Artist: Koreltsak
Country: USA
Label: Altare Productions
Formats: Cassette Tape
Year: 2025
Those who tend to keep an eye on today’s Raw Black Metal underground, must at least have stumbled upon the name of Koreltsak, an American entity that spawns various material into the world. Its recordings have been backed up by well-known labels such as Crown & Throne Ltd. and Banner Of Blood as well as Goatowarex Records. Yet, all these releases are short players or splits, this self-titled cassette tape is Koreltsak’s debut album and the first release for Altare Productions.
Although this is marketed by the Portuguese label as the band’s debut album, the majority of the song have previously appeared on two split releases. Only the first song, ‘The Six Paths’ seems to be a new track, the others have been issued before on the split cassette tape with Abyzou that was released in 2022 by Jems Label and reissued a year later by Clan Destine Records, except for one more song that was previously available on a 4-way split from 2022 that was released by Crown & Throne Ltd. on cassette and by His Wounds on vinyl as well.
But, although most of the songs might be having their second life on this album, it surprisingly feels like a coherent set of tracks that certainly deserve the “album”-tag. I am, however, not sure if the tracks have been re-recorded for this album. Before Koreltsak has been the sole project of P.T.S., but now it seems the project has been expanded with someone that goes under the name U. on drums. Apparently, this cassette tape is the first product of their collaboration. Another argument in favour of the re-recording of these songs is that they all fit together remarkably well.
And that is one of the strongest points of this untitled album. Its natural flow takes you on this trip through icy landscapes of raw and furious Black Metal as well as some mild psychedelics and acoustic intermezzos. A wonderful snowy soundscape that fits perfectly to the chose cover art, showing a cemetery that is largely covered in snow. The combination of traditional Raw Black Metal and a more dreamlike approach to the genre results in a remarkably effective and hypnotic whole. Especially towards the end of this 30+ minute ride it gets freaky and hallucinatory, like a cold and delirious whirlwind. A great album, that certainly also deserves a vinyl treatment.
