Revirgin were already featured on the pages of this zine. This duo comes from my hometown of Čakovec and this is their new album containing twelve songs, all songs this time in Croatian language. According to the band, these bunch of songs were already written a year ago and recorded this year. Revirgin play their vision of prog art rock mixed with synth pop, synth rock and I love how they create that eerie and a bit bizarre melodies in their song structures with Karlo’s voice being kind of similar to David Byrne of Talking Heads. The last album couldn’t escape the comparison with that legendary band, but this one also has some domestic influences like Azra or EKV, maybe it is only me hearing it, but I hear it in the song structures. I recently watched them play live and they did an awesome show with couple of old ones and mainly songs from this album. Lyrics are personal, read between the lines, allegoric and different than most of the bands out there right now. My personal favorites on this album are ‘Egzodus ’97’, ‘Dobro za građene’, the title song, but you must check out the album as a whole to get the full picture. Revirgin makes albums that make you hear something new every time you listen to them, so go for it!
Deafness By Noise are legends from our own Croatian underground scene. This band is hailing from Samobor area, and they just recently released their new full length album. I can say this is one of the top three hardcore albums in Croatian scene in last couple of years. I must also say that this album is full of surprises. Experience oozes from DBN because in long decades of their existence they played European stages with who is who of hardcore punk. The new record contains 13 songs. First thing that falls to ear is superb quality mixed by legendary Dane Tue Madsen and mastered by Paul Logus in New York. The music of DBN is not your fast hardcore punk like it was in the beginnings of this band, no they are mixture of hardcore punk roots, but rock n roll too, I daresay vocalist Krmpa and crew brought to the record amalgamation of their listening favorites, from hardcore, to punk rock and rock and roll. I must also say that singer Krmpa is like old wine, gets even better with years, his singing is melodic, yet hardcore shouting when needed but also fits perfectly to every second of this record. The record contains two surprising covers by Soft Boys and Tracy Chapman. My personal favorite vary from more hardcore oriented ‘Zero the Clock’, fine more melodic ‘Here We Go Again’ to the fantastic title song and ‘Overrun’ but all of the songs on this record are a lesson how hardcore rock n roll record should be done. DBN are pride of Croatian scene and I wish them many more years of bringing out great records!
Tryglav is back with new full length opus, first in four years, second in all. This project is named after a mountain in Slovenia, also after three headed Slavic deity, but the mountain is a bit differently pronounced. This is an entity from my home country, Croatia, brain spawn of one Boris Behara and it is fantastic. This opus offers seven songs of melodic yet aggressive black metal. When I listen to this opus, it feels like I am in some ruins fort on a dark night at the mountain, with wind blowing in my faces and bones, at the same time being alone, yet not alone. Guitar melodies and work are awesome, creating such melancholy and emotionally filled soundscape combining it with blast beat drums, but also with some more calmer and mid tempo atmospheric parts, though thrash influenced drumming rears its head too. Vocals are screaming, but you can understand most of what is being sung, with lyrics in English language. This opus can easily concur for one of the best melodic black metal releases of the year. My personal favorites: ‘The Plague’, ‘The Vengeance’.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 