Returning from the cold Russian wastes comes Черновство (Chernovstvo) a raw black metal outfit that brings us back to the old days. All of their releases to date all have something in common. Raw, cold, unforgiving, and honoring the ancestors. Armed with runic magic, this latest release is their strongest and cleanest to date. This is coming off the back of their debut release, Порядок, which held onto the old Norwegian 90s black metal sound. While still holding onto that sound, they clean it up a little with this release and present themselves with a bit more of a folk angle this time around. (previous reviews 1, 2)
To push that folk narrative, the opening track is something that the band has not done before, and it’s an acoustic passage. A somber and cold acoustic melody combined with a warrior’s choir, all performed in their native Russian tongue, though I could only assume spin tales of valor, blood, honor, and war. After the foundation has been set, the true bulk of the album emerges. Raw, vitriolic and melodic, the riffs are captivating, dragging you deeper into their runic frenzy. The vocals are equally as cold and hateful, though having a touch of pride as the lyrics touch up on those images of valor and war as mentioned before.
While I feel as though we’ve come to a point in the genre of black metal where much of the purity of the genre and the music has been drifting away to more experimental sounds, Chernovstvo does something “different” by staying traditional. There’s no added frills, synthesizers, makeup, some Halloween-esque theme more suited for power metal here. What you have here is simply raw, unapologetic, pure black metal, which apparently is a lot to ask for in this day and age. Nothing more or nothing less. The beauty of this album lies within its simplicity and focus on the music at hand. You don’t even know what the band looks like and that’s such a huge bonus. Throw in that rustic touch of old Europe and old Slavic traditional symbols, and you got yourself a perfect black metal release.
Chernovstvo has stayed incredibly consistent over the past couple years and have certainly made an impact in the underground. Release after release, they only improve, growing on the foundation they laid down with their first demo back in 2022. If it’s not obvious already, this is a must listen if you’re any sort of fan of black metal. There’s really no disappointment from these guys and I know they’ve quickly become one of my favorite bands of the current era hands down.