Release year: 2024
Label: Zoharum/Bat-Cave Productions
Wrapping up our delve into Zoharum’s latest batch of promos, as the last of the litter we have Polish Opowieść’s second album Podróż. The project is elsewhere described as experimental post punk, which is quite a fitting descriptor. Zoharum’s promo sheet, on the other hand, is more confusing than anything, describing less the sound than the concept.
But I suppose that’s par for the course when it comes to experimental music. If it doesn’t have an element that’s at least potentially confusing, how experimental can it really be?
If you latched on to the post punk bit, let me warn you: forget all about easy, conventional and traditional post punk. The experimental in Opowieść’s experimental post punk truly is experimental. This means that whilst there are elements typical to post punk, especially in the bass lines, largery the album is prone to veer into uncommon, almost drone directions ever so often.
The soundscape is thoroughly focused on lower frequencies, with the bass dominating. Even the guitars seem to go for a rather low tone primarily, except for when they focus on discordant, grinding feedback, like moaning metal in the distance. This gives the album a vaguely unsettling, ambiguously threatening vibe. The compositions are sparse in the sense that melodies and hooks are metered out in small doses. This gives Podróż the aforementioned droning quality where the bass and percussion provide a pulsating, rhythmic backbone, around which electronic effects weave their industrial dance.
The end result is a bit of a double edged sword. Undeniably, Podróż is a stylish and meticulously crafted album that sounds exactly like intended. Atmospheric is a significant keyword. But on the other hand, the lack of melody and hooks to latch on to, and the somewhat uniformly bassy sound make Podróż a bit too samey for its own good. In other words – as stylish as the album is, Podróż can also become a bit boring.
This isn’t of course helped by the fact that almost all of the lyrics are in Polish. As such, the vocals become mainly just another layer of sound instead of a focal point. But that’s not a make or break deal for Podróż; the album works sufficiently even without understanding the lyrics.
What all this boils down to is an interesting album that doesn’t quite manage to keep up interest all the way through. There are details here and there, such as a bit of avantgarde jazz saxophone, which bring variation – but still, over the course of its 51 minute running time, Podróż risks becoming a bit stale. But even so, for fans of experimentalism and post punk, this is worth checking out.
Only Death Is Real 