Artist: Gvozdena Nychta
Country: Serbia
Label: Altare Productions
Formats: Cassette EP
Year: 2025
Gvozdena Nychta (“Iron Night” in English) is the new brainchild of Vinka Mrtvaluć, who recently put his previous project Dreg K to rest. The exact reasons for popping right back up with a project that is largely, if not completely, in the same style is unclear, but at least it shows that the Serbian musician (now residing in Berlin, Germany) wasn’t quite done with creating bare to the bone Black-Punk. This time, however, Mrtvaluć opted for the revered Altare Productions label instead of releasing it through his own Lummox Wald imprint.
On a musical level, Gvozdena Nychta is largely relying on the very stripped down basics of both Black Metal and garage-like Punk. Simple riffs and melodies over stomping, primitive rhythms, not too far removed from early Akitsa, Ildjarn or Bone Awl and the more contemporary genre heroes such as Kūka’ilimoku or Invunche. Yet, what sets Gvozdena Nychta apart from most of its peers is the rather clean and “open” sound. I wouldn’t go as far as saying it is radio friendly, but it for is lot less punishing in character than most of the other bands in this particular niche. While that might be something that not everybody would equally enjoy or appreciate, this approach sheds a bit of new light to the style, emphasizing the actual riff and arcane melodies. Even the occasional eerie parts do come out rather well. That is pretty much the only difference with the two Dreg K EPs, both released in 2024, which sounded a bit grittier and therefore also a bit more gloomy. The slightly rawer and sharper guitar sound on ‘Grimoire Des Sourires’, combined with the clearer production, makes Gvozdena Nychta as a whole, based on this first EP, somewhat more interesting. And, not unimportantly, also somewhat more recognisable.
