Dymna Lotva - Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Кроў (2023)

Creating one of the more harrowing and intense releases of 2023, today we have Dymna Lotva and their third full-length release “Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Кроў”. With over 72 minutes of music, this album is both beautiful and demoralizing. Full with eerie atmospherics, lush arrangements and intense vocals, this release is one of the most powerful ones that Prophecy Productions has put out in quite a while.

Opening with “Ідзі і глядзі”, we get very powerful atmospherics and crafty guitar work. The wide variety of vocal styles create a very diverse and engaging narrative, ranging from mourns to screams, masterfully paired around lush arrangements. As “Пахаваны жыўцом” and “Смерць цалуе ў вочы” roll by, the band weaves back and forth between lush Doomy passages and full-on atmospheric oppression, always flanked by piercing guitars and tempo changes.

If we had to relate the band’s style to others, we would say that they deliver a mixture of elements from bands like Lifelover, Pyschonaut 4, and Bethlehem. Nokt’s vocals are both haunting and crushing, perfectly balancing clean and harsh parts around dramatic compositions, as we can hear in tracks like “Папялішча”, “Nacht Hexen”, and “Мёртвым не баліць”. Far from linear, each track contains different levels of madness, sometimes exploiting melodic elements, dreamy passages, or full on crushing aggression.

Filled with excellent songs like “Нязгаснае” and “Да волі”, this release brilliantly mixes Doom and Post-Black Metal elements with dramatic arrangements, creating truly memorable and misery inducing moments. Dymna Lotva is a band that is so far head from the rest that “Зямля пад чорнымі крыламі: Кроў” is a tour de force release that will captivate listeners and choke them with its intoxicating nature thanks to the use of saxophones, accordions, and other classical instruments alongside moody tempo changes. If you like very unique and weird music, you are in for a treat with this one.

Label: Prophecy Productions

Release: August 4th, 2023

Genre: Doom/Post-Metal

Country: Belarus