Zvijer/Pod balkanskim no​ć​nim nebom/Iron, Blood And Death Corporation/2023 EP Re-Issue Review

 

  Zvijer  are  a  band  from  Bosnia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  musical  style  they  describe  as  being  'Balkanian  Barbaric  Black  Metal'  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2021  ep  "Pod  balkanskim  no​ć​nim  nebom"  which  was  re-issued  in  2-23  by  Iron,  Blood  And  Death  Corporation.

  A  very  dark  yet  heavy  sound  starts  off  the  ep  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  on  the  recording  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  Vocals  are  mostly  angry  sounding  black  metal  screams  along  with  the  solos  and  leads  also  being  done  in a   very  melodic  yet  chaotic  style  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast b eats  can  be  heard  which  also  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling.  Melodies  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  guitar  riffing  along  with  a  couple  of  tracks  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  keyboards ,  ethnic  style  instruments  and  clear  vocals  and  chants.

  At  time s the  music  also  gets  very  atmospheric  sounding  which  is  also  very  different  from  the  more  raw  approach  of  previous  releases.  Spoken  word  parts  can  also  be  heard  briefly  as  well  as  some  growls  also  being  utilized  at  times,  one  song  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  acoustic  guitars  and  they  also  bring  in  some  Slayer,  Paraf  and  Siouxsie  And  The  Banshees  covers.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Bosnian  and  cover  Balkan  Folklore,  Death  and  Misanthropy  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Zvier  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  atmospheric,  melodic  and  raw  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  re-issue.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Pod  balkanskim  no​ć​nim  nebom"  "Sin  In  My  Heart"  and  "Prazna  raka  u  grudima".  8  out  of  10.

  https://ironbloodanddeath.bandcamp.com/album/pod-balkanskim-no-nim-nebom

           

Zvijer/Navia (ZadahJalovog Svijeta/Seance Records/2020 CD Review

 

  Zvijer  are  a  band  from  Bosnia  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  a  musical  style  on  this  recording  they  describe  as  being  'Balkanian  Barbaric  Black Metal'  and  this  is  a  review of  their  2020  album  "Navia  (Zadah  Jalovog  Svijeta"  which  will  be  released  in  December  by  Seance  Records.

  A  very  dark  sounding  synth  orientated  intro  starts  off  the  album  while  also  introducing  grim  black  metal  screams  onto  the  recording  before  going  into  a  heavier  direction.  The  riffs  also  add  in  a  lot  of  melody  while  the  faster  sections  of  the  songs  also  add  in  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  raw  feeling.

  Throughout  the  recording  you  can  also  hear  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  while  all  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them.  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  a  couple  of  tracks  also  adding  in  a  small  amount  of  clear  chants  and  vocals.

  Synths  also  return  on  some  of  the  later  songs  along  with  one  track  also  introducing  clean  playing  onto  the  recording.  Some  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  music  also  sounding  more  modern  than  their  previous  release  but  also  retaining  some  of  the  old  school  elements.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Bosnian  and  cover  the  dark  folklore  and  funeral  customs  from  the  Balkan  territories.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Zvijer  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  raw,  melodic  and  sinister  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Moje  Prokletjie"  and  "Ubistvo  Ega".  8  out  of  10.

  https://youtu.be/3N2bo6Vb3cQ

      

Zvijer Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

ZVIJER was created in mid 2013. by Vožd (guitars) and me (vocals). Band is based in Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska/Bosnia. Along one more band from Sarajevo city we are only black metal bands active currently in this shithole of a country.

2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recordings?

That is a sound highly inspired with early Darkthrone albums, black metal from nineties that is in extinction today due to big number of all “orthodox“ “kvlt“ black metal bands and all that modern shits that infested black metal. In our eyes and ears this is how black matel need to sound today. No fancy stuff, just pure raw energy and straight forward attack on listeners ears.

3. Your lyrics cover 'Balkanian dark folklore', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

We are from Balkan region (obviously) so we didn’t wanted to go into some religious/anti-religious themes or similar stuff when we have so rich and big source of inspiration right in front of us. Balkan is full of stories about night, night creatures, vampires and ghouls... and they fit perfectly into our music. We incorporate black metal and Balkanian horror tales in one great unity. Since we were kids we listened stories about vampires, night creatures and ghouls from forests around us, so our interests in this theme going way back in our childhood.

