Today, Signal Rex announces October 31st as the international release date for striking debut album of the Czech Republic’s Bran, Odcházení, on CD format. The vinyl LP version will follow later this year.
One of the most exceptionally accomplished new hordes Signal Rex has come across in recent memory, Bohemia’s Bran are a power-trio of ancient black metal might and majesty. To be sure, they exhibit the splendorous, spellbinding riff-sorcery so endemic to their country’s black metal idiom, but instead of hypnotizing monochromaticism, Bran‘s epic constructions are always unfolding, always blossoming with a strict sense of narrative flow, surprising and engaging at every turn. Indeed, their Odcházení debut is a march across rarefied lands, for not only does it retain palatably clear production, rendering their ruminations in their most powerful state, but there’s a pronounced grounding in actual METAL here – but thankfully, without any goofy party posturing or “metal brotherhood” bollocks. No, this is the sound of swords sharpened and chainmail donned, grim resolve as the battle approaches; Bran see the struggle ahead, and they’ve created the bloodily majestic / majestically bloody map for it. Taste their Czech steel with Odcházení!
The first taste of that steel can be found with the brand-new track “Tisíce hvězd” here:
Cover artwork, courtesy of Pavlína Kovaříková, and tracklisting are as follows:
1. Skrytá místa [8:24]
2. Tisíce hvězd [8:25]
3. Smuteční průvod [7:53]
4. Odcházení [12:09]
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