At the moment, the Internet is alive with discussions and blogs with people arguing over what is metal and what isn’t. While some bands divide opinion, Haiduk should not. Haiduk are Metal – there’s no getting around it.
The CD starts off with “Grom”, an instrumental affair that sets up the tone for the whole CD. You can’t help but get the feeling that Haiduk (or, rather the one man behind the music – Luka Milojica) feels that he has nothing to prove. “Grom” (nor any of the other tracks on this release) get up in your face. Nope, they’re much more subtle. Rather shouting the obvious, they prefer to sneak under your skin. It’s a far more organic process and one that provides you with an incredibly rewarding listening experience.
“Entering the Liar” and “Dark Forest Path” continue along the same path and are perfect Black Metal tracks… However, it was with “Siege” that I really started to become impressed. It’s irresistibly mesmerising from start to finish. After that, the quality of the tracks seem to improve ten-fold. It’s not that there was anything wrong with the start of the CD (far from it), it’s just that following “Siege” its as if the other tracks upped their game, knowing that they had a lot more to compete with in order to grab and keep the listener’s attention.
Lyrically, I understand that Haiduk draws a lot of inspiration from folklore and myth. However, don’t be fooled into thinking that this is another of those ‘folk metal’ bands that appear to have infiltrated metal’s collective consciousness over the past few years. Haiduk is a Black Metal band that draws influence from nature and myth. No gimmicks, no fuss – just decent music.
Recommended for fans of Kampfar, Theudho. etc.
Rating: 89%
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