbona picks up where the previous song left off, with fuzzy, dirty tones adding plenty of feeling to the song. Whereas the previous song was a much more speed driven and ferocious offering, this one is definitely much slower, and built around robust guitar chords, steady, authoritative drumming and booming, bellicose vocals. There’s little in the way of variation throughout, but rather than making this song tedious, it makes for a more hypnotic sound that draws the listener in.

Opuść Mnie is a whirlwind of noise that rages forward at an absolutely blistering speed, with sharp, precise drumming backing up a dense, buzz saw guitar that jumps frantically from one motif to the next with an urgency and intensity that lends plenty of power to the song. As the music slowly but surely grinds down to a far more measured, mid-tempo pace, the music doesn’t lose any of its intensity, but gains lots of additional depth and force which serve to only make this song sound all the more rabid and aggressive. The vocals match the energy of the rest of the song, ranging from tortured howls through to feral screams, which adds another dimension of ferocity to an already heady and vicious song. This song raises the bar significantly, surpassing the two songs that came before it with ease.

Manam is a fantastic song that helps to inject groove-laden riffs back into the record, with an opening guitar hook that immediately grabs the listeners attention being an early highlight of this particular song. This, coupled with the sublime, haunting verse motif, helps to give this track a slight psychedelic edge, opting for hazy tones and more reserved guitar parts in lieu of the aggression that has marked the first three tracks. It’s still an undeniably intense piece of music, with the vocals in particular possessing a caustic snarl that helps to make them truly come alive, but the more atmospheric qualities of this songs sound are what set it apart from its predecessors and adds some musical depth to the album.  Jego Geos crawls into life on a wave of jarring feedback, before launching into a solid, power chord driven piece of fierce black metal. With both the guitars and the drums being noticeable more measured and, for this album, more simplistic, the vocals really get a chance to come to the fore and carry this song, with some acidic, high shrieks and bestial roars being the main focus of this song. It’s a very short track, ending almost as soon as it begins, and it feels as though this song could have gone on for a minute or two longer without losing any of its power.

Ilu Nas Byeo?, the albums penultimate track, is another dirge like song with an almost funereal pace, with some really imaginative, hook filled guitars that are evocative of some first wave bands like HELLHAMMER at points, but with some monolithic sections thrown in which help to add another dimension to the overall sound of the track. It’s another track that has a slight psychedelic bent to its sound, and it’s hypnotic guitars clash well with the rabid, feral nature of the vocals, without either element completely dominating the sound throughout. It ebbs and flows between aggressive and epic passages, and does an excellent job of setting the listener up for the final, titular track on the record. I Iść Dalej opens with a dense, drum and bass opening, drowning in a sea of distortion, which gives this song a punishing, oppressive feel that only seems to increase in its intensity as the song goes along, and doesn’t let up throughout. It’s a great closing track, and proves to be a marked departure from the rest of the record. Despite this, it doesn’t feel out of place, with its sonic ferocity proving to be just as powerful and impenetrable as much of the music earlier on in the album.

As far as debut records go, I Iść Dalej is well and truly one of the most impressive black metal records you’re likely to hear this year. The sound, thick and cacophonous, may be off putting to some listeners, but anyone who appreciates dark and aggressive extreme metal in the vein of bands like DRAGGED INTO SUNLIGHT will definitely be able to find plenty of great music to sink their teeth into. It’s a short album, but this ultimately makes the music on it incredibly lean, and leaves no room for even a moment of filler in its near 29 minute run time. GRUZJA have done a great job with making a powerful debut statement, and it will be incredibly interesting to see how they manage to follow this up.

Rating: 9/10

I Iść Dalej is out now via Godz Ov War Productions.