Metal Storm logo
Patriarkh - Пpopoк Илия review



Reviewer:
8.1

111 users:
7.08
Band: Patriarkh
Album: Пpopoк Илия
Style: Black metal
Release date: January 03, 2025
A review by: ScreamingSteelUS


01. Вepшaлин I
02. Вepшaлин II
03. Вepшaлин III
04. Вepшaлин IV
05. Вepшaлин V
06. Вepшaлин VI
07. Вepшaлин VII
08. Вepшaлин VIII

The courts finally had their say: the name “Batushka” belongs to Krzysztof Drabikowski. But a sound once explored is opened to the world, and Bartłomiej Krysiuk cannot hand over his voice: Patriarkh continues in a similar vein, even under a different name, though not altogether as expected.

Questions now must arise as to whether Пpopoк Илия ought to be considered the debut of Patriarkh or that distinction should retroactively be applied to Hospodi – does Krysiuk’s court-mandated forfeiture of the Batushka name extend to already-released material? Even if it does, does the fact that Hospodi’s original release came under the Batushka banner prevent it from being considered a true debut? I don’t know. Surely there is somebody in Poland who gets paid to figure these things out. It’s somewhat immaterial to our approach to this album, however, for regardless of the legal particulars, Пpopoк Илия marks the fourth time that someone Batushka-related has released an album of black metal that incorporates the features of Eastern Orthodox liturgical music, and certain expectations now exist as to how (and how successfully) that should be accomplished.

Before investigating Пpopoк Илия, it must be admitted that Hospodi was not a bad album. I suspect that a lot of the animosity toward Hospodi was motivated by listeners’ feelings toward Krysiuk rather than the actual quality of the album – when the first new music post-Litourgiya was announced, the dispute was an active war zone and we were having to figure out on a daily basis which “Batushka” we were getting updates from. But even when the swords were crossing right over our heads, the criticisms of Hospodi never seemed fully justified to me, reflective of a dislike for Bart’s usurpation of the Batushka name rather than a complete and abject failure on his part to deliver any listenable music. I’m sympathetic to the intentions; it was clear pretty early on just how much this was Drabikowski’s baby, and although it’s important to recognize that none of us understands the full situation and can truly say to what extent one party wronged the other, the recent judicial rulings support the already obvious conclusion that this was not Krysiuk’s band to co-opt. I still feel less warmly toward Metal Blade for their handling of the situation – it was dishonest to promote new Batushka music and even put them on tour without revealing to people which Batushka was being promoted or even acknowledging the situation in the first place. And I’m still somewhat skeptical of Patriarkh on a personal level, simply because of the sour aftertaste left by that whole debacle. But in spite of all that, Hospodi was, on its own merits, a solid release, very well-performed and fairly well-written, and I was curious to see how Krysiuk's next steps would reflect the change in status quo – musically and personally – now that the Great Schism has apparently drawn to a close.

Six years on, the Hospodi lineup persists: not just Krysiuk, but several backing vocalists creating a fuller choir effect, and an entire band to replace the maestro Drabikowski for a somewhat livelier sound. Patriarkh expands its personnel even further: the band is joined by two women, Eliza Sacharczuk and A. Strug, who provide both lead and backing vocals throughout the album, most prominently “Wierszalin III” and “Wierszalin IV”. The expanded vocal palette, now encompassing the dulcet intonations of at least half a dozen people and frequent spoken-word interludes from various narrators, not only gives Пpopoк Илия greater textural variety than the previous albums, but creates the impression of an entire village gathering to relate these tales, now that the somber choruses are composed of multiple distinct voices and each song is able to rotate through discrete phases of vocals. While the basic conceit of religious theming in both sound and aesthetic still ties Patriarkh to its roots, the added flavors of other voices, and the way the music changes to incorporate them, suggest a possible new identity for Patriarkh, a more folk-heavy direction. The difference may, in fact, be a little too pronounced – with so many new voices taking such prominent roles, Krysiuk himself can be subsumed into a larger whole, leaving less time for the beautifully toned chants that first brought him to prominence. This is more a curious footnote than something that actually detracts from the listening experience, however; he of course remains a commanding presence, with harsh as well as clean singing, and the variety signals necessary growth into another sound with few practitioners.

The instrumental arsenal has swelled as well; while black metal remains a foundational component of Patriarkh, showing more recognition of the tense riffing styles and austere melodies of the Polish black metal scene than past incarnations, an array of traditional instrumentation now makes its way into the fold. All we’re given for description is “folk instruments”, but some type of lute-family instrument, jaw harp, bowed strings, hand percussion, and drone are in evidence, often utilized absent any electric components for some pure neofolk. Rather heady and mesmeric neofolk at that – minimalist passages of transitional atmosphere surfaced in the Batushka sound, but the sheer depth of the vocal layers and new instrumentation on this album make those portions feel more engaging and even more intentional, to the point that I’ve found myself enjoying this album as a primarily atmospheric experience. Now the ambience is as fully written and incorporated as the metal portions, and sometimes into the metal portions, with great builds as in “Wierszalin IV” where a union of the band’s concepts may be observed.

Not just black metal predominates therein, but also doom; Hospodi took more explicit cues from classic blackened/gothic doom than Litourgiya, and now Пpopoк Илия turns those overtures toward a slower, grander, more magisterial type of doom. “Wierszalin III” providing a particularly good example of this with its muted, hymn-like chorus, an album highlight. The eight-minute closer, “Wierszalin VIII”, takes Patriarkh to less anticipated realms: in a lengthy march to the finale, the song builds off a really slack, high-gain riff that’s so deep and distorted that it goes beyond the abnormal low end of Litourgiya and into a facsimile of djent. It’s probably more a fluke than anything else, certainly nowhere I expect Patriarkh to explore further, but it’s a successful venture.

