Stara Rzeka- Zamkny Si Oczy Ziemi (2015)

Stara Rzeka- Zamkny Si Oczy Ziemi (2015)

“Those things which I am saying now may be obscure, yet they will be made clearer in their proper place."

Nicolaus Copernicus

By: Ghost Writer

I have no problem saying that Stara Rezka is my favorite Polish band or project, the one really able to capture the musical complexity and vanguardism I tend to search in music, the kind of music and project mot afraid to try new things, not afraid to fuse the abrasion from black metal to the mystics of folk, a secret place where convoluted riffs and harsh textures meets turbulent tempos and introspection, not an was thing my friends.

Just as Poland is going thru changes in order to assume the protagonist position it deserves in Europe (Being Poland and Turkey two key players in the future of the old continent), society, culture and music of course is becoming more and more daring, more unique, and Stara Rzeka is a part of that, and Kuba Ziolek, the man behind Stara knows that perfectly, fusing disparate elements like BM, folk, electronica and drone, Stars Rezla in this Zamkny Si Oczy Ziemi, which could be the project last recording ever is truly looking forward, as majestic album opener Nie Zblizaj Sie Do Ognia push it to the front, dark epic guitars as sheets of heavy rain give texture to the piece, there's also some powerful drumming featured here, but Ziolek sounds decided and he will be gone with a big bang as dissonant abstract electronics tend to flood the piece, revealing the unclassifiable nature of the band, a sort of comic entity with one single thing in mind, destroying the world of music as we know it.

At this point Zamkny Si Oczy Ziemi becomes really cerebral, playing games with our mind making us think if this is BM inspired drone, Tangerine Dream inspired black space age electronica or some kind of crazy nightmare inspired by listening too much to Fire Music aka Free Jazz, W Sieroniowa Noc features a gentle folkish intro with beautiful strings and placid vocals, a kind mantra coming from the high mountains feeling the space in a gradual form, the type of folk cosmic musical inner explosion John Fahey exposed us all to a lng time ago, but although next song Male Swierki starts in similar fashion, almost like a continuation of the last song, psychedelia starts finding its way thru Ziolek compositions, the music starts becoming a colorful mind exploration with heavy acid flashed thrown into the mix.

The trip gets uglier by the time we arrive to the powerful Czarna Woda, with its echoes at the beginning and slowly growing sonics, as Ziolek quickly immerse us in a world of diffusing images and into the painful world of chaotic drone, as Ziolek slowly leaved the world of melody and music starts mutating into pure sound in a spine chilling way, as Stara Rzeka starts showing its true colors building a devastating wall of pure sound.

But if that wasn't enough, this record still holds many surprises as the slow pace of BHMTH starts revealing a a sort if delicate beauty surrounded by an abrasive almost impenetrable wall that stars shape shifting into something else, constant change, constant evolution, wild mutation and boundless imagination seems to be elements of Ziolek compositions.

Ziolek and his Stara Rzeka may be living this world soon, but not our memory, as this incredible record ends with the impressive Ogniste Kazania B.B. which could result delicious to any nostalgic My Bloody Valentine fan, the brutal epic attack of W Szopie Gdzie Byly Oczy Ziemi or the content undisputed pure beauty of Mytlena, Ziolek and this Stara Rzeka project will be sorely missed for lovers of truly experimental, mind bending, head spinning music, we really need more of this in this turbulent world.