Band – Truchło Strzygi
Album – Gwiezdny Demon
Country of Origin – Poland
Genre – Black Metal/Punk/Thrash
Release Date – April 22, 2022
Label – Godz ov War Production
Author – Rz
It’s Hellhammer! It’s Celtic Frost! It’s Venom! No! It’s Polish Blackened Punk sensations Truchło Strzygi!! Truchło Strzygi returns with their second full length, Gwiezdny Demon, out April 22 on Godz ov War Production. I must say right off the bat, this album is super fun and energetic. It’s the perfect combination of punk and black metal with other little tidbits of influences thrown in. Let’s get into it!
The album’s opener, “Strumień świadomości”, is a mid paced, building track ending with some cool traditional heavy metal gang vocals. Really sets the mood for the album, old school and fun. Truchło Strzygi really don’t hide their influences, but they do a great job of mixing and melding genres and themes. “Ostatnie tchnienie Nosferatu” sounds like a Mayhem track in the beginning before it dives into the meat of the song, which hits like a Carnivore tune, specifically “Ground Zero Brooklyn”.
Truchło Strzygi was initially a hard sell for me, their first album, which I thought was very good, didn’t quite hit the mark of mixing black metal with thrash and punk. Gwiezdny Demon absolutely slams that mark. Every minute of this album, from song writing to production to the overall aesthetic screams 80s without being derivative or corny. I love the production here, the guitars are super old school sounding, not too trebly, not too bassy. And speaking of the bass, it cuts through very nicely without being overbearing. The albums closer, “Planeta Astrid” even has a few synth passages that really immerse the listener in a dystopian punk Blade Runner type future.
The vocals are awesome. Super diverse, from the folky clean vocals on “Zagłada” to the more aggressive and harsh thrash vocals present on “A.C.D.C.” Wiltold’s vocals are super expressive and varied. Each vocal line could come complete with clean vocals, screams, yells, whatever really and it sounds good every time. Not really a dull moment in the vocals.
All in all, I think this album is very good. It’s fun to listen to, to workout to, to really do anything to. It’s very nostalgic sounding without being gimmicky and it keeps the listener engaged for its entire 30 minute run time. Highly recommend this one to anyone who is up and up on the Polish scene right now, and fans of Filth of Mankind, or old school thrash or black metal and are looking for a modern take on a classic sound.
Biography: Rz is the main musician behind New Jersey atmospheric black/doom band Varanak. He formally ran the (now defunct) Iron and Doom music review page Instagram. Aside from writing music and reviews, Rz enjoys finding new music across all genres, working out, exploring the culinary world.