4. I know that the bands name means 'beast' in Serbian, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?

It fits perfectly, at least from our point of view. In Republic of Srpska is practice to call every dreadfully creature from tales (werewolf, vampire,... etc)  simply “beast“. We find that fitting into our circle of interest within band, so we take it for our name, on our native language.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

We didn’t play live with Zvijer, yet.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

There are plans for few selected shows in 2018. to promote our “Vječnost Truleži“ album. We don’t seek to make a tones of shows, it is better to make few selected shows and do them properly, so that we can present our music in high quality performance. Quality over quantity is what we think.

7. The new album was released on 'Werewolf Promotion', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

Album release was delayed few times due the problems with labels who needed to release it on first place. Then Szymon from Werewolf Promotion approached to us with wish to release our album under his label. He offered us reasonable terms for releasing and we accepted it. He honored his part of a deal and he did a great job with release itself.
Also album went out on pro-tape format through the Hungarian label called Iron County Records. Also we had no problems with them either, they made really great job with that release. We are highly satisfied with final results with both formats.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?

It is really good, I must say. Since we coming from shithole and our country is not famous with anything except wars, fans around globe accepted us really well.
We have been accepted really well especially with black metal fans from ex-Yugoslavian countries like Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia... also Germanian and Polish black metal fans showed fine level of supporting our work and finding it interesting.

9. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

My band Sahrana is on-hold currently. I simply have no time for that right now. Vožd working some re-releases with his project 1389. Insanus play live with Black Cult and he is in process of making a new material for his project called Hibernum. I think that Krvolok also put his project Kult Perunov on-hold currently, but I am not sure about that.

10. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

It is impossible to give you a precise answer on this question. We already made some new riffs and lyrics that will be on upcoming materials, but I can’t say anything definite about them ’cause they are all in the process of creation. I think we will keep this approach to black metal, to play it in veins of “glorious nineties“ sound, maybe just to experiment a little bit with production. We play this for our enjoyment on first place and we think that we do not need any changes in the views of music and lyrics of ZVIJER.

11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

That would probably be bands like (early) Impaled Nazarene, (early) Sodom, Beherit, (Russian band) Forest, Moonblood, Root,... etc.
These days I am into Anima Damnata’s album “ Nefarious Seed Grows to Bring Forth Supremacy of the Beast“ that is one hell of an album, pure aggression and energy. Also Tom Wait’s album “ Heartattack and Vine“ is in player along Magma Waves album namely “ .​.​.​and who will take care of you now“.

12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Thank you for your time and interest in band Zvijer.

“When the sky turns black and the sun fails... the Beast will bear the mark of might OVER DEATH ! ! !“

https://www.facebook.com/zvijer.316

zvijer.band@gmail.com

https://www.ironcountyrecords.blogspot.com

http://www.werewolf-promotion.pl


Knjaz

Zvijer/Vjecnost Trulezi/Werewolf Promotion/2017 CD Review

                                                                   

  Zvijer  are  a  band  from  Bosnia  that  plays  a  very  raw  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Vjecnost  Trulezi"  which  was  released  by  Werewolf  Promotion.

  A  very  dark  sounding  intro  starts  off  the  album  along  with  a  small  amount  of  whispers  and  Gregorian  chants  before  going  into  a  very  fast  and  raw  musical  direction  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  tremolo  picking  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  high  pitched  black  metal  screams.

  A  lot  of t he  music  is  very  heavily  rooted  in  the  90's  second  wave  tradition  while  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  as  well  as  the  riffs  also  bringing  in  a  small  amount  of  melody  and  some  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion.

  Zvijer  plays  a  style  of  black  metal  that  is  very  raw,  old school  and  traditional  sounding,  the  production  sounds  very  raw  and  powerful  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  a  mixture  Bosnian  and  English  and  cover  death  and  Balkanian  dark folklore.

  In  my  opinion  Zvijer  are  a  very  great  sounding  raw  and  traditional black  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Heretical  Balkanian  Sabbathism"  "Rural  Watelands"  and  "...From  Black  Womb  Of  Earth".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Zvijer/3540385302