This album does a lot right, from the songwriting to the production to the overall approach. Frankly, I think I’ll need more dust to settle and more things to be clarified before I’m ready to become fully enthusiastic about this project – for example, Spotify currently lists Litourgiya as a Patriarkh album and Bart’s Bandcamp still sells it, and I want to know what’s up with that. Several years’ worth of shady moves leaves an impression that one good album can’t quite overpower. Nonetheless, even if it’s always going to be a little bit weird knowing how we got to the existence of Patriarkh in the first place and how much this still owes to Drabikowski in the end, Пpopoк Илия is a strong movement toward establishing a more distinct identity for the Krysiuk version. Perhaps the change of name will eventually allow for a convincing separation of these projects after all.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Production: 8





Written on 23.01.2025 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.


Comments

Comments: 8   Visited by: 123 users
23.01.2025 - 22:11
Rating: 7
no one
Very indepth review cheers.
----
Unable to connect to the database
Loading...
24.01.2025 - 09:47
Fallen Ghost
Craft Beer Geek
Good review! Usually I don't let the people behind a project color what I think of it, but this may be an exception. Will probably be a hard pass as they actually blocked me from seeing their FB page Also thei name change is cringy; means the exact same as the original name
Loading...
24.01.2025 - 13:27
Rating: 8
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Admin
Written by Fallen Ghost on 24.01.2025 at 09:47

Usually I don't let the people behind a project color what I think of it, but this may be an exception. Will probably be a hard pass as they actually blocked me from seeing their FB page

Lol, that would probably have some influence over how I viewed a band. How did you manage that?

I didn't exactly want to do the same thing I did for Wintersun and spend a huge amount of time talking about the controversy before ever getting to the actual music, but yeah, of all bands, I think Batushka... Patriarkh... etc. needs a bit of background.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
24.01.2025 - 14:37
Fallen Ghost
Craft Beer Geek
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 24.01.2025 at 13:27

Written by Fallen Ghost on 24.01.2025 at 09:47

Usually I don't let the people behind a project color what I think of it, but this may be an exception. Will probably be a hard pass as they actually blocked me from seeing their FB page

Lol, that would probably have some influence over how I viewed a band. How did you manage that?

I didn't exactly want to do the same thing I did for Wintersun and spend a huge amount of time talking about the controversy before ever getting to the actual music, but yeah, of all bands, I think Batushka... Patriarkh... etc. needs a bit of background.

I believe they posted a statement that the name rights was not settled yet, with some court documents, and I wrote something like "Missed opportunity to take the name Faketushka" or something.. So yeah, the ban was probably justified But I still think it's shady when bands are blocking users over comments like that, like they intend to hide something
Loading...
25.01.2025 - 20:48
Rating: 8
RoyBoy432
Dr. Quark
Can someone remind me--- Does all that make this the good Batushka or evil Batushka? By which I mean, "good" Batushka being the one with the original founder. I think this is "good" Batushka... right?
Loading...
25.01.2025 - 21:19
Rating: 8
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
Admin
Written by RoyBoy432 on 25.01.2025 at 20:48

Can someone remind me--- Does all that make this the good Batushka or evil Batushka? By which I mean, "good" Batushka being the one with the original founder. I think this is "good" Batushka... right?

This is the version with the vocalist who split and tried to take the name with him (Krysiuk); the original founder (Drabikowski) was awarded the rights to the name, so he's still working as Batushka, although as far as I know he hasn't released new music since Panihida in 2019.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
25.01.2025 - 22:04
Rating: 8
RoyBoy432
Dr. Quark
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 25.01.2025 at 21:19

This is the version with the vocalist who split and tried to take the name with him (Krysiuk); the original founder (Drabikowski) was awarded the rights to the name, so he's still working as Batushka, although as far as I know he hasn't released new music since Panihida in 2019.

THANK YOU.

I appreciate the explanation very much. I forgot or didn't know that there are 4 bands in total pertaining to Batushka on this site. Your reference to Panihia by Krzysztof Drabikowski's Батюшка was the missing puzzle piece that has helped this finally make sense to me.

It also means I was wrong. By my original criteria, Patriarkh is the 'evil Batushka'.
Loading...
26.01.2025 - 20:01
A Real Mönkey
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 25.01.2025 at 21:19

Written by RoyBoy432 on 25.01.2025 at 20:48

Can someone remind me--- Does all that make this the good Batushka or evil Batushka? By which I mean, "good" Batushka being the one with the original founder. I think this is "good" Batushka... right?

This is the version with the vocalist who split and tried to take the name with him (Krysiuk); the original founder (Drabikowski) was awarded the rights to the name, so he's still working as Batushka, although as far as I know he hasn't released new music since Panihida in 2019.

Written by RoyBoy432 on 25.01.2025 at 22:04

THANK YOU.

I appreciate the explanation very much. I forgot or didn't know that there are 4 bands in total pertaining to Batushka on this site. Your reference to Panihia by Krzysztof Drabikowski's Батюшка was the missing puzzle piece that has helped this finally make sense to me.

It also means I was wrong. By my original criteria, Patriarkh is the 'evil Batushka'.

----
Need a break from headbanging? Restore your street cred by visiting my hip-hop list!

Tha Swagnum Opus: A Selection Of Hip-Hop For The Curious Metalhead
Loading...

Hits total: 1758 | This month: 180