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Root - Zjeveni LP
The three most known Czech black metal bands from the old times have to be Master's Hammer, Törr and Root. Out of these, Root were possibly the most Bathory-influenced out of the three, yet maintaining a unique style. Their debut, Zjevení, came out after a string of demos in late 1990, which places it in between Armageddon and Rituál.
What you see on the front cover is Big Boss, the band's vocalist and by far the oldest member. I'd say he steals most of the spotlight on this record, and he does it with incredible style yet without too much bravado. His vocals are incredibly dynamic and charismatic, alternating between several styles. For the most part he uses a raspy… I can't say growl, since he remains perfectly intelligible throughout the whole album, but it's a relatively low vocal that sounds perfect in combination with the overall black/thrash feel. Here and there, he does an evil laugh, and some tracks use vocal effects.
Chanting and spoken word sections are featured, too. The album itself begins with a spoken version of the Tenth Enochian Key, the first half of Upálení consists of a court sentence, etc. I really want to stress this out, as this is for sure the most spoken word I've ever heard on an album, and I think it would be pretty annoying if I couldn't understand what Big Boss was saying. He also wrote all of the lyrics, which mostly deal with occultism and the worshipping of Satan. If you don't take them 100% seriously, which I think they weren't meant to, they work great.
Instrumental-wise, I'd call this a blackened thrash record for the most part. Two guitars are in the forefront, with a very crisp and almost chilling sound. Each song (bar the intermezzos) is built upon a fun and memorable riff or two, with some pretty abrupt shitts and tempo changes. The band features several solos, too, which I didn't expect but they fit in surprisingly well. At times, the guitars are exchanged for sinister sounding acoustic ones, to great effect I might add.
I'm convinced that this album has phantom bass. Nobody is credited with playing a bass guitar on the album's cover, and from what I've found the band simply didn't use one at the time, but I swear I can hear it at times, even if it's rather hidden in the mix. It's more than compensated for by the drumming however, which is a real standout. Fresh, dynamic, precise and original, sometimes blasting, sometimes marching, whatever fits the current moment in a particular track. I really don't have anything to criticize here. Even on the longest and properly monstrous song, that being Cesta zkázy, things are kept interesting – a doomy intro, with the drums building up the tension until the speedup, and even having two short solos before ending on a tribal note.
In terms of the overall atmosphere, nothing comes off as an unnecessary gimmick, and the result is phenomenal. Big Boss' theatric vocals play a big part, but the overall sinister undertone and the occasional and well-suited effects and samples make it just perfect.
If first wave black metal is in any way up your alley, be sure to check out this hidden gem!
Metal Archives Review.
The three most known Czech black metal bands from the old times have to be Master's Hammer, Törr and Root. Out of these, Root were possibly the most Bathory-influenced out of the three, yet maintaining a unique style. Their debut, Zjevení, came out after a string of demos in late 1990, which places it in between Armageddon and Rituál.
What you see on the front cover is Big Boss, the band's vocalist and by far the oldest member. I'd say he steals most of the spotlight on this record, and he does it with incredible style yet without too much bravado. His vocals are incredibly dynamic and charismatic, alternating between several styles. For the most part he uses a raspy… I can't say growl, since he remains perfectly intelligible throughout the whole album, but it's a relatively low vocal that sounds perfect in combination with the overall black/thrash feel. Here and there, he does an evil laugh, and some tracks use vocal effects.
Chanting and spoken word sections are featured, too. The album itself begins with a spoken version of the Tenth Enochian Key, the first half of Upálení consists of a court sentence, etc. I really want to stress this out, as this is for sure the most spoken word I've ever heard on an album, and I think it would be pretty annoying if I couldn't understand what Big Boss was saying. He also wrote all of the lyrics, which mostly deal with occultism and the worshipping of Satan. If you don't take them 100% seriously, which I think they weren't meant to, they work great.
Instrumental-wise, I'd call this a blackened thrash record for the most part. Two guitars are in the forefront, with a very crisp and almost chilling sound. Each song (bar the intermezzos) is built upon a fun and memorable riff or two, with some pretty abrupt shitts and tempo changes. The band features several solos, too, which I didn't expect but they fit in surprisingly well. At times, the guitars are exchanged for sinister sounding acoustic ones, to great effect I might add.
I'm convinced that this album has phantom bass. Nobody is credited with playing a bass guitar on the album's cover, and from what I've found the band simply didn't use one at the time, but I swear I can hear it at times, even if it's rather hidden in the mix. It's more than compensated for by the drumming however, which is a real standout. Fresh, dynamic, precise and original, sometimes blasting, sometimes marching, whatever fits the current moment in a particular track. I really don't have anything to criticize here. Even on the longest and properly monstrous song, that being Cesta zkázy, things are kept interesting – a doomy intro, with the drums building up the tension until the speedup, and even having two short solos before ending on a tribal note.
In terms of the overall atmosphere, nothing comes off as an unnecessary gimmick, and the result is phenomenal. Big Boss' theatric vocals play a big part, but the overall sinister undertone and the occasional and well-suited effects and samples make it just perfect.
If first wave black metal is in any way up your alley, be sure to check out this hidden gem!
Metal Archives Review.