Artist: Krvna Majka
Country: USA
Label: Prism of Deceit Recordings
Formats: Digital
Year: 2025
While the roots of the members are unknown, the Slavic band name Krvna Majka, or Blood Mother, may imply a European band is behind this eponymous EP, not a band based in California, USA. Regardless of origins, their debut EP was released on All Hallow’s Eve 2025, and consists of two tracks of eleven and fourteen minutes respectively. Musically, the basis is raw Black Metal with distorted vocals, the influences of which seem to be early Enslaved, Ulver at the time of ‘Nattens Madrigal’, Paysage d’Hiver and the Ukranian Black Metal scene. The guitars are fairly grainy and the sound is rather suffocating, with an urgency and sense of repetition to it. On top of that are keyboards that mostly push the atmosphere in the direction of Darkspace, and in particular of the second track, the melody-driven riff style akin to Forteresse cannot be denied.
The first song ‘Krvna Majka’ starts of in an excellent and hypnotising fashion, mesmerizing with the gritty wall of sound and cosmic keyboards. When it turns into a more chugging and somewhat mechanic sound around the four-minute mark, it loses a bit of that initial intensity. Admittedly not my favorite part, even though it gives room for a nifty bass solo and some tapping riffs. Luckily, the song returns to form, while the mechanic and otherworldly character makes the parallels with Darkspace once again obvious. The subsequent ‘Krvna Magija’ starts off in a melody-driven manner that is reminiscent of Forteresse, before introducing some chugging parts that once again are maybe not my cup of tea, but fortunately don’t last long. This song is a bit more dynamic in pace, and contains some properly overwhelming sections as well as Folky / Medieval riffs. In particular the extended atmospheric section with guitar solo works well, and is a prelude to one last increase in pace before it all ends. Overall, this second track is the strongest of the two, and presents the most complete combination of all the elements integrated in impressive fashion.
As a whole I think Krvna Majka starts off with a strong self-titled debut EP. While I personally could do without the more chugging parts in the opening song, it adds to a mechanic touch that unifies the influences of early Norwegian Black Metal with more otherworldly Black Metal like Darkspace. However, the more elaborate atmosphere and sophisticated melodies in ‘Krvna Magija’ make it a a far more compelling tracks, where the raw guitar sound and thundering drums, along with the distorted vocals and off-setting keyboards works well to antagonize the melodic components. And for that song alone, Krvna Majka deserves some recognition and attention on their debut, now out Digitally on Prism of Deceit Recordings with physical formats coming somewhere along the way.
