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Bartłomiej Krysiuk's Batushka - Hospodi review



Reviewer:
7.2

148 users:
5.3
Band: Bartłomiej Krysiuk's Batushka
Album: Hospodi
Style: Black metal
Release date: July 12, 2019
A review by: ScreamingSteelUS


01. Wozglas
02. Dziewiatyj Czas
03. Wieczernia
04. Powieczerje
05. Polunosznica
06. Utrenia
07. Pierwyj Czas
08. Tretij Czas
09. Szestoj Czas
10. Liturgiya

After Krzysztof Drabikowski’s Panihida met with modest success, all eyes were fixed on Bartłomiej Krysiuk's Batushka, evidently under the impression that one party releasing a better album than the other would result in a more substantial legal right to use the band name. As a general rule, it is fortunate that courts do not operate in this way – we have been wise to leave to them the battle of arrogation. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing curious about the comparison between the two Batushka offshoots.

While Krysiuk is not the multi-instrumentalist that Drabikowski is, he does possess perhaps the most irreplicable part of the original Batushka’s sound: the voice. Drabikowski managed well enough on his own for the release of Panihida, but Krysiuk is quite clearly the better-trained and more experienced vocalist, and his entrancing chants account for a significant portion of the Orthodox aesthetic. His powerful resonance on its own can carry a song. For Hospodi, he also recruited multiple backing vocalists, as well as a full band – there is much more depth in the sound of Hospodi than in Panihida vocally and instrumentally. Hospodi’s production is louder and rawer, more in line with modern black metal, and as a rule it feels heavier and more grandiose than its counterpart.

Yet Hospodi also strays from the Orthodox aesthetic more frequently, incorporating its religious elements less fluidly and less determinedly. Krysiuk’s own songwriting (or that of whomever was in charge here) echoes more conventional metal genres, making Hospodi closer to the melodic, highly polished doom-black of Katatonia or late Woods Of Ypres than to the mystical rapture of Litourgiya. It’s good on its own merits, but feels saddled by repetitive vocal lines and a nominal devotion to the Batushka idea that doesn’t feel as genuine. It should also be noted that Krysiuk evidently does not know Old Church Slavonic, the language of Litourgiya (and, before that, the liturgy), which may explain why it often sounds as though his clean vocals involve basically saying the word hospodi over and over again.

In this respect, Hospodi is less satisfying than both Litourgiya and Panihida, for it attempts to retain the gimmick while leaving behind some of the authenticity in the aesthetic and some of the uniqueness in the songwriting. Amongst the three, this is possibly the least original, for it mostly aims to hit more recognizable black metal. This in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing – Hospodi is generally successful wherever it turns, whether to the ripping and punky black metal or the doomy and deathly black metal. The full-band sound does the album a lot of favors, so if nothing else, this is a very solid and professional black metal album with some enjoyable songs. However, it does seem to struggle as a "Batushka" album, and I will admit that I am not eager to view it as one anyway, given the circumstances. Hospodi is a fine album, but this band’s evolution into Patriarkh seems to be a positive change for a variety of reasons.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 9
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 7
Production: 8





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



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