IDEM is a solo project of Antun Aleksa, good spirit of Croatian underground scene who also plays in Trophy Jump, Porto Morto and Jeboton among others. This is a collection that IDEM grew for couple of years now and mixture of escaping and coming full circle. This is in fact collection of ten songs mixing post punk and pop punk sensibilities with beautiful and at times haunting melodies. Lyrics are in Croatian language and speak of fun, love, feelings, growing up in an loving environment, lust for life and also being thankful for happiness and small moments that make life worth living and continue soldiering on. Some of the songs are similar and remind a bit of Trophy Jump, but different and original at the same time. I can’t help myself but this album brings somehow joy into my heart and makes me warm around heart while listening and enjoying this music. Songs like ‘Uvijek Super’, ‘Žujice’, ‘Nikad Sama’ or ‘Potopi Ovaj Brod’ sure to win you over. So, I recommend this album to listen as a whole, at the same time reading lyrics and get into the vibe that it brings. I know it brought lots of joy to me. Hope it will bring it to you too! The album is at name your price on Bandcamp, but if you download it for free, drop a word or two to Antun, I know him and I am sure he will appreciate it a lot.
Croatian melodic hardcore punk veterans DEBELI PRECJEDNIK are back with their brand new full length album. This is by far one of my favorite bands in Croatian scene for more than 25 years now, also one of my all time favorite bands, so I am happy that the long wait is over and the album is out, the wait has been since 2016. There are twelve songs on this beauty some of them I have heard prior to this release on numerous gigs, like total hit single ‘Nema Me’, ‘Warzone’, ‘Misery Loves Company’ and tribute to late Ivan Antolić singer of Pičke Vrište, called ‘Pičke Ne Vrište’, which is also one of my personal favorites on this record. ‘Legica’ is similar and kind of continuation of band’s biggest hit ‘Farmersko srce’ and reminds of that song a lot. Debeli Precjednik continue with their vision of melodic hardcore punk, with some lyrics in Croatian, some in English, having a fine mixture of personal and political lyrics between the lines. Koca’s voice sounds better than ever and the band is tight, this being first full length album with Buda on guitar. But all that wouldn’t matter if there was no great songwriting and fantastic bunch of songs. Production of the album is strong and everything is in place. This is another great album by these legends and I am looking forward hearing some of the songs live again although I have been to this band’s concerts dozens of times. Superb album!
Battle Born are hailing from UK and this is their first full length opus. This one contains eleven songs of wonderful true power metal with all the warrior ethics and something that I admired in this kind of metal since its inception. This is at times aggressive and fast speed metal combined with epic guitar melodies, even better vocal lines and backing vocal harmonies. Vocals are very important in this kind of metal, so I must say that singer Jack Reynolds delivers fine job with his voice not being too high but fits perfectly to the songs. I love the use of backing vocal quires in ‘Blood and Fire’, also songs that I must mention are ‘Down Your Drinks and Raise Your Swords’ and ‘Ride North for Winterhold’. As you can see the story around lyrics are swords and sorcery plus fantasy heroism just made to pump your fist in the air and sing along at gigs. Battle Born also use keyboards but they also belong to the richness of sounds this mighty band delivers. A really, really strong debut opus.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 