Hopefully you are reading this review having just read my thoughts on the debut demo by Polish Black Metal band Poroniec in my other review. Demo number II from Krakow’s bleak duo was unleashed a year after the first, and once more starts powerfully and also once again uses the piano to great effect, immediately injecting the demo with a sharp dose of melancholy. Not that Poroniec wallow for long in their misery as their forth-right style soon takes a strangle-hold on proceedings through their trademark glacial guitar leads and forth right drumming style, not to mention the in your face shouted/chanted growls from vocalist WrzaaASqn.
Poroniec have opted for a longer offering on their sophomoric demo and I for one welcome the fact that it allowed the band to be far more expansive with both their overall sound and the song-writing creativity. By this point Poroniec have what I would call a signature sound, the beguiling piano play leading into each song, the icy tones from the guitars and the stern, no nonsense drumming style all mark out the bands style as distinctly their own.
In terms of progression from one demo to the next, I’d have to say there is little different between the two, though this is due to the quality being so high right from the bands inception, and like on the opening demo, the production levels on Demo II as well as the creativity and musicianship remain at an impressive level. ‘Demo II’ is once more a fine display of punishingly brutal Black Metal that isn’t averse to letting its more melodic side wander and drift. Two thought provoking and deeply evocative demo releases unleashed, I can only fervently wish that there will be a third. Now, if you have made it to the end of my two Poroniec reviews, please persevere once more to my review of ‘Nie było mnie nigdy’, the debut EP by Ferment, one half of Poroniec. (Marksson)
