Ukrainian atmospheric black/death metal band U Kronakh is back with Archaic Dance of Winds, their third full-length, out tomorrow via Archivist Records. Today, we’re excited to bring you the exclusive full album premiere – plus album review.
This is a strange, dizzying dance. Or a moody, atmospheric piece. Either way, it’s an album that sweeps you up in its mysterious world. It’s a long trip, not always interesting, but with some really good music.
It begins with the melancholic riffs of “Black Mountain”, which get heavier as the growled vocals come in, but still keep a distinctive and repeated melody, one you could easily sing along to, but there’s still a sinister undertone to it. Then after those slow, sinister doom metal riffs, a sort of faster, dance-like riff comes in during the middle of the song, followed by a frantic guitar solo and then equally heavy but faster riffs. It’s almost hypnotic. It’s also peculiar and hard to describe, you need time to notice all the elements like details in a complex painting (of a natural scenery or a pagan nature dance, of course).
We get more songs named after natural elements, such as the heavy and dark “The River Called Opir”. Something about the riff and vocals feels a little too similar to the previous track, but I like the song’s catchy, higher guitar melodies. Yet despite the catchiness, there still is a sort of darkness and creepiness underneath.
The river flows into the wild, trying-to-play-as-many-notes-as-possible riff of “To the Lightness Unknown”, which is much more energetic than previous tracks in terms of riffs and vocals, and gets a softer part in the middle, with really pretty melodies. It does feel like walking towards a shiny, unknown place.
Then we go back to the fury of “Night Visions Fade”. This is one is like a mix of the previous songs, with the upbeat melody of “Lightness” and the heavy, sinister undertone of “Black Mountain”. Its distorted, creepy riff around the middle is a great touch, just like the sweet but energetic guitar solo.
It ends with the wild, sinister, and melancholic dance of “About Those Who are Silent Now”, with its heavy drumming, fast riffs, and dark atmosphere. It has some softer, melancholic parts but there still is that repeated, spinning riff in the background. It feels like the perfect conclusion to the strange choreography of this album, because it mixes various ideas used on other songs and it brings those ideas to a climax.
It’s a satisfying conclusion to a very enjoyable album. It can get a little repetitive, and you really need to listen to it many times to notice every good thing in each song. But it sounds so good, it has so many moods and melodies, it feels so dreamy and otherworldly that you’ll really enjoy listening to it as many times as possible. Let it take you through its magical mountains and rivers.
Stream the album exclusively here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5z3uyxvAUSRWNfWQbcvWfF
https://www.instagram.com/u_kronakh
https://www.facebook.com/ukronakh
https://archivist-records.com/
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