A vast and brutal new EP from Murtenscythe plays through like a concept album with a Fantastical undertone and a hardcore set of shredding guitars along with pulse-pounding drumming and screeching that all come together with such incredible energy that it's like a blitzkrieg.
Vodyanoy is a massive EP that spans a lot of ground, especially in a four-song spectrum because each song goes through different phases and becomes cinematically driven along with all the fierce riffs and hard-hitting soundscapes.
I can tell you this, the guitar work is outstanding across this record but really, the entire band has come together to perform something that has the ability to take you a way to a completely different place with a dark and gothic-edged tonality and that for me was incredibly fun because this was a real form of escapism.
These kinds of things don't always happen with EPS or even with albums for that matter, so it was very refreshing to hear this wonderfully heavy and melodic set of songs still come through with this storyline and this atmosphere that pulls you in and doesn't let go.
The record is full of surprising riffs and these gigantic landscapes of metal and it's something that becomes very quickly infectious.
One of the best things about this release is how many surprises there are lurking beneath the surface and around the corners but also the fact that you can clearly hear a real love for their craft and that's something that a lot of people don't really understand about metal.
Really good heavy metal no matter what the sub-drawn of that may be, is difficult to pull off because there are so many intricacies and so much attention to detail within the riffs and the time signatures.
There's also a ton of aggression but that's part of the nature of a lot of heavy metal in general.
Now, this release indeed is a concept record and definitely does have songs that are interconnected with each other and tell a story and in that manner, it comes off a little bit theatrical even which I'm sure was part of the point.
These aren't songs that just come in and out thrashing and ending.
These are songs that build with intros or break down into open bridges of almost visually enticing groundwork that really can make you forget where you are and what you're doing.
This was packed with numerous sucker punches to the gut but also with an idea and a story that plays through during the course of the record and while it happens you have guitar harmonies and beautiful sections of amazingly performed instrumentation.
This is definitely for fans of all different kinds of metal because these guys are able to incorporate different subgenres of metal within the EP itself and they do a damn good job at it.
This is a bit more like an experience than just an EP so if you get a chance to listen to it be sure you have enough time to listen to the whole thing so you can soak it in the way it was meant to be.