Art by Andrej Eternal
Style: melodic black metal, post-metal, post-black metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Havukrunu, Moonsorrow, Kardashev, heavier Alcest, MØL
Country: Slovakia
Release date: 16 January, 2025
Black metal and atmosphere go together like prog fans and pretension. The very first cry of the genre evokes harsh Norwegian winters and the very antithesis of light itself. Black metal, for all intents and purposes, is rarely the genre to turn to for joy or happiness, but in the ever-growing incestuous orgy that each metal subgenre has with one another, Alcest decided it was time to dip their fingers into a little bit of shoegaze and post-rock-isms on top of a black metal atmosphere to evoke something that wasn’t just doom and gloom. While Besna has basically nothing in common with Alcest, at least on the surface, I feel like placing the two together serves a much greater purpose than even I realized at first.
The first song and a half of Krásno pretty much goes exactly as I expected. ‘Zmráka sa’ follows basic black metal intro track protocol. The distant sound of birds give way to a simple, clean guitar part, building to a triumphant, explosive wall of chugging riffs, but that’s far from the song (and album’s) highlight. Guitarist and vocalist Samuel Dudlák’s incredible harsh vocals practically barrel their way through Krásno’s short runtime. If there is one thing I cannot compliment highly enough, it’s his ability to enunciate without losing any of the force and monstrous, throaty tone. Despite the barreling and dramatic performance of ‘‘Zmráka sa’, complete with a reprisal of the clean guitar intro section as a trem picked riff, I was left wanting just a step further from the album’s tone setter. Perhaps another blast-beat laden chorus or yet another dramatic, building riff.
On the flip side, the album’s title track—and to that extent, the rest of the album—gave me exactly what I needed. About halfway through ‘Krásno’, the song shifts from bludgeoning drums and vocals to an incredibly tasteful, almost jazzy solo, courtesy of guest musician Jakub Tirco. From there, Besna slowly build back into the uplifting leads that made me draw the Alcest comparison. With reverb-laden clean vocals instead of brutal harshes, the very final section could very easily find its place on Écailles de Lune.
Krásno is an incredibly well-written album, even further cemented by the infectious lead-line and pummeling breakdown on ‘Hranice’, the frenzy of ‘Bezhviezdna obloha’, and the sweeping, Emperor-esque nature of ‘Mesto spi’. However, good writing does not equate to something that’s diverse enough to hold my interest for more than a few listens. Everything on Krásno is well-performed, and well-produced to boot, but every song sounds a bit too similar. Besna choose not to branch out from the established formula they made on the first few tracks, and Krásno suffers as a result.
Much of Krásno’s sameness is mitigated by the complete lack of any fat. While I’m all for self-editing and the need for shorter prog albums (looking at you, Alkaloid), I don’t think that 30 minutes of the same is enough to do this band justice. ‘Mesto spi’ is an explosive ending, completely befitting of the quality of the six songs that came before, but when Krásno ended, all I could feel was that I listened to the same song six times, sans the atmospheric interlude ‘Ocean prachu’. It was a good same song six times, but it detracts majorly from the overall picture.
I had much of the same problem with blog darling Massen’s debut album. While competently written and performed, there wasn’t enough meat left on the bone by the time the album finished for me to have any chance at a return listen. Besna expertly combine atmosphere and aggressive trem-picking, but throwing in a few more tricks of the trade would do them no harm.
While Écailles de Lune this is not, I am incredibly happy that a band such as Besna have an offering such as this in the beginning of the year. Usually, we need to wait a few months for things to begin heating up, but this has done a fantastic job of keeping my attention. With just about everything I like, barring the use of mixed vocals, Krásno insisted upon itself being one of the definitive highlights of a slow start to my reviewing year. And while the deluge of new music to review may keep me from returning to Krásno with frequency, I am grateful to start off the year with such a positive and uplifting take on black metal that I can safely say won’t be forgotten about
Recommended tracks: Mesto spi, Krásno, Hranice, Bezhviezdna obloha
You may also like: Malokarpatan, Esoctrilihum, Massen, Show Me a Dinosaur
Final verdict: 6.5/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives page
Label: Unsigned
Besna is:
– Timotej Jurášek (bass)
– Samuel Dudlák (guitars, vocals)
– Martin Pinter (guitars)
– Anton Samokhvalov (drums)
