The Russian maniacs return again, bringing us their latest release roughly translated into English, “Beyond the Sky Without Stars”. The band picks up from where they left off on their previous release, continuing with their raw punk-like output that blends well with their black metal sound. They continue to keep things primal and simplistic, though it feels a bit more grounded as opposed to their more ethereal and noisy approach with the first album.
Jumping right into it, the screeching feedback of guitars assault your senses as the band then proceeds into their melodic berserker romp. Sporting scrappy punk riffs, war-like blast beats and animalistic vocals, they keep their sound tight and crisp, sporting for a cleaner less noisy production when compared to their last album. Personally, I preferred the more raw sound the first album had, as this release feels a bit more safe with it’s more traditional black metal sound. All in all, musically the band didn’t change all that much from their first release but they don’t really have to change their formula, as their expert blending of black metal and punk suits their sound and truly sets them apart from the raw underground.
The lyrics are deep and captivating, even after rough a translation into English. Some of these are taken from poets and writers such as Nikolay Gumilev, J.R.R Tolkien, Gustav Meyrink, Alexander Vvedensky, and Tadeusz Kubiak, as well as some original lyrics intermixed as well. What was taken and inspired from these writers is an image of death and rebirth, strength and sorrow, as well as captivating surreal scenes of nature and it’s bleak but often times beautiful cycle. When delivered through vocals that are barked at you like a wounded dog, you get this sense of fervent anxiety mixed with a zealous anger that only the berserkers of old could muster up before battle. Its a nice touch to the black metal/punk cross over, where many of the times, especially in the hardcore punk realm, the vocals tend to not have any substance behind it, but this band certainly proves otherwise.
This is a very solid second album and definitely well worth a listen, especially if you’re a fan of this band from their first release. While I personally didn’t find this release to be as captivating as their first, mainly due to how cleaned up the production is from the more raw and primal sound of the first, its still a solid black metal album that I think many would enjoy. Still incredibly raw, still having their iconic and melodic riffs and still just as infectiously head bangable. A great stepping stone into the Larmsturm Division.