By Monk
From out of the ashes… In the second half of the year just departed, the then incarnation of Polish black metal veterans Batushka took what turned out their final bow, transmogrifying themselves mid-tour into a “new” entity, taking the bold step of releasing new music under a new name while they were in the middle of shedding their former dark cloaks and re-emerging into the black night of a new era, now evinced by the release of this bold “debut” album.
I used the word “bold” in my preceding descriptive, and it certainly is an apt application as ‘Prophet Ilja’ (to give its titular English translation) is a huge concept work, something which in itself is a brave and daring step for a band seeking to shed the baggage of its previous existence and stride forward into a new existence. But, stride forward they do, and with confidence and ambition fulfilled.
Across eight songs, which are perhaps better described as chapters, given the story which they unfold, we are immersed into the world of Eliasz Klimowicz, an illiterate peasant who emerged from the band’s home province of Podlasie in the mid-1930s to found an Orthodox cult known as Grzybowska Sect (after the village of Grzybowszczyzna). The cult’s foundatipon coincided, perhaps ironically, with the rise of the Third Reich, against which Ilja was a major resistor, with his popularity continuing for several decades, his story now rewritten for a modern audience.
The ambition displayed, and delivered, on this opus is massive, in every respect. Combining folk instruments such as the tagelharpa, mandolin, mandocello, hurdy gurdy and stringed dulcimer with a symphony orchestra and multiple choirs, it progresses like a religious procession, drawing you towards its arcane altar of obedient subjugation. Light and shadow dance in around each other as the traditional instruments and symphonics both build and decry the atmosphere, entrancing yet repelling you into and away from the main metallic miens, which in turn embrace and embroil you on every emotional level.
We may be only three days into the new year, but Patriarkh have produced a considered, thoughtful and emphatically declarative album that definitely, and defiantly, sets the benchmark.
- ‘ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ‘ is out now.
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