Merzotna Potvora — Halas Z Pekla (2020)

Kyiv-based black/thrash metal band Merzotna Potvora released their long-awaited full-length album "Halas Z Pekla". Here we discuss why it is worth listening to. 

Two years have passed since the release of the debut EP "Suča Maty" by the duo Merzotna Potvora, during which the band members did not disappear from the radar not for a second, releasing their single "Domovyk", recording the "New Barbarians" track in English for the split "JapanUkraine Devil's Worshipers" with legendary Japanese Abigail (you can also check that track in "Robustfellow Sampler 2020"), presenting a split album "Obscure Connections" with four bands, where Merzotna Potvora was joined by Orgia Nuclear (Brazil), Krucificadores (Croatia) and Warwar (Ukraine); Oleksiy Pominchuk, responsible for all instruments in the band, initiated a collection release "Metal Punk Death Squad: Ukrainian Edition", in which, besides Merzotna Potvora, you can also find Prah, a black metal project by their vocalist – Konstantin Orel, which also released an EP in 2020. Quite a busy band! Merzotna Potvora will always prefer working on music to the parties.

And thank them for this choice. On the debut album, we find the same speed metal / first wave black metal with usual raw sound, because Oleksiy Pominchuk recorded all instruments at his home studio and he also did the mixing. But "raw" by no means is a bad word for such metal, songs about ghouls, house demons, hell and savages should not sound polished, it is a high-speed blackened metal punk after all, not a horror punk or a psychobilly.

The atmosphere created by Merzotna Potvora is a traditional Ukrainian tavern where devils, monks, highway robbers and other wicked people drink sivukha (Slavic hard liquor, opaque homemade vodka – ed.) together, while eating the girls with their eyes, but one misstep and, without a doubt, they will grab the knives and stab each other in the throats. One bad joke, step on someone's foot, or, God forbid, spill the contents of someone else's mug and you are done. Have fun, but understand that in such an environment, something can always go south really quick.

"Pjanstvo, vbyvstva ta znevaha
Dvoŕanynam — tiľky strata
Chorobrisť žyvyťśa vynom
Jednisť skuta zolotom"
Banda Oleksy/Oleksa’s Gang

In general, lyrically Merzotna Potvora mixes creepy stories in the spirit of Ukrainian folklore and the canonical message of the genre "No Gods, no Masters." Musically, everything is quite straightforward, speed is in the first place, the vocals are like a roar from hell, and guitar solos are more sinister and charging than technical or virtuoso. This is rock'n'roll, music that you can't take too seriously, no matter how much you love it, because otherwise the spark is lost. Merzotna Potvora play so hard that not just sparks fly – metal burns!

"Metal palaje u našych serćach
Svitlom vohńu vkazuje šl’ach
Metl teče z vust u vusta
Rozpal’uj metal — će naše žhytt’a"
Metal Palaje/ Metal Ablaze

The album closure consists of two cover versions: 1) "Misto Prokl'att'a / City Of Damnation" – a cover of the track from the debut album of the old-school Canadian speed / thrash metal band Razor, the text of which was translated into Ukrainian and 2) almost a cover of themselves, namely, the Koza Dereza project, which preceded Merzotna Potvora with the track "Černeć". Both covers are made with love, do not stand out like a sore thumb among other tracks, do not feel like bonus tracks that were thrown into the album "just in case". Be sure to appreciate the originals and compare, the work is done extremely well.

Why do I love Merzotna Potvora? First and foremost, I really like that the band's name and their material fit together perfectly, I like how the band works with the language, I like DIY ethics and sound, I like hard work, well, I just love to open a bottle of ice cold beer and drink it to the devil's speed metal and Merzotna Potvora is one of my go-to bands for such leisure.

Why don't I like Merzotna Potvora? Because this is a studio project and I can't imagine myself in the aforementioned pub with devils, monks, highway robbers and other evil spirits singing along to my favorite tracks live. But, what can you do… The Norwegian label supports, and so do the Ukrainian listeners, so I hope more nasty and ugly things by these two await us in the future.

The opinions expressed in the reviews convey the views of the authors themselves and do not necessarily reflect the position of Neformat.com.ua

Merzotna Potvora on social media:

https://merzotnapotvora.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MerzotnaPotvora/
https://www.instagram.com/merzotnapotvora/