Varmia is a tough nut to crack, but that might be the point: nie nas widzę (M-Theory Audio) is the fourth piece to the Polish pagans’ puzzle and it introduces a plethora of both traditional ethnic musical elements and standard-sounding black metal techniques. 

Gralla is responsible for the tagelharpa (a.k.a. Nickelharp), goat horn, wooden tube and percussions, as well as backing vocals. Tracks ‘I’ through ‘IV’, smack-dab in the middle of the record, is a four-part section which amply accentuates these different instruments. ‘I’ features a crackling fire and prominent acoustics before ‘II’ emphasizes more heavy, booming percussion. ‘IV’ finishes off with somber, distinctive native instruments until it develops into a burgeoning, chanty sequence.

Aside from these interlude moments, nie nas widzę is no stranger to the darker themes that are the genre’s bread and butter. The pinnacle of this is ‘Kres.’ Swarge provides biting drums and as the song concludes, the mix of folk and black/death metal comes together in a furious, extremely pleasing composition that reminds listeners that Varmia isn’t strictly a folk-inspired outfit. 

‘Poscuiat’ allows for Lasota to run wild with killer pained harsh vocals. Fierce, declarative screams return on ‘KAD SAULE DIV’, and for fans of textbook black metal, ‘Dies Tremor’ ticks all the boxes. 

Aside from a minor hiccup (‘DAINA 4’), the record overall is a robust amalgamation of various performances. The track above, however, tries to combine strings and kick pedaling which is a questionable decision, at least in the resulting sound. 

The movie trailer pacing on the opener ‘agre’ and the overall diesel-fueled drumming which permeates throughout more than makes up for any curious choices getting in the way.

nie nas widzę naturally does take a little while to get accustomed to the sequencing and pacing, though when the black metal traits are exposed, the full-length as a whole is elevated to a level that is brutish and brazen.

Buy the album here:

https://varmiaband.bandcamp.com/album/nie-nas-widz

7 / 10

MATT COOK