Just nineteen months after their debut studio full-length release Matecznik, Polish Black Metal outfit Profeci return with their follow up studio full length, Aporia, a seven-track, forty-minute offering with lyrics all in their native Polish.
Profeci – Aporia (Godz Ov War Productions)
Release Date: 24 September 2021
Words: Jools Green
Matecznik was a great album, but Profeci have, in the brief space of time between the two albums, upped their game further, as any good band should, and with Aporia, they will certainly give the bigger Polish Black Metal bands a good run for their money.
Sound-wise it’s hugely engaging, raw yet with enough melodic content to hold your interest, dark, powerful and driving, unmistakably Polish in style, yet with its unique qualities. When it comes to composition and musicianship, I can’t fault it at all. This album is superbly delivered, but the real stand out feature for me is the vocals, powerful, at times tortuous, sometimes angry but always delivered with a vast amount of conviction and passion.
Sharp guitar work heralds the arrival of the intense driver Demiurg, its lyrics delivered with a well-punctuated punch and vitriolic intent. The pace pares back towards the close in readiness for the slower, darker Bojaźń i Drżenie with lyrics that are, at times, unnervingly delivered. A hugely powerful and engaging track, with a close, that even ventures into dark fuzzy Doom briefly.
The tempo ramps up several notches for the dark, punchy Człowiek Urojony, one of my favourite tracks of this release. Almost anthemic to open with powerfully delivered predominantly spoken vocals, another favourite with me.
Danaidy is a superbly doomy, oppressive and crushing offering that has lighter moments that only serve to make the dark heavy elements even more so, a brilliantly contrasting piece.
Wyrosły Już Drzewa delivers some astoundingly powerful vocals, whilst Sny Prorocze takes on a more reflective but dark, slightly melancholic leaning, a powerfully moving piece of music which also sits up there with my other favourites.
The final piece, Trzecia Ofiara, opens with some very unusual guitar work, giving you no clue as to how it will progress. Profeci, love to keep surprising their listeners to the very end. It does pan out into a very dark and emotive piece that ebbs away reflectively before morphing into that dark fuzzy Doom sound again, leaving you contemplating the album and all its depths and complexities.
Aporia was recorded in early 2021 at Studio Wieloślad in Warsaw, recorded by Haldor Grunberg, Rafał Tarlachan Łyszczarz and mixed and mastered by Haldor Grunberg at Satanic Audio. Cover art is by Martyna Kostrzycka.
It will be available in CD and digital format from the label’s website.
