CMPT weaves an impressive atmosphere on Na utrini (Osmose Productions). The Balkan black metal band sets themselves apart from the pack by not just going full blast in your face. Not falling victim to the sophomore slump, the band is assured in what they are doing here. The choked rasp of the vocals to the most prominent element to ground the band in his sub-genre. It moves along with an eerie creep.  It’s not until the second song that the drummer begins to push for more momentum, This restraint is their strength, as there is no shortage of Black Metal bands out there still trying to bleed blast-beats from the late nineties era sound, that find too much conformity coming from a misanthropic genre. Here the guitars tap into the trademark metallic buzz of black metal, but the band has already set the stage for a wider range of dynamics, making this a more well-balanced listen.

In recent months a YouTube video has made the rounds showing how you are playing surf-rock when the distortion is stripped away from black metal. The song “Mesecina” brings to mind. The folk instrumentation that opened the album resurfaces here. They are not redefining the wheel with this approach as it is fairly common in black metal, but it helps break things up dynamically. Midway into the album, they begin settling into the more racing buzz, that is tried and true, though it is broken up by a singing chant, rather than just allowing the harsh vocals to be the album’s only vocal melody.  This shows a little effort from the songwriting department goes a long way no matter what kind of music you are making. It casts another sonic color in the organic swath of sound they paint the songs with. 

The tempo begins to build up into the more familiar black metal fury, with the wretched tone of the vocals giving second-wave black metal fans what they want. which then makes me. Once again, they provided the needed nuance this time the ambient of chants sat further back in the mix to provide a needed layer to give the attack texture. own thing. They do back off to an even greater extent and more of a droning ambiance, allowing the guitars to ring out as folk singing echoes out of the gray landscape the song paints. The drums hold things down enough to bob your head to its throb. These more deliberate nuanced guitar melodies are this band’s strength. Fans of melodic black metal will want to hear more from this band in the future, thanks to their uncompromising artistic vision that sticks to painting the songs with a bleak mood. 

Buy the album here:
https://semeponoci.bandcamp.com/album/na-utrini

8 / 10
WIL CIFER
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