WĘDRUJĄCY WIATR - Tam, gdzie Miesiąc opłakuje Świt (2013)

Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal

Label: Werewolf Promotion

Rating: 9.5/10

I learnt of this band initially from one of my friends, who is a recent Polish immigrant to the United States. This was one of the bands she used to rave about to me, and when I finally got around to checking them out, I was astonished. I think Razor and W. should be very proud of the work they've accomplished here. It should be noted that Razor did all of the album art and their logo; he runs Misty Visions Art. His art business can also be found on Facebook under the same name; he does album art by commission, and he is very good at it.

.

Through chirping insects comes acoustic guitar, with some light synthesiser behind it. One can hear dogs barking in the distance. This is the tfirst track, the eponymously titled track. Then it moves into a very fast second song, the title track ("Tam, gdzie Miesiąc opłakuje Świt") with the instruments sounding distantly recorded. It is natural atmosphere. It is one of the things I love most about this band, the natural atmosphere they achieve. There's a sense of pain, of isolation, of longing behind the music; I know very little Polish, so I have to trust Metal Archives when it says their lyrics are about Polish folklore, legends, history, and nature. Poland, I know, certainly has a lot of those things. "A Nurów Krzyk Wiatr Na Skrzydłach Nocy Niesie" strikes right at my heart. Around the 3:30 mark, there's a clean section that is beyond beautiful. It is followed by a fast, emotive riff that speaks to the loneliness I feel acutely on a daily basis. It is not a conveyance of hope, but rather sympathy, it seems. From what I can understand of Polish, their lyrics are equally beautiful and poetic. My two favourite lines from this song are "Może pisane było mi wyczekiwać świtu na graniach.../I liczyć dusze na czarnym płótnie nieba?" 

Next we have the dour sounding "Wędrowiec Wyciąga Starczą Dłoń W Stronę Gwiazd." It is a very moody number, with a synthesiser track that leads it ever downward. The riff around 3:45 is a highlight of the song. It sounds desperate, purely. The drums pick up nicely behind it. Despite all the nostalgic, hopeless feelings this music gives me, I cannot deny its beauty. This song alone makes it one of the best releases in recent memory. The fifth and final track, "W Srebrnej Łunie, Pośród Chłodów Nocy," which means something like "In the Silver Moon, in the midst of cold nights," has yet again that nostalgia-feeling... I get the sense that this was another thing Razor and W. were going for, perhaps a longing for times past, in Poland's glory days, or even pre-Christian days, when they lived in social agrarian societies. The song ends tastefully with acoustic guitar.

I think Wędrujący Wiatr is Poland's answer to Drudkh, honestly. I also believe that this band is one worth learning some Polish for, if only to understand some of their lovely lyrics, especially as Polish as a very difficult language to translate. I do not believe that is hyperbole. Before my love affair with Orthodox Black Metal began, and my disavowing of most former bands I liked, I believed that the Slavs had the best music scene in the world. I still believe that they have one of the best scenes in Black Metal. I cannot wait to see what time has in store for Wędrujący Wiatr.