siLLy puPPy The Ukrainian black metal scene has been quite prolific since the dawn of the nation’s independence from the Soviet stranglehold that ended in the early 90s. While bands like Nokturnal Mortem, Drudkh and Lutomysl may be the most recognizable names of the scene, there are literally dozens more that are lurking in the underground of one of Europe’s most prolific regions outside of Scandinavia. The Lviv based KRODA has been around since 2003 and in that time span has produced some fine high quality epic folk infused Pagan black metal with catchy melodic hooks that takes the listener into the darkened Pagan ritualistic lands of the Carpathian mountain range.

Formed by Eisenslav (vocals, bass) and Viterzgir (guitars, bass, folk instruments, keyboards), the moniker KRODA ( КРОДА ) was chosen and taken from Old East Slavic language which means “The Fire of Burial Bonfire” which refers to the point when the souls of deceased warriors were set free through the burning process. At this stage the band was only a duo. This debut release Поплач мені, річко... (Cry To Me, River...) was released in 2004 on Stellar Winter as a cassette that only found 1000 copies being recorded but has since found its way onto both CD and vinyl along with bonus tracks on a variety of record labels.

Поплач мені, річко... (Cry To Me, River…) was not an early demo release but rather a full-length album that contained eight tracks and a running time of 48 minutes. Similar to other atmospheric black metal bands, KRODA implemented the standard black metal goods such as hyperspeed tremolo guitar riffing, blitzkrieg blastbeat drumming and the expected raspy vocals buried beneath the pummeling resembling more the croaking raspiness of Inquisition rather than the frenetic screams of the Norwegian scene. The uniqueness of the band however comes from the beautiful Ukrainian folk melodies brought forth by the keyboard runs that add the gloomy mysterious fog of atmospheric cloud covers. Adding to the folky flavors are the flutes which exude the Pagan ritualistic vibes that act alone or with the addition of the metal bombast.

While all the instrumentation is performed by just Eisenslav and Viterzgir, the album has a full-band sound where all the elements are perfectly fused together much like neighboring Negura Bunget’s stellar contributions with its own brand of Pagan folk black metal. Despite being an early album by a duo that had only been together for a year, the album sounds well seasoned with excellent compositions that find the somewhat new age flute runs and the orotundity of the black metal coexisting in an unthinkable truce. The production is perfectly crafted as well with only the occasional keyboard run sounding a bit cheesy but overall they keys are integrated quite well and create the perfect murky backdrop to the stampede of the galloping guitar riffs. Add to that the bass is actually audible as well, which is fairly good thing for a muddy distortion-fest like this. Also the drumming is not only frenetic and relentless but is also quite varied which gives the album an even greater intensity.

The band’s tracks at this stage are all in the native Ukrainian language but the themes primarily deal with heathenism, history, nature, traditions and the favorite subject of black metal, anti-Christianity. The album is uncanny in that it pretty much has two distinct things going on. The Pagan folk is always fluttering around in the background while the black metal creates a counterpoint around it but the flute and keys have moments when they are allowed to pierce the veil and become the emphasis whereas mostly the metal parts are the dominant force. This is an excellent debut by one of the Ukraine’s more talented metal bands and a great beginning for a lengthy career that continues. While other bands like Nokturnal Mortem use folk music as a flavor to wrap around the metal, it seems as if KRODA do the opposite and craft the black metal riffs around the folk melodies. A perfect example is the instrumental Hypocrisy cover “Apocalypse” that ends the album with a slowed down symphonic cooling down with only guitar chords that eschew the freneticism of the album’s prior tracks. Great album!