Year: 2025
Label: Medieval Prophecy Records
Rating: 8 / 10
NIAISNY have finally conceived their first full-length album, and this event certainly requires a more or less thoughtful analysis. And there is something to think about here. As in the case of the recent GHASH debut, “U ciomnych pałotniščach nočy” differs from previous recordings in exactly the way that an album should differ from a demo. The richer dynamics, many arrangements, a quantum leap in sound quality, new ideas. It would seem that this is a recipe for success, but it's not that simple.
First of all, the NIAISNY demos differed from the proper releases only in quality. It's clear that demos in the modern world are used by the bands mostly to find their own sound, but it seemed to me that the band found it almost instantly. After all, "Zastyły miesiac“ and especially ”U zmroku I cieniu śmiarotnym" already had clear characteristics of the band which had decided on a direction. "U zmroku...", I like it more and more each day. It may not be perfect, but it was a solid, monolithic release with a special style. I consider the conditional first track from it to be the quintessence of NIAISNY sound.
Unfortunately, ”U ciomnych pałotniščach nočy" does not have such integrity and stylistic certainty. Despite the fact that the previous record was several times more modest in terms of musical means, it is the new album that turned out to be closer to standard atmospheric metal. The muffled sound of the demo recordings gave them a hazy, mystical aura of mystery. On the album, the sound expanded and became much better, but lost most of its character.
In the compositional aspect, I would say the opposite has happened. It makes no sense to make comparisons with BBH anymore, and if NIAISNY resembles anyone now, it's only HATE FOREST, and even that doesn't happen very often. The first track represents the album very well: it shows how NIAISNY sound in "full-length" quality, and even with keyboards, which make this song a real nocturne. Fast, medium and slow tempo, various guitar solos - the band fills us in with the basic elements. Then, the time for innovations comes. After the instrumental interlude, it turns out that NIAISNY now have clean vocals, which reminds me a legendary folk rock band "Песьняры" (and then there will be more of the very gentle singing). The "nordic" acoustics start sounding more and more often. The keyboards work in different ways and tones, the music fades in and out. Each song breaks a few times by the internal interludes. The guitars go back and forth from the regular tremolost to full-weighed riffs, adorned by the additional lead parts.
It all sounds very diverse. But it doesn't always work. I have repeatedly caught myself thinking that I don't understand how this fragment interacts with the previous one, which was before the interlude. Sometimes it even seems that half of these interludes are used as an adhesive plug that makes the difference between the main parts less obvious. Because there is, for example, a segment at the end of the last track, where the slow part turns into a fast one in a short transit, and it happens in a very sloppy manner. Another interlude would help smooth the transition.
Therefore, in my opinion, the album turned out to be either overloaded or not tight enough. The elements of which it consists do not combine perfectly. I understand that this is a very important record for the band, and the guys wanted to do their best, so they probably overdid it a little. But if you listen to “U ciomnych pałotniščach nočy” primarily with your heart and not with your ears, then the impression will be different. On the level of emotions and imagination, it is truly powerful. The album is characterized by a very specific melancholy, a gloomy sadness that I would call "resolute pessimism". That is, this is not a cry of one's own misfortune, but acceptance of one's own lightless existence and their place among the dark curtains of the night. Because maybe each one of us is a loner, Nonexistent, walking along forest paths, but Krywia is around as, and we're the part of it.
