Year: 2025
Label: self-release
Rating: 7 / 10
CIOMNY DOŁ project was created by a family duo from the Miensk band SYNARAXIA. This band always shown an increased interest in Belarus and its history, but at a certain point, they obviously decided that SYNARAXIA was not the most suitable place for this topic. That's how CIOMNY DOŁ appeared.
The album "Zabytaja karčma" is based entirely on the poems of Janka Kupala and, according to a short press release, tries to embody their contents in the form of Black Metal. It is clear that this statement itself is an oxymoron, since Kupala has never written about Satan, but there is no point in demanding that people who come from industrial rock and Gothic scene understand such subtle matters. It's actually dark metal with a crisp modern sound and diverse songs. If my information is correct, Ślepowron (vocals/ guitar/bass) works in the studio, so everything is fine with the sound here. The entire rich set of effects and trinkets is perfectly integrated into the base material. Keyboards often give music an almost symphonic character. One of the buyers of the album on Bandcamp noted that "Zabytaja karčma" reminds him of WINDIR, and I totally agree. This is exactly that type of metal - atmospheric, and not monotonous, but just the opposite.
Terr (VOX MORTUIS and ZAKLON, drummer) and Daemethar (VOX MORTUIS, WOODLAND HAZE – he performed guest vocals on one of the tracks) helped with the recording of the album. Ślepowron himself sounds competent as a vocalist, but not dynamic enough for such music. "Zabytaja karčma" is a strong album of a medium European level with all the attributes (alas, except perhaps the country of origin) necessary for success among fans of the non-radical underground. It has a vibrant sound, lots of sad segments, lots of cheerful ones, epic keys, easy-to-follow riffs, choruses and verses, etc. It is 100% suitable for someone like Napalm Records , especially considering the fact CIOMNY DOŁ occasionally demonstrates the lack of good taste (an inborn trait of Napalm and their bands): the vocalist shouts “GO!" in the song based on Kupala's verses, and the band also made a horrible video for the song "Rusalka" that you definitely shouldn't watch.
