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On November 27th a consortium of labels led by the Ukrainian GrimmDistribution will release the debut album Stonewounds (Каменю рани) of Ukronakh, and they introduce it with these words:
“The Ukrainian project Ukronakh (У кронах) was founded in 2020 by Artyom ‘Voidger’. Ukronakh’s music combines genres such as atmospheric black metal and death metal, reflecting the personal inner experiences of the author, inspired by the atmosphere of the moss-covered forests of the Carpathians and the aesthetics of pre-Christian cultures of the northern peoples…. The album is saturated with the atmosphere of the damp Carpathian forest. The listener will have a story about the spirits of antiquity who wander the forest paths of the Carpathian mountains in oblivion and find no rest….”
We share those words because they are worth keeping in mind as you listen to the album track we’re premiering today, “Де журба обіймається зі злістю” (Where Sorrow Embraces Anger), although the name of the song itself provides a telling introduction to the thoroughly gripping music.
The sound of heavy footfalls in snow and a chill wind lead into swelling guitars, sharp snare strikes, and a heavy bass line. The reverberating ring of the guitars sounds like a choir of bells, with a mood that’s somehow both glorious and grieving. The music catches fire, the riffing becoming feverish and jolting and the drums hitting like automatic weapons. The vocals arrive in a throat-splitting scream, joined by the piercing trill of a sorrowful, but gripping, guitar melody.
The song methodically digs its way into the listener’s head, even as it continues to change, replacing one immersive riff and gripping rhythmic attack with another. Although the vocals continue to inflict scarring damage, the music becomes an experience of sweeping grandeur, driven to new heights by the electricity of the vibrato guitar leads. It’s the kind of very memorable experience that manages to be both heart-swelling and heart-breaking, both fiery and forlorn.
Stonewounds was mixed and mastered by Roman Sapozhnikov at Black Dwell Records. The logo, album cover, and illustrations were created by Ksenia Martynyuk, with booklet design by Aleksey Korolyov. Diana Shvygar was involved in the translation of the lyrics into English.
The album is a co-release of GrimmDistribution with Krasta Records, The End Of Time Records, and Kuyen Producciones. It will be presented in a limited jewel-box CD edition with an 8-page booklet, as well as digitally. More info is available through the links below, and you’ll also find there a stream of the previously released opening track “Коли тіні блукають” (As Shadows Wander).
https://www.nocleansinging.com/2021/11/05/an-ncs-premiere-ukronakh-where-sorrow-embraces-anger/
The debut record from Ukrainian atmospheric black/death metallers Ukronakh came out towards the end of November last year through Grimm Distribution, and ‘Stonewounds’ joins a list of interesting releases from them this year.
The first thing you’ll notice from the opening notes of ‘As Shadows Wander’ is that this is no mere ‘Carpathain Black Metal’ style record. While bands like Drudkh and Negura Bunget may inform parts of Ukronakh’s sound, they do not define it. This album is rich, weighty and leads with that weight, not just the heady atmosphere that it generates. ‘As Shadows Wander’ is merely the tip of the iceberg, that first long glorious flight into the mountains where this record lives. The sweeping journey continues with the enthralling cascade of ‘My Speech Grew With Moss’ and the rocky jaggedness of ‘Where Sorrow Embraces Anger’ where some roughness scythes through the atmosphere to bring the album’s first truly brutal passage.
Ukronakh’s Ukrainian heritage does make its fair share of appearances, with the vast fury of ‘Stars Between Branches’ opening into vistas of bleak riffing and the fiery intensity of ‘He Was Painting By the Highland Mist’ burning bright in the eastern sky. What Ukronakh do though is take that homeland influence and do different things with it, there is no hypnotic drone of premier black metal, everything here flows and arcs in different places. ‘Stonewounds’ is an album that feels like a writhing snake on a forest floor, rather than an eagle on the wing. ‘Stonewounds’ is a record that you put on when you need your cobwebs blown away; a refreshingly icy blast of something epic and vast, a weighty tome of riffs and introspective atmosphere that refuses to be pigeonholed into anything other than ‘excellent’.
https://thoseonceloyal.wordpress.com/2022/01/07/review-ukronakh-stonewounds/
Ukronakh are a band from Ukraine that plays a very atmospheric and blackened form of death metal and this is a review of their 2021 album "Stonewounds" which was released as a joint effort between Grimm Distribution, Krista, End Of Time Records and Kuyen Productions.
Rain sounds start off the album before going into a heavier musical musical direction while a great portion of the tracks are also very long and epic in length. Melodies are also added into some of the guitar riffing along with the solos and leads also being done in a very dark yet melodic style.
Vocals are mostly death metal growls while all of the musical instruments on the recording also have a very powerful sound to them. When the music speeds up a decent amount of blast b eats can be heard along with some black metal screams also being utilized at times and some songs also add in a small amount of clean playing.
The music also has its atmospheric moments along with some tremolo picking also being added into some of the faster riffing as well as the songs also bringing in a more modern style. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in Ukrainian and cover the spirits of antiquity who wander the forest paths of the Carpathians in oblivion and find no rest.
In my opinion Ukronakh are a very great sounding atmospheric blackened death metal band and if you are a fan of this musical genre, you should check out this album.
http://bringerofdeathzine.blogspot.com/2021/12/ukronakhstonewoundsgrimm.html
Ukraine band U Kronakh are out with the album "Stonewounds", and metal is the style of music explored on this production. The orientation of choice here is extreme metal, and it is a variety of the form where rich and booming guitar riffs are dominant for the majority of the songs by way of slower pounding riffs or pacier hammering riff cascades. Growl style, downmixed vocals adds an emphasis on the dark and aggressive tendencies of the music, and cutting guitar solo runs adds to that factor. Softening up the experience ever so slightly is the use of gentle, light toned interludes, textured passages with a stronger emphasis on smooth atmospheric elements, at times with something of a doom metal flavor, also adds an additional and somewhat gentler dimension to the proceedings. I also note that occasional flowing, harmony oriented guitar solo runs functions rather efficiently to smooth down some of the harsher surfaces of the music when present. An album to seek out by those who like their extreme metal with a harsh foundation but with an atmospheric laden flavoring adding further dimensions to the listener experience.
https://www.facebook.com/wildernessviking/posts/4941728629258797
Video review.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4qMFb13cJ0
More undiscovered treasure from the tail end of 2021, it seems. Stonewounds contains 49 minutes of atmospheric black/death metal, with the latter bringing an unexpected influence. The band’s striking sound is unusual, melding the black and death metal styles in an atypical way, at least in places. Melodic and atmospheric, yet also brutal and heavy, Stonewounds makes a good impression early on, and builds on it throughout.
The songs are moreish and well-crafted. Although there’s very much an emphasis on atmosphere and the building of rich mood-based soundscapes, I’m also pleased to state that there are some really killer riffs on here too. Ukronakh achieve a good balance between instant gratification and longer-lasting depth of content.
Stonewounds is a worthy and strong release. If this slipped under your radar last year, (it certainly did mine), then take the time to get to know it now.
Ah como é bom receber promos de bandas que na busca por mais informações não se encontra peva a seu respeito. De certa forma é um voltar a tempos mais inocentes onde a informação não estava instantaneamente acessível a cada capricho nosso. Felizmente, proporcional à falta de informação, temos a qualidade enorme que este álbum dos ucranianos Ukronakh. Juntar a brutalidade impiedosa do death metal aos ambientes blasfemos do black metal (e ao