Voracious Demons of Megalomania

After exactly a year, Czarna Magia, the personal band of the multi-instrumentalist Balrog, return in 30^th of January of 2020 to release their first full length album. I have received the CD version of the album which was released in March of 2020 by The End of Time Records, the record label also responsible for the physical version of the band’s previous release. So, the album is called Voracious Demons of Megalomania and it contains eight tracks of about forty-five minutes of overall duration. The first impression is coming from the unusual cover, which shows three versions of Balrog, one holding the guitar, one holding the bass and one holding a drum. I guess that with the cover and the title of the album he wants to give a visual representation of the different versions, personalities, different demons who dwell inside him. The same person in different poses may symbolizes the various, sometimes almost different aspects of the same thing. Another simpler interpretation of the visual stimulus may be the fact that Balrog is the one and only person responsible for this album, from the songwriting to the recording and editing. The use of the word Megalomania shows some sarcasm too. I guess it is a combination of the above, however it feels quite weird.

Regarding the music, the band in this album continues paying homage to the old school Black Metal. The Heavy Metal and Celtic Frost influences are heavier in this one. The songwriting is simple, with clear and straightforward structure, building the tracks with mid paced riffs and some slow passages to fast parts. The riffs are also simple, sometimes repetitive, combining the influences of the first wave of Black Metal with the occult darkness of bands like Mortuary Drape or Denial of God and a lot of Heavy/Doom elements. Moreover, I have to refer to the brutal, fast, pounding parts which give a more bestial and primitive aspect to the tracks.

As i said above, all the instruments are played by Balrog, as also the recording and mixing has been done in his home studio and he is responsible for the compositions and lyrics. The guitars have clean sound and they are played accurately. The bass is audible and adds to the atmosphere a dark and warm feeling. It is mentioned that the drums are played without the use of triggers and I can say that their sound is really good. However, the performance still has problems concerning timing, although there is a slight improvement since the previous album. The vocals are heavy, deep growls performed with passion, add darkness and brutality to the final result. The production is warm, clean and bassy and along with the mixture, which is very balanced, they give a very beautiful result that highlights all the instruments and maintain the solid sound of the compositions. The lyrics here are written in English, another new element, apart from two songs written in Polish. I liked the Polish language both in the two songs here and in the previous release as it is a language which fits very nicely with the style of the music, although I liked the English tracks too. The lyrics speak about solidarity, darkness, Baphomet and the hatred for the human race.

Voracious Demons of Megalomania is a good effort, in general. Surely, the problem with the drums’ performance still exists but it has been slightly improved. The sound of the final result has also been improved and the songwriting, although some riffs seems to be slightly altered and used in various parts of the album, is slightly improved too. The songs that I liked most are Hymn to the Father of Dark Art, The Tower of Dark Wizardry and I’m the Abomination. If you haven’t listened to the previous release, this one is a good opportunity to get to know them, especially if you are a fan of the old school Black Metal.