For their first full-length, Polish black metallers Lęk bring forth a malevolently melodic blast with Swedish occult sensibilities. Just because these guys are from Poland shouldn’t take away from the fact that this is intense riffing which salutes the finest traditions of Dissection and Arckanum as well as incorporating the grainy grimness of non-Swedes like Gorgoroth. There is something extremely likeable about Lęk’s take on black metal. Perhaps it’s that through sheer sinister venom and a wholesome disregard for production finesse they manage to sound original in their own right even though, like much black metal these days, it still lives under the starless shadow of everything that has gone before. Or perhaps it’s that those riffs are managing to touch upon the spell-weaving occult message of their Scandinavian forebears while also still sounding deceptively simple and enjoyable from the first listen.
Either way, whatever spark Lęk has created on Sweven definitely has combustible tendencies. You’d need to be a serious connoisseur of the South Poland’s black metal scene to have picked up on these guys before this – their only previous release was a two track demo released a couple of years ago and reproduced here among new tracks. So it’s not surprising to see them landing with emerging Polish underground label Wolfspell Records who have already been collaborating with a few interesting bands (including a compilation from the very non-Polish Hermóðr from… you guessed it, Sweden). The message in the lyrics is pretty straightforwardly anti-god and anti-religious with a strong hint of some darker otherworld spirituality to explore beyond all those clerical untruths. All that along with those sweetly serrated riffs, solid back bone of drums from the excellent Oscar and the occasional drifting guitar solos that make tracks like In The Wintry Coldest Night and Armageddon shine and others, like the title track, drain the light back away into the firmament.
Even just as a collection of tracks this is eminently recommendable even though it felt to me there were a couple of moments where things slipped down a gear (such as Femme Fatale). But as the band develops its own style even at this early stage I feel like its well within the grasp of Lęk to produce something truly stunning in the not too distant future even if at this stage their black sword is still in its upward swing. Definitely worth a look and, with hooks a plenty, one that has every opportunity to creep its way up the rankings and under your skin as the year goes by.
(7.5/10 Reverend Darkstanley)
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