Band:	Zørza
Album:	Hellven
Style:	Post black metal
Release date:	June 2024
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. Western Forest Rites
02. Night Of The Werewolf
03. Death II
04. Lunacy Of Memories
05. The Crown With Silver Thorns
06. Zørza II
07. Danse Macabre
08. Under The Reign Of Black Moon
09. Journey To The End [Windir cover]

Post-black metal can take you to dark, depressing and mysterious places, and that's exactly the kind of place Zørza intend to take
listeners, to the realm of Hellven.

There's been a surge of post-black metal groups forming in Poland recently, and a few noteworthy acts that have graced the scene include Entropia, ROSK, Hegemone, and Cursebinder; now one of the latest post-black prospects to emerge is Zørza. The band was established in 2022 by duo K. Bartkowiak (bass/backing vocals/songwriting) and E. Lange (guitars/drum programming), who released a debut EP titled IEI the following year. Zørza now returns with vocalist Refur on board, performing as a trio to present their full-length debut Hellven. The post-black subgenre has an outstanding reputation in Poland of late, so surely listeners can expect great things of Zørza's full-length debut effort?

In fairness, calling Hellven the best Polish post-black metal debut album of the year might actually be a long shot, purely because Hauntologist released one stellar record earlier in 2024, but Zørza will certainly give the duo a run for their money. The album's theme is described by the band as a voyage into a forgotten realm suspended between two worlds, a place where you can find things far scarier and more depressing than on the world in which we know. This all begins with a short atmospheric intro titled "Western Forest Rites", which is essentially a dramatic and tense build-up that flows into "Night Of The Werewolf", the main opening song, and one that from songwriting to production reflects the high quality standard of Polish black metal today. Although there's nothing entirely out of the ordinary about this song in terms of structure, it certainly has plenty of passion and an abundance of melody, from mesmerizing post-metal leads overlapping memorably melodic blackened tremolos, to thundering blast beats, passionately performed blackened shrieks, demonically sinister chants, and the sound of howling wolves.

The following song "Death II" is one of two (for me) standout tracks; from its highly memorable tremolo riffs through to the verses, the melodies are at the highest end of the blackened scale, and although the harsh demonic shrieks don't really alter much in range or variety, they certainly cry out with raw passion. This is one of those songs that's simple in structure but just hits that sweet melodic spot. The next standout track (which is arguably even more memorable) is "Under The Reign Of Black Moon", a song that strikes a combination of softer post-metal with ferocious modern black elements. The guitar work here is, again, fairly simple and repetitive, but the main looping riff melody is, yet again, quite simply superb. Other moments that shine are "The Crown With Silver Thorns", which contains some of the album's lightest post-metal instrumentation, but it's the surprisingly outstanding solo partway through that's the real highlight; even if it's short and sweet, you simply can't miss it.

There are a few more surprises up this album's sleeve, the first being an instrumental titled "Danse Macabre". Although nothing mind-blowing, it certainly contains an array of impressive melodies and quality guitar work. The second surprise worth highlighting is "Zørza II", an epic synth-based interlude that features the sound of sharpening swords, acting as a momentary breather before the album continues in its fine form. I also can't go without mentioning the Windir cover, "Journey To The End", which I have to say is a tremendous effort as covers go, acting as a fitting tribute to Windir's late vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Valfar. I openly admit I'm not a fan of covers in general, especially when metal is concerned, but there are occasions where I appreciate what I hear, and this is one of those rare occasions.

Mgła may have been the band to set the benchmark that most modern black metal bands these days choose to follow, but even during their current period of relative inactivity, Polish black metal still continues to thrive, with one quality band after another emerging each year. Although the days of raw traditional trve kvlt black metal aren't entirely forgotten, the genre has also evolved in many directions, just like any genre does, and this is where bands such as Zørza come in. Some listeners may feel that Hellven as a debut doesn't sound all that different from many of the other aforementioned Polish post-black metal groups, but there's clearly something that draws many others (myself included) towards it. Overall, I expect great things going forward from this newly formed trio.