Artist: Krolok
Country: Slovakia
Label: Osmose Productions
Formats: LP / CD
Year: 2025
The anticipating buzz of the crowd, the rising sound of the timpani and horns: there is no doubt that ‘Path To The Haunted Ruins’ is not in fact a new Krolok album but a live recording. Krolok spent the years since its latest album ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’ playing a few select live shows, and in September 2023 they played in their home town of Bratislava where ‘Path To The Haunted Ruins’ was recorded.
To me, live albums stand by two things: the tracklist, and the sound. To start off with the first, the band’s first album ‘Flying Above Ancient Ruins’ slightly edges out the win with three tracks: the title track, ‘At the End of a new Age’ and ‘Hunger of her Eyes’. While the band essentially can pull from essentially a flawless discography, it’s hard to argue that this selection counts among the best tracks on that debut: a perfect mix of Darkthrone, old Satyricon and Master’s Hammer. And the same can be said for the two following tracks, both off ‘Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky’. That ‘Unveiled Subterranean Treasures’ follows the three older tracks once again highlights that the band really found their style already from their very first moments and both albums are seamlessly connected. ‘Towards the Duskportals’ was already previewed before the release of that album for a good reason, and make for a great complement to the show. The live set is then finished off with ‘Your Soul is Mine!’, previously only released as a self-released 7” EP until Osmose Productions recently repressed it. An upbeat song with a catchy chanting of the song title, it makes for a great live song and altogether highlights a splendid choice of tracks.
And then the second aspect, the sound. Obivously a live recording shouldn’t sound the same as the record, but we can be very brief about the sound on ‘Path to the Haunted Ruins’: it’s simply excellent. A bit rawer than the record, but with every single instrument clearly audible, even the bass and keyboards. The recording is full of atmosphere and energy, both from the band, the music and the crowd. Clear is that this an underground show, only for the devotees of the Black Metal genre. But make no mistake, this is not just a release for those that were there, it makes you wish you were there. The sound quality and tracklist make for an excellent addition to any Krolok collection and in my opinion a perfect warm-up for ‘Hričov-Súľov-Lietava’, the impending new album by the band.
