PATRIARKH might be a new name for you but Batushka probably isn’t which is what this band was formerly known as before they split into two different warring halves. This story was widely reported on and a bit boring so let’s get into the music instead shall we?
This is a concept album of sorts and ПРОРОК ИЛИЯ (translated as “Prophet Ilja” in English, by the band/label) a true story that happened in the band’s home area of Podlasie, in the village of Grzybowszczyzna, in the 1930s and 40s.
“The album takes the listener into the world of Eliasz Klimowicz, the titular Prophet Ilja, an illiterate peasant who was the leader of the Orthodox Grzybowska Sect, active until the 1960s, cultivating and transmitting the history of the self-proclaimed prophet.”
Opening with traditional instrumentation and spoken word narration before “WIERSZALIN II” takes us away into seven more harrowing chapters of ritualistic Black Metal with choral chanting and traditionally orchestrated epic blackness. It’s a sound like no other, steeped in dark grandeur with its sweeping drama whipping you up into the journey ahead. “WIERSZALIN III” takes us into a heavily augmented chugging mid-paced march with those ever-present mournful male and female choral vocals. This is not as easy listen but it is deeply cinematic and evokes a feeling of an event rather than an album unfurling in your ears. The live show will be incredible I’m sure, taking their already legendary performances to a new level (note of the editor: they have also performed this together with an orchestra). The dynamics at play here are incredibly handled and beautifully produced, making it almost disrespectful to classify it merely as Black Metal, such is the scope and imagination at play here. PATRIARKH apparently used, “an arsenal of folk instruments, such as tagelharpa, mandolin, mandocello, hurdy gurdy and stringed dulcimer, and worked with a symphony orchestra and choirs.” On this album and it shows in the densely detailed compositions. “WIERSZALIN IV” is a folk-tinged searing battle-cry of a track, initially led with beautiful feminine verses before a serrated harsh vocal takes the lead. You genuinely can feel the hardship and struggle leaping from the speakers. “WIERSZALIN V” rears its head on rolling bells before a full blastbeat-laden motherload scorches the earth around it. It’s utterly breathtaking and everything I adore about the Black Metal genre summed up beautifully. Leading vocalist and mastermind ВАРФОЛОМИЕЙ has clearly made a masterwork here and all of the struggles the band has publicly endured should be banished to the past while this music takes centre stage. “WIERSZALIN VI” is what sounds like a Polish Folk song doused in reverb and defiance. The scene has been set for an epic climax and “WIERSZALIN VII” amplifies the drama and suspense as we dive headlong into driving building riffing as we reach the summit of epic blasting fury par excellence. We reach the end of our journey on “WIERSZALIN VIII” and more ominous chiming bells and traditional instrumentation creates a chilling tragic respite before a huge crescendo of earth-shattering chords and choirs ushers us to the climactic headbanging zenith of this breathtaking ride of an album.
This opus is nothing short of magnificent and an essential future classic to my ears. This album will set an extremely high bar for releases in any genre in 2025.
