Year: 2024
Label: Заиндевевшая Рябина
Rating: 4,1 / 10
In the distant past, when the WotanJugend movement was not yet a prohibited business, very popular among young people, a post by a certain young lady was published on its official Vkontakte page, where she thoroughly explained why young NS bands need to do something of their own instead of cloning BBH. Short version: because they will fail anyway.
But few people have heard these wise words. Therefore, for example, today we are dealing with another group, which obviously really wants to at least stand on the bottom step of the Blaze Birth Hall. However, SLAVIC FRONT is very far from that yet. Before I start slinging shit, I just want to emphasize that SLAVIC FRONT has an excuse: the band, as I understand it, is very young in every sense, and therefore they do not see their many flaws behind their zeal. Most likely, in 5-6 years, the guys will either grow up and reconsider their approach, or they will start playing something entirely different and pretend that SLAVIC FRONT never existed. But at the moment we have what we have.
To sum up everything that is wrong with SLAVIC FRONT, you can use one sentence: this band is 20 years late. Even if you don't read the interview with the participants, you can immediately say that the guys were inspired by the activities of The Pagan Front, the works of BRANIKALD and FOREST (they also recall Roman Saenko, but I didn't hear his influence in their music), and by all those complicated conceptions of "spiritual NS" that I also share to some extent. In the mid-2000s and even in the early 2010s, this would have been understandable. But not in 2025, when it's completely obvious that The Pagan Front, to put it mildly, was not as formidable a force as it pretented to be, and the idea of (pan)Slavism discredited itself a thousand times (and simply does stick to slavic-speaking peoples to the East from Poland because of its obvious artificiality). SLAVIC FRONT addresses concepts that have long proved to be unviable. And let's be honest: "SLAVIC FRONT“ is an idiotic name, especially in today's socio–political climate (but I give it my due: the band does not mention ”political" topics or even the racial issue anywhere - which, in my opinion, is the correct approach). This name reminds me of Brazilians who invent big names like "ARMORED PANZER DIVISION SONNENRAD 666", and then it turns out that the “division" consists of a 40-kilo teenager with a shitty guitar and a laptop. SLAVIC FRONT has two members, and they seem to be pretty strong physically, but that doesn't change a thing. What front, really? Such a name implies the existence of some kind of social movement, but it is clear that there is no movement and there will not be. Their earlier name WIKING sounded better and more appropriate.
Another problem with SLAVIC FRONT is that even in music they follow in the footsteps of the bands that were part of The Pagan Front. And I'm not talking about ABSURD or KRISTALLNACHT, but, for example, about WINETA, ULFHETHNAR and PANZERGREIF. If you've listened to the cult compilations "The Night and the Fog", then you should remember that there were a lot of recordings made by who knows how and for what, with a nightmarish drum machine, unintelligible vocals, and all this lowest-tier madness supposedly was compensated by the outstanding idealism of the creators. SLAVIC FRONT tried a little more, but they have the same “vibes". A horrible drum machine is pounding here, the vocals go as if through a pillow, the guitar is recorded with all the dirt and noises, the sound trembles and floats, there is no synchronization of the parts at all... It's too much even for my ear. Recording your stuff like that in 2020s is unacceptable, since even the samples in modern musical shareware sound better. The sound in each track is different - probably, the material was recorded at different times. It would be possible to give it a break if it was a demo, but the release is presented as a mini-album.
Still, behind all the sloppiness and rawness, there is still some music. Of the five tracks, in fact, only two are full-fledged songs, and the first of them boasts a good riff in the style of late NITBERG, and the second will remind you of the famous VEIL. I turned on the new album "Голос Штормов" which contains the same songs, only recorded 3 times better, and it shows that SLAVIC FRONT really has a certain talent. However, the performance still has a lot of place for improvement. SLAVIC FRONT are too quick, releasing two albums and two EP's in 2 years of existence. First of all, they would need to learn how to play smoothly and make a normal recording. After all, such a performance as on "Искрами алмазных граней" can ruin even the most talented music.
he physical edition of "Искрами алмазных граней" is really rich. In addition to the usual J-card, there is an additional one, which contains all the lyrics (of course, in the high "scaldic" style!) and a pretty detailed interview with the musicians. Plus a sticker. Details on a video. In fact, this is a great way to support a young band: a release and a promo in one package. It's just a pity that the musical material doesn't deserve such honor. At the moment, SLAVIC FRONT is not capable of leaving any kind of trail on the scene. To do this, it's best for them to sit tight for at least a year and work, work, work primarily on the technical component of their sound rather than devalue their discography with underbaked releases at such an early stage.
English (UK) 
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