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LILLA VENEDA
Lilla Veneda

Via Nocturna (2018)
Rating: 9/10

From the underworld of Wrocław in Poland comes an intriguing bunch whose sophomore outing has something of the grandiose about it.

Lilla Veneda – named after a Polish drama written in 1839 by Juliusz Słowacki – have, and rather to my surprise, snuck up on me with what could well be deemed a modern metal masterpiece. I never experienced their 2012 debut album Diagnosis, but I’m forever thankful that this death / black work of great majesty has plopped into my lap.

This a gloriously Gothic recording that boasts ten tracks, grotesquely ornate designs that chug with dark poetic intensity. Lilla Veneda are a band somewhat melodramatic in their slick and rich riffs; the crux of this scowling yet juddering offering being wonderfully orchestrated and churning black rhythms formed by the sturdy rolling guitar waves of Antris.

Opener ‘Divination’ features speed variances and stunning lyrical content as frontman Virian barks, “At the serpents hollow near the Slavic holy lake – Gopło, Twin flower-named sisters, Roza and Lilla, Gather together to discuss the first’s, Vision of the end of Weneds’ tribe”. And what’s clear here with this conceptual outing is the band’s intelligence and their ability to tell a dark tale of tribal conflict and yet encase it within a framework of catchy, fast and also cleverly mid-paced bursts.

The whole record boasts energetic digressions from the norm’ so as to create a vast spectrum of ideas, all contained herein on what is essentially a black metal record daubed in beefy packaging. The guitars surge throughout like lethal oily tentacles, with simmering percussion and stark booms evolving in slick, menacing mantras and spectral glimmers, such as with the slow- threatening glint of ‘Invaders Demeanor’. But throughout, this self-titled work feels like a secluded spot, somewhere near the ruins within the forest – a place moody yet magnetic.

‘The Witch And The Dead’ rumbles in contemporary, well-oiled fashion – the chugging weight steamrolling the audience before the squawking vocal rasps take over in Teutonic fashion. Meanwhile, ‘Serpents Bane’ begins in cinematic fashion and is a gloriously Gothic slice of orchestration threaded with snappy shouts and caustic bass lines. ‘Trickster’ is even deadlier; a deep, booming jolt attacks with thrashy sensibilities before the combo hurtles, full pelt, into a barrage of gnarly speed.

‘Stabat Lilla Dolorosa’, like the rest of the songs here, boasts engrossing and complex lyrical flutters, the whole scenario of some sombreness even with those blackened rattles, while the steady black waterfall of ‘Wheels Of Misfortune’ remains haunting even within that abrasive guitar tone. However, ‘Entropy Blaze’ takes the thorny nature of proceedings even further; this spiky hyper blast being the album’s pivotal track in terms of grandiose yet barbaric presentation.

As the atmospheric yet speedy ‘Martyranny’ runs rampant and closer ‘Chmury’ wraps things up with its melodious ad wiry grey gauze, I can only absorb such a panorama that involves stark storytelling and more often than not perky black metal shards, this one remaining a focused and grand construction that through idea alone is rather outstanding. But to express it through such segments of devilish grace and fluid yet elegiac streaks is astonishing.

There’s nothing primitive or crude about Lilla Veneda. This is very much a modern black metal extravaganza that is potent and cackles with such a brisk pace that one can only bow down to its wicked bluster.

Neil Arnold

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