Wij - Dziwidło
01. Żmij
02. Dziwidło
03. Czarny Lew
04. Czerw
05. W Przymierzu Z Diabłem
06. Wielki Martwy
07. Peperuda
08. Kat
09. Madame
10. Łapacz Snów
11. Tyrania Trupa
Maria (Vocals)
Grzegorz (Guitar)
Miko (Drums)
Something different grabbed my attention, a minimalist heavy metal styled band without a bassist from Poland.
It is suggested that we "imagine the White Stripes if Jack White had learned his blues from Tony Iommi instead of Son House", pretty sure White owed his style to Jeff Beck however I get the point being made.
Wij (pronounced ‘veey’) is the Polish spelling of “Viy”, the title of a supernatural horror story by Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. It is also the Polish word for Myriapod, a centipede-like species which thrives in darkness and lives off decay.
‘Dziwidło’ (pronounced ‘gee-vee-dwoh’), on the other hand, is a monstrous tropical plant called Amorphophallus titanum, common name being the 'corpse flower’.
This is their first full-length release, featuring ten band originals plus a cover of 'In League with Satan' ('W przymierzu z diabłem'), by legends Venom, all produced by Haldor Grunberg known for his work with Behemoth, Dopelord and Moanaa.
Blasting off with 'Zmij' and I do mean "Blasting", one helluva sound is crashing through the speakers, raw, heavy and powerful, the vocals, oh wow, full of screaming power!
The title track is a different beast, dirty proto doom meets some sludge, slow, brooding and the screaming vocal is toned down to some beautiful tones.
After some heavy blues with 'Czerw' comes the utter madness that is 'In League With Satan', a freaky intro and then that drum pattern kicks in, the vocals are crazed, in Polish the words seem even more angry and dare I say 'Venomous', oh and some killer riffing in there as well.
'Wielki-Martwy', another proto doom monster and then with 'Kat' its full on thrash assault and that guitar, at times it sounds like a distorted bass.
For a perfect mix of Doom, Psych and Heavy Metal then crank up 'Lapacz Snów' another superb vocal rings out! And the final song does the same.
To sum up: It may be sung in Polish that makes no difference, the performance is such that it can be enjoyed at full volume!
Rating 9/10
For Fans Of: Lucifer, Pusron, Octopus, The Sabbathian, Cathedral, Electric Wizard, Death Penalty
