Batushka-Lituorgiya (2016)

Batushka-Lituorgiya (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

We should be worried by Poland's current wave of right wing extremism taking over the government in the country, it starts to draw them real close to the illiberal democracy of neighbors Hungary, whom under the rule of Viktor Orban, is moving closer to Russian style authoritarianism and getting farther from the European Union democratic principles, already a worrying matter within the EU, with human right, media freedom and harsh foreign policies becoming a concern matter.

You can trace Poland's current fascination with right wing extremism right to Poland's devotion towards religion, Roman Catholicism has been a prevalent factor in Polish society, in a way, it was a decisive factor for the country's fight against communism, no wonder that the first non-Italian pope, Karol Wojtyla came from there.

Given the fact that religion plays such a major role in Polish society is no wonder that such religion antagonist extreme metal bands like Vader exists there since the communist years, and the fact that the extreme metal movement has grown so big, bringing us powerful acts like Behemoth, Mgla or the already mentioned Vader, is no wonder that certain religious elements have started to permeate into extreme music, which bring us to Batushka, a Polish extreme metal band that draws inspiration from the blackest of the black metal and the most resonant Orthodox Church chanting.

We should credit Batushka for really capturing the sound of the current happenings in Poland the rise of a right wing political party captivating the attention of the nation, using the power of the almighty Catholic Church, in a time in which fear might be the best ally, there are beautiful and frightening elements on Litourgiya, Batushka fearless new record, the fact that every track is named Yekteniya made matters weird, but the band loses no time on creating a record with chilling chanting passages and intense black metal arrangements, the result is a record like no other we have heard recently, perhaps with the exception of the great French band Spektr.

A definite candidate for best extreme metal record of the last months, Litourgiya is a record that comes to define the extreme metal sound of today's Poland, just as Enthrallment has done with Bulgaria and Orthodox with Spain, this is a must hear in a world that is becoming more and more intense and revolted, here is Batushka unleashing a war on the heart of conservative Poland and in the heart of a frightened Europe, the results are definitely thrilling.