Possession

Upir is a new band which comes from the Polish underground scene, they consist of two members and “Possession” is their first full length album. Actually the album is an EP because it contains three Black Metal tracks and three ambient ritualistic, atmospheric tracks of twenty two minutes of duration. Although the duration of the album is short, the listener can easily understand both the music style of Upir and generally what the band stand for. Here we deal with harsh, absolutely straightforward and very energetic Black Metal of Scandinavian school.

The riffs, especially in the two first tracks, are rhythmic, mid tempo riffs full of energy and passion, while we’ll also find a lot of fast, harsh, passages of Scandinavian school and some slow depressing parts, that make the compositions more interesting. The structure of the tracks is simple and straightforward, just like in a punk composition, with the many passages which break the monotony, it achieves to keep the listeners attention during the entire track. The ambient tracks try to create a ritualistic, dark atmosphere, but their big length doesn’t achieve to create but to ruin the atmosphere and the energy that is transmitted by the tracks. The guitars are simple but played with much passion and they add energy to the already full of energy compositions. The bass can’t be heard clearly but it fills the sound well and gives the necessary depth. The drums have simple, rhythmic lines with some fast bursts, they also add a lot of energy, but without doing anything special.

The most important element which makes the compositions special and different from other bands which have the same sound, is the vocals. They are paranoid Black Metal vocals, other times harsh and other times clean, they are like a mixture of Master’s Hammer and Dodheimsgard, with awesome expression, passion and madness. The production is clean, a little bassy but not as powerful as it should be. The mix is good, it gives the feeling that the sound is untouched, so the harsh approach of the band concerning the sound is intensified, but at the same time the sound is massive and has depth. The lyrics aren’t contained in the cd and, if I don’t make a mistake, they are written in Polish, so I don’t know what they refer to. I assume because of the atmosphere and the tracks’ title that they deal with the occult and rituals.

Generally “Possession” doesn’t offer new things. What the album presents is straightforward, harsh, old school Black Metal, played with passion and personality. Upir create an album, on one hand too short, but on the other hand quite interesting. “Possession” for me works as a nice warm up until the next complete work is done. Listen to it.