Quick...name all the Lithuanian black metal bands that you can think of.... nothing comes to mind? That's probably due to that fact that there only seems to be one Lithuanian black metal band...and their name...(cue thunder and lightening sound effects)...was Poccolus!
Poccolus didn't seem to make much of a dent in the spike-studded world of black metal; but they managed to release one full-length album on the tiny South Korean based Hammerheart Productions label. And what an album it is! A droney, thrashy Burzum-esque masterpiece with snatches of traditional Lithuanian folk melodies layered within all the black metal buzz. Some interesting musical choices are thrown into the mix; with steel guitar, keyboards, and a Lithuanian plucked string instrument called the Kanklės all creeping into the mix. The vocals are tortured and agonizing (as all good black metal vocals should be, I suppose)...but there are also lots of clean singing here which sometimes has a Viking sort of feel. The one standout moment (vocally) for me, however, is about 5 minutes into the first track "Vilkolakiai" and everything stops in the song except for this very haunting and repetitive guitar line. And then, the singer howls. Yes..literally, he howls. It's eerie and so so so good!
A strange, beautiful, and incredibly unique album.
Howl away!
1 comment:
Ach! I missed this very-interesting-sounding disc!
Great blog, BTW. thanks for all the riches you have posted..
R
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