Following up on their 2022 debut release Rzeki Goryczy, Polish Black Metal outfit Piołun return with their second album Exolvuntur. “Stylistically, it is a continuation of Rzeki Goryczy,” Band founder Sorh says. “However, it presents Black Metal that is more dynamic and melodic.”
Piołun – Exolvuntur
Release Date: Out Now
Words: Jools Green
Sorh, the former guitarist with the Black Metal bands Blaze of Perdition and Oremus, and currently with Manbryne as XCIII, explains that “The album’s concept revolves around the cycle of life and death, referring to human transience in the face of ruthless nature.”
Exolvuntur manifests as “a thirty-seven-minute journey where the wildness of traditional Black Metal intertwines with nostalgia and melancholy.”
Musically, like its predecessor, Exolvuntur continues to be heavily inspired by the ’90s Scandinavian and Polish Black Metal, with Sorh emphasising that it’s delivered with “a refined, contemporary edge.” Overall, I think it is a very engaging listen.
As previously stated, Exolvuntur finds inspiration from the cycle of life and death, with each piece looking at the concept in a different way. Opening piece Manifest Kresu gives a bleak but somewhat honest view of the seemingly pointless circle of life, that the only purpose of being born is to die.
I love this quintessentially nihilistic Black Metal outlook. Musically, it bursts forth from a wall of riffs and drum battery into a cold, raw wave of engagingly undulating riffs with the vocals delivered with precise punch, the bleak riffing matching the bleak lyrics perfectly.
Sierpniowy Brzask, which translates as August Dawn, continues on the theme with a more darkly poetic approach. When the lyrics are translated, they make a fascinating read whilst still maintaining the poetic quality, albeit on the subject of reapers, sickles and fly-infested, stinking corpses among the field of grain.
To my mind, this is slightly reminiscent of Baudelaire. This bleak content is subtly reflected in the riffs and pace, and there is a more reflective tone to the vocal delivery, too. It is a great piece.
Czas reflects on what is left in this world after death, a headstone, bones and ashes and contemplates further on how time is the judge and executioner. Manifesting musically as an intense driver that runs away, rather like time and life, this is interspersed with slightly more reflective swathes that echo a hint of melody within the raw driving riffs and completed with a harsh vocal delivery.
Koło Życia takes another bleakly philosophical yet poetic look at the circle of life and death, and how from the dawn, death closes the circle of life. I particularly like how the harvest is collected with the reaping sickle. Also, heralding death is referenced. Musically, the opening pace reflects the daily drudge of life before opening out into a wall of frenzy, icy riffs that subtly mutate and evolve as they progress. The chant of “Biada! Biada!” rips into your very being. I love this piece. It is woefully expressive and hugely engaging.
Moribunda looks at “the art of dying”, bidding farewell to life with hope of something after, but going to eternal darkness. I do like the mix of plodding doomy blackened riffs and more driving waves of icy riffing. The expressive protraction on the vocal delivery and the sudden dramatic stop at the end is impactful, making once again an excellent piece.
Próba Sznura lyrically delivers a descriptive, bleakly poetic look at death by hanging. As it opens and progresses, pounding rhythms meld with a hauntingly reflective melody alongside acidic, protracted vocals. I love the brief but slick switch in the second half to a clean melodic swathe. Overall, it is a powerful listen.
Final offering Hiems has a very icy Scandinavian feel to the riffing. It is dark, haunting, and reflective. The lyrics speak of ice, frost and bleak, barren landscapes and how nature kills and reclaims, closing this circle of life and death finally. A powerful and darkly poetic final piece.
Exolvuntur is a very deep, well-considered, and delivered album, both lyrically and musically. I am sure there is so much more hidden within the lyrics for native Polish speakers to discover and ponder. For the rest of us, it is a superb Piołun album to enjoy purely on its musical merits.
Released last Friday via Malignant Voices, Exolvuntur is available in CD, LP, and digital formats, along with T-shirts, and can be pre-ordered via Malignant Voices: http://sklep.malignantvoices.com (Poland) with Worldwide orders from https://malignantvoiceswebshop.bigcartel.com.
