Poland continues to deliver a broad range of bands within black and death metal, as while there are plenty that skew towards more orthodox interpretations of the genre there are also just as many going for something a little different. Mirzam Antidotum ov Marazm skews towards the latter end of the spectrum, as while their instrumentation on debut full-length cc falls somewhere between blast beat driven death metal and second-wave black metal, there are elements to the songwriting that are a little different from the norm and the vocal work injects a little more experimentation into the mix. It’s the type of album that rarely lets up from its attack once you hit play, and while there are a few rough patches along the way this is still a promising start for this fairly young act.
Opener “Kill Him” kicks things off with a short, ominous intro that lets some haunting melodies hang over the air for about twenty seconds or so before the rest of the band comes roaring in with dense riffs and blast beats. The track itself is a quick burst at just under three minutes, but it hits hard in that span with low-end tonality that has the weight of older death metal alongside guitar work that brings more black metal to mind. While the guitar leads may skew a bit more towards second-wave black metal throughout the album, the group does achieve a pretty even split tonality wise between black and death metal which shakes things up a bit more. Songs like “Procjon” also throw a bit more melody into the mix, as the passage around the two-minute mark injects quite a bit more atmosphere that reminds me a bit of melodic death and even some death/doom, but this only lasts for a brief period before the blasting takes back over. The elements Mirzam Antidotum ov Marazm utilizes in their songwriting are pretty familiar by themselves, but the way everything is woven together from one track to the next feels a bit less stereotypical. Sometimes this comes in the form of the aforementioned melodic breaks, while other songs like “Mirzam” vary the rhythms more. It’s not an entirely smooth ride though, as both” Tajemnia” and “Tyś boginią” have some sections where the instruments sound like they’re at odds with each other and things get a little too choppy. The two tracks that run past the seven-minute mark also feel overstretched and some repetition sets in due to the way they are structured, which does dull the impact a bit. But even with these issues ...There Is No Emptiness... had enough meat on its bones to keep me coming back, and with some additional growth and exploration Mirzam Antidotum ov Marazm should be able to build off this foundation to reach some incredible heights.
While the ebb and flow of the instrumentation may draw listeners in with how it continuously pummels them song after song, the vocals are what help to set Mirzam Antidotum ov Marazm apart. Vocalist Magnetar crams a ton of variety into this album, as in the couple minute span of “Kill Him” you’ll hear raspy shrieks, lower growls, and powerful singing/chanting that has a slightly off-kilter feel to it. The best way I can describe the singing is somewhere between the more commanding presence of Bølzer and deranged performance of Aldrahn in bands like Urarv and Dødheimsgard. There’s a consistent intensity to the performance that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it often seemed like each time I thought I’d heard everything Magnetar could do there’d be another slight variation on the next song. A couple of the singing ranges do sound like they’re starting to go off-pitch or collapse in on themselves, but those rougher edges don’t take much away from the overall performance.
Mirzam Antidotum ov Marazm’s debut hits hard with an emphasis on blast beats and raw, jagged tonality that finds that sweet spot between black and death metal. Combine that with the intense and varied vocal performance and you have an album that does provide fans of both styles reasons to dig in further. There are some bumpy patches and a few moments that become repetitive due to their length, but with some further development and expansion of some of the melodic flourishes I could see the group’s sophomore effort being something even more special. ...There Is No Emptiness... is available from Via Nocturna.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg