It is always nice to hear one more band from your home country scene that you didn’t listen to before. Ochi are from Rijeka, Croatia and this is their new EP. This EP contains kind of cheerful intro turning into ominous and eerie melody with children playing and screaming and car door opening, reminding me of something sinister. Then, four songs connect into childhood stories like the title of the record says. Besides already published single ‘Dječak od vatre’ which is a mixture of post hardcore and post punk, heavy in some parts, melodic in others, three more songs deliver punch to your gut with their heaviness, darkness, but also melancholy in a way. One of my personal favorites is the title song, with that harshness mixed with atmospheric post punk parts and vocals which transform from melodic clean singing to more screamed parts and also whispering and spoken world. Guitar parts sound a bit otherworldly, taking you into some other soundscape. ‘Apnea’ is a bit grungy influenced song, at least I hear it like that in chorus which is melodic with pop sensitivity behind the heaviness. I think, this one is besides the aforementioned single the darkest song on the record. Lyrics are in Croatian, but deal with themes that are a bit darker and introspective and less happy and full of hope, quite the contrary, the whole vibe of this EP is pretty darkened and I love it for that. Have a listen and check it out! Support your scene!
Time for a band from my hometown from the north of Croatia. Revirgin are a bit different than other bands featured here in this webzine, but they are really good in what they do, so it was time for me to review their new record. As the name says, it was recorded live in Serbia, to be more precise Vojvodina, Subotica at Ekoslavija festival and it is a first release of Ekoslavija as a indie label. Revirgin is a duo of two young individuals, Karlo and Paula and they play a mixture of electro pop rock, indie, some goth here and there and also some experimental stuff in some of the song structures. Many people that witnessed their awesome gigs compare them to Talking Heads in some way. This one contains 12 songs, with very little talk between the songs, it is more like let the music do the talking here. Set list is comprised of mainly songs from their debut full length ‘Simulations’ which came out almost a year ago. There are songs in English language and hitters like ‘Luggage’, ‘Coldest City’ or ‘Goth Simulation’ that kick ass, but the live album also contains not yet studio recorded couple of new songs in Croatian language like ‘Rekreativni biciklizam’ or ‘Dobro za građane’ for example. Karlo’s vocals are melodic but also a bit narrative and nervous at the same time which makes a great combination. Synth lines and melodies are superb and also spacy atmospheric parts too. Me personally, feel some coldness and whole vibe of the music for me is kind of ethereal and cold and I love it. If you like music like this, go have a listen, you will not regret it.
Time for new from my homeland, Croatian underground scene. Heihaizi are one of the best kept secrets from Zagreb, Croatia, hehehe. This one is a blast of energy, whirlwind of hardcore untamed force just waited to be released upon the world. This one contains 13 songs. Music is old school fast hardcore leaning with both legs in punk roots, reminding me a lot of old school hardcore from USA, namely Circle Jerks, Necros, early Beastie Boys, RKL, early TSOL and similar bands. Songs are short but sweet, full of speed and just driving and thundering on, so the album finishes fast, but just makes you turn around and start it again. If I must compare it to some Croatian band it would be Midnight Climax or Eke Buba, as I understand two guys fom Eke are playing in Heihaizi. This is music from the streets and for the streets, just made for skating and prowling through streets on a warm night. With hard in your face hitters like ‘Let Me In’, ‘Stink’ or ‘Drop’ you just can’t go wrong. I recommend this one to all.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 