Year of release: 2019
Label: Duplicate Records
Rating: 7,8 / 10
Frankly, for several months now I have been itching to present this mini-album to you as soon as possible. “Suča maty” almost became one of the last releases of Possession Productions, however, the band decided to choose the Norwegian Duplicate Records, as AURA NOIR and DEATHHAMMER were once released on it. This decision is very easy for me to understand. Although I must say that “Suča maty” could have been an absolutely canonical release for Possession Prods roster.
The history of MERZOTNA POTVORA originates in a project with the equally beautiful name KOZA DEREZA. This project had two demos, and if on the second it played some kind of ambient, then the first contained high-speed dirty thrash metal with surprisingly cool compositions. nfortunately, the miserable semi-computer record and Depressive Illusions as publisher killed the chances of KOZA DEREZA to make even a smallest breakthrough. With MERZOTNA POTOVRA, Oleksa Vypaskudeń, the author of all music, tries to raise the bar. This year, he hired a vocalist nicknamed Sloth Ston and recorded “Suča maty”, and next year, perhaps, the debut album will be released.
“Suča maty” is a delightful example of the harmony of form and content. Under the impressively detailed image of the vile creature on the cover (drawn by Evgen Saukh) furiously swarming even more vile, hungry, spiteful and dirty, like a bitch dog forgotten by it's drunkard owner, Thrash Metal. In principle, the same as on the KOZA DEREZA demo, but now completely lively recorded. It has everything you need - uncontrollable fast & furious riffs and steady drumming rhythms. No advanced rocky bullshit. Disgusting vocals adds to the common piggy bank not even 5 cents, but full-bodied forty hryvnias. This voice reminds me of a heavily-fed version of Legion (ex-MARDUK). The overall sound picture is so sloppy that it doesn’t even seem like a thrash anymore, but like a death grindcore a-la REPULSION, IMPETIGO or my beloved Norwegian band GOUGE. If anything, these are all compliments. However, I cannot but notice that the technical side of the sound is the weak side of the album. When we at Possession received the original master from the band, our opinions diverged. In general, I liked the dull rumbling sound, as if taken from a worn-out cassette tape, but Solemn didn't like the large amount of digital noises. Apparently, the same story came out with a Norwegian publisher, because he sent the recording for remastering to the bass player of MARDUK. After that, the album did not sound better. Clarity, of course, has increased, but now these digital noises are simply impossible to ignore - something constantly crunches in the left channel. Not the biggest trouble, considering the dirtiness of the sound as a whole, but the impression becomes a little blurry. hough, oddly enough, all instrumental parts are quite distinguishable. For example, bass guitar has equal rights with a lead guitar. This gives the sound density.
At the beginning of the review, I said that “Suča maty” could be the canonical release of Possession, and this is why: the album has a very strong flavor, which, for lack of a better word, can be called “village”. Like most of our releases, “Suča maty”, of course, inspired by many things, but the sources are difficult to trace. This is not like any of the world schools of Speed or Thrash Metal, it is something very local and simple, coming straight plow and glass. Although MERZOTNA POTVORA lives in the capital of Ukraine, I believe that the author of the music comes from a more rural place.
The lyrics to the album are just wonderful. Although eternal themes may serve as the basis for them - violence, history (of violence) and war, but the slurring words about "Disgusting creatures have eaten humans" cannot, as they say, leave you indifferent. Countless murders are described in bright colors that adequately complement the musical part. By the way, the entire textual component of the album was originally presented in a variant of the Ukrainian Latin alphabet; to my shame, I admit that at the age of 30 I did not even suspect its existence until I received the “Suča maty” promo. Alas, you will have to get acquainted with the lyrics on Metal-Archives: for some reason it was not added into the booklet. The physical release is quite basic: jewel case, only 4 pages of a booklet with a photograph and a list of credits. The design is good, but still it’s a pity that the texts were not delivered. However, MLP version is on the way - who knows, maybe the publisher will be generous enough to include the lyrics tab. You can take a closer look at the CD edition on a video.
English (UK) 
Крыўская