Year of release: 2012 / 2016 (this release)
Label: Eastside / Ancestral Terror Records (this release)
Rating: 7/ 10
It is known that DO SKONU band is popular among Bagnik Zine readers, and many of them are even good Varagian’s comrades. However, for a long time this band was one of those cases when you postpone a detailed acquaintance with the discography time after time, expecting ... something. For the first time I listened DO SKONU on a split with NIEZGAL, then witnessed several live performances. I liked everything, but I did not want additives. But after the band’s performance at the Martial Winter in Minsk, I received three CDs as a gift from Varagian. And it was a sign that there was no place to retreat further — I must listen to DO SKONU now.
"Cold Streams of Death" is the second album of DO SKONU on which the modern leisurely-hypnotic style of the group is not yet fully formed. The album is replete with high-speed fragments, which, frankly, is not easy to call successful. The burzumish sound of guitars at high speeds turns into something mushy, and only in some places the situation is corrected by additional elements, or composer talent takes over. On the other hand, slow and mid-paced segments are totally good, and it is obvious from them why the group decided to move in this direction in the future. When the music slows down, DO SKONU begins to sound catchy, dark, ominous, genuinely ritualistic. At these moments, the serpentine essence of the group manifests itself, though not as clearly as in the lyrics. The lyrics are the strongest side of the album. They are both poetic, and eloquent, and understandable, as well as cool and poisonous, like the serpentine avatar of Satan, who has been dwelling in foul swamps since ancient times. Where the album is not reaching it's peak, the lyrics give it a helping hand.
Reissue from the rather modest Chilean label Ancestral Terror Records offers a good design of a booklet-poster with English versions of the lyrics. The first version from Eastside looked a bit richer - all these photos of forests and so on - but, in my opinion, more radical Chilean design fits better with the concept of the album. As usual, see more details on a video.
English (UK) 
Крыўская