This is the third album from Polish black metal/folk metal act Varmia, who have a somewhat unusual line-up. The first three guys are relatively normal in what they provide, with Ćwiara on bass, Emil on drums, and Lasota providing vocals and guitars. It is when we get to Piotr that things take a rather strange turn in that he provides percussion, tagelharpa, goat horn, wood tuba and krivula as well as backing vocals. I admit I had to look a few of those up, and I can inform you that a tagelharpa is a four-stringed bowed lyre but have no idea what a wood tuba is (I presume a tuba made of wood) nor a krivula. I was sure that there was a didgeridoo on here, as well as possibly a conch, but I guess the sounds I attributed to them were made by the ones in the list. BTW, Piotr also provides the album artwork so can work in many mediums.

It is the use of the additional instruments which makes this music stand out, as for the most part this is fairly basic black metal, and unfortunately, we only hear Piotr clearly at certain times. The album is nearly an hour in length and has plenty of style switching within it, and it is when Piotr is more to the fore that they really stand out. However, songs like “Upperan” still feel basic and sticking to a tested style with just a horn over the top. We get some pagan/folk metal harmony vocals at times, but even though this is their third album (and has been widely critically acclaimed it must be said), I get the impression that there is some treading of water here and a band not quite sure where to go next. Personally, I feel they need to use Piotr more throughout, and I see there have been some line-up changes since this was released so it will be interesting to see just how much they push the folk and ethnic themes in the next release. Interesting while not as essential as one might think.

Rating: 7/10

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/varmiaband/
https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/