(review) Bednja – Ponosni u smrti

Time for a band from my home scene to grace the pages of this zine. Bednja released their new, long awaited e.p. Bednja were already featured on the pages of this zine, when I reviewed their full length debut album. This band is hailing from Varaždin in the north of Croatia, circa ten or so kilometers from my hometown. Bednja plays a mixture of black metal, hardcore and post metal with very interesting song structures and darkened atmosphere and dual growled and screaming vocals, which add power to the songs. Guitar work is ice cold with some catchy hooks here and there, thundering bass and drums from out of this world, Petar being for sure one of the best extreme music drummers in this region. This new e.p. offers four songs. Bednja pays tribute to Croatian poet Ivan Goran Kovačić, antifascist poet who was killed in WWII by transforming his lyrics into a song. They also cover Satan Panonski, punk icon from ex Yugoslavia who was killed in the civil war that went on here about thirty years ago. Also, they cover two folk songs sung by partisan fighters in WWII. There are some guest appearances on this record, but I leave that to you to discover. My personal favorite is Satan Panonski cover but e.p. as a whole is a fist in the face of depravity this country has turned in. Fist in the face of fascism, homophobia, xenophobia and Bednja told what all of us think: fuck you we are not down with you and you will not grind us down, not now, not ever!

https://bednja.bandcamp.com/

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