Batushka is a black metal band from Poland, and whose lyrics are exclusively in the language of old Church Slavonic, and whose musical themes and aesthetic are influenced highly by the Eastern Orthodox Church. In a curious case of art imitating reality, Batushka had their own schism, after the guitarist and founder Drabikowski, fell out with the vocalist Krysiuk. They took their dispute to court, which ruled them both legally able to use the Batushka name. Therehence, two bands have been releasing and performing under the Bastushka moniker, with each insisting their own the true form. It is so perfect that one may even pause to wonder if it is not some extremely elaborate performance art or PR stunt. Since then a third Batushka has popped up, this time from Russia, using the same eastern orthodox aesthetic and claiming that THEY are the only true Batushka and the others to be imposters.
All this hullaballoo leads to the question: What is a Batushka? and why is it so desirable?
The word translates to father, like in the sense a Catholic would refer to a priest. The project allegedly started after seeing YouTube comments on videos of Orthodox music, saying how the sounds of God are more metal than the sounds of Satan. This inspired the angle which spearheaded their particular sound. It is powerful indeed, and the instruments mesh almost seamlessly with the vocals and drums, so that it doesn’t sound like a band so much as one multi-lateral force. No doubt this was intentional, and reminds me of the way the individual voices in Gregorian chant disappear, and what instead comes through is the harmonically textured single entity that spans the breadth of those involved. As a band (or bands in this case), rather than focus on crafting individual and unique songs, they have focused on synthesizing some kind of human black metal spirit, and now that they have the formula, neither want to give it up.
The album here is the ‘forbidden’ album released by Krysiuk after the band split. It follows the same approach as they had done prior to the split, and the results are similar. Lambasted by the followers of Drabikowski for releasing this under the Bastushka name, musically it is quite strong, although not quite as good as their pre-split debut release, Litourgiya (a must-listen for any enjoyer of this music). For those who are unaccustomed to this kind of heavy music, I encourage you to try it out when at the gym, or in any situation where you need some kind of pump-up - this does an excellent job.
Recommended Song: Wieczernia
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