Horns – Oświecenie

Horns is a Polish black metal quartet founded in 2014 in Zielona Góra. Recently, the band released their long-awaited third studio album titled Oświecenie (eng. Enlightenment). Current line-up of the band contains of Hesgal (vocals), M. (drums), H. (bas) & Z. (guitar).

Oświecenie consists of seven tracks, all recorded in 2023. My initial impressions of this material is to call it occult, blasphemous, marble, devillish, captivating and feral black metal. The album opens with “Twoja kara wieczność trwa” (Your punishment lasts forever), suitable as a nice quite and clear introduction to the world of Horns. The overall tempo is obviously still dynamic; with hellish vocals, double kick drums, a well emphasized and manipulative bass, alongside some really cool leading guitar riffing. The whole atmosphere is dark and one can even sense a kind of suffering, complete emptiness and desolation here. Next comes a self-titled “Oświatenie” (Enlightenment) with intriguing lyrical content, classic opening riffs and again very dynamic drums, with a lots of breakdowns and tempo shifts. I liked another well-executed solo, which works just fine here. “Nienasycony głód” (Insatiable Hunger) and “Krzyk rozdartych dusz” (The Cry of Torn Souls) are another tracks with no choruses, just relentless, terrifying and frightening black metal sonic march. On these two particular tracks we also see a band that is not afraid to use progressive accents or heavy, severely twisted atonal chords. It makes it more varied and interesting. “Śmierć jest nagrodą” (Death is the Reward) features even faster tempo with only minor deviations from their core sound. There’s big emphasizes on the vocals here, and the inclusion of another solo just helps to emphasizes the vocal expression of Hesgal. Then arrives my favorite track called “Nicość” due to its simplistic old-school approach to the songwriting and also due to its nihilistic lyrical content. The album closes with “Niech wiatr was ukoi (Niech zdycha ta kurwa)” (Let the Wind Soothe You – Let that whore die), which almost sounds as a marching anthem with intense and refined guitar work, delivered perfectly as a grand finale.

The whole thing was mixed and mastered by Filip Hałucha at Heinrich House Studio (Azarath, Behemoth, Entropia, Obscure Sphinx) and as the result Oświecenie features an intriguing production. The cover of the album was created by M. Drac from the legendary band Arkona, who also made aguest appearance (on vocals) on the songs “Oświatenie” and “Nicość”.

In conclusion; Oświecenie speak along direct lines to the roots with overall sound strongly inspired by the 1990s, and golden era of raw black metal, and the cover art reflects it perfectly. It’s cultivating the traditions of this genre, while at the same time largely progressive and searching for secret paths leading to their own distinguished and more authoritative sound. However, this is not a one-take album, and I would say that Oświecenie is a record that requires a few spins before delivering final judgement.

The album Oświatenie was released on February 22nd, 2024 in digital form on Bandcamp and as a jewelcase CD by the Polish underground label Putrid Cult. So make sure to order your copy of this raw/Satanic/ritualistic black metal.

For further information go to https://hornshorde.bandcamp.com/album/o-wiecenie