The first sign of life was only brief. Źmiarćvieły from Belarus started in 2020 and disbanded shortly after this EP. What remains is their only official output, ‘Čornaje połymia’, though material for a full-length is allegedly still on the shelves somewhere, and it certainly isn’t a bad listen.
It delivers raw, simple yet effective Black Metal with a slightly lo-fi edge, which occasionally leans towards Mgła’s contribution to the ‘Crushing the Holy Trinity’ split, combined with some standard Second Wave influences. This is particularly noticeable on the instrumental track ‘III’ on this EP.
All in all, it’s a narrow pass, as it isn’t bad but falls a bit too much into the run-of-the-mill category. It seems the band is active again, so who knows, they might return with a more convincing follow-up.
