Year of release: 2017
Label: The Sinister Flame
Rating: 7,8 / 10
I don’t know how many years would have passed before my full acquaintance with the Hungarian Black Metal legend, if not for The Sinister Flame. I listened to a few fragments of ТУМАН works in the pastbut for obvious reasons, I always preferred DUSK, which was signed to my label Possession Productions (Shadow from DUSK has always been a permanent bass player for ТУМАН). But the Finnish label suddenly sent me a CD with an album, attaching a printed press release to it, and therefore the duty obliged me to immediately start listening.
First of all, it should be noted that “Zuhanás” is, in general, not Black Metal. Of course, the satanic beliefs of musicians do not cause doubts - if one day these people suddenly betray themselves, then the Earth will probably descend from its axis and go on an eternal voyage across the endless space. But the album is not about that. ТУМАН's departure from the traditional themes was noticeable even on “The Past is Alive”, and now it finally completed. The press release simply states that the album talks about the state between sleep and reality, and this is true. However, it doesn't say about how deeply and correctly this topic is disclosed. Metal bands rarely write successful lyrics about something like this. Most often, they make some big pile of horse shit the meaning of which is not clear even to the authors themselves. However, ТУМАН are able to reliably describe this feeling of “motionless falling” into infinite blackness, as well as detached thoughts and feelings arising from “hovering” in half-sleeping state. It turned out really dark.
Given the subject matter, it was logical to expect that the music at least partly turn into ambient, become more measured. But it doesn't happened, although in comparison with the predecessor, the sound really changed. “Zuhanás” is similar to the later works of DUSK: it has that characteristic Carpathian sound - foggy (sorry for the pun). With all the intensity, aggression and abundance of blast beats, the music seems to come from somewhere behind a veil. Here the instrumental parts are not so important, only the feeling of the darkness oozing from the damp Carpathian forests is. The vocals also work on the atmosphere, being performed and recorded in a special semi-shouting-half-whispering manner, reminiscent of the voice of a ghost (by the way, I recommend you to read the vocalist's biography, it is really interesting). Therefore, despite the subject matter, there is plenty of very dark energy here. I recommend “Zuhanás” to those who prefer solidity in the albums, not looking for radio hits for their playlists.
The album was released in jewel case with a standard booklet, the design of which fits perfectly into the general outline. The lyrics are in Hungarian and English, which is very convenient. See more details on a video. You can order the CD from The Sinister Flame or find it at Possession - - we took a heap of copies in advance because ТУМАН deserves our total support.
English (UK) 
Крыўская