Artist: Arzhaabat
Country: Sweden
Label: Cosmic Cause Productions
Formats: Cassette single / Demo tape
Year: 2023
Taking the inhumane working pace of multi-instrumentalist and overall musical wizard MBN in consideration, it might not surprise that he already returns with a follow-up to Arzhaabat’s great ‘Forest Tribes Triumphant’ demo tape, released earlier this year. While this successor clocks in around the same duration of about fifteen minutes it is presented as a “promotional single” for the upcoming full-length album.
But regardless of how you approach it, either as a demo tape, a promo tape or a promotional single, this tape offers one lengthy track that fits perfectly to ‘Forest Tribes Triumphant’, released at the end of March 2023. Still, when comparing it to the previous output, ‘Veligrad Shadows’ sounds even more shrill and sharper in sound, piercing its way through time and space to mid-90’s Norwegian Black Metal. The demo tape reminded a bit of the first Borknagar album, maybe not identical in musical approach, but seemingly sprouting from the same sort of pagan inspired Black Metal with a razor sharp edged guitar tone. The subcutaneous melodies evoke the same sort of pagan feel that the amazing artwork portrays and very well fitting to the historical background of the Veligrad battle. Veligrad, an almost mythical city, was the capital of the ancient great Moravian kingdom of which the exact location remains a mystery to this day. This historical backdrop turns the thirteen-and-a-half-minute track into a true feast for fans of epic and grandiose Black Metal where the pagan hummings and profound melodies make you feel like you’re back in those heroic times.
Like ‘Forest Tribes Triumphant’, this promotional single is not only a welcome change in MBN’s usually rather rough, Punk-inspired and bareboned work, but is above all a fantastic ride in craftful purity and epicism. This promises something for the full album, which I’m sure we won’t have to wait too long for either.
