VESANIA

I sometimes get scared by how many stereotypes I've developed about music. For instance, I have a deep-seated aversion to metal bands with "feminine" names. For some reason, I immediately expect some saccharine pink melodic tedium with mournful female vocals or something of that sort. But when I heard the opening track, the sour expression on my face -- formed upon reading the band's name -- changed to one of genuine (and quite pleasant) surprise. What can I say, the Poles have surprised me before, and they didn't drop the ball this time either. The foundation of Vesania's music is symphonic black metal -- you get the venom oozing from the record, the anti-Christian aesthetic of the booklet, the galloping high-speed rhythm section, and the buzzing guitar shredding. All of this is generously infused with truly epic symphonicism, and I mean TRULY epic and grand symphonicism, not just sappy keyboard embellishments (for which many purists of true black metal dismiss symphonic black metal as posing and trend-chasing). And although the essence of the musical material is, as we've established, rooted in black metal, it is cloaked in brutal death metal forms -- ferocious and quite low growling, genuinely heavy guitars, a furious rhythm section with pounding double bass drums, and a broad river of power and aggression. Recently it is Poland that has been setting the trends in this combination of styles (just recall DEVILISH IMPRESSIONS, for example), and I hope our Slavic brothers will keep up this fervor and boldness for a long time to come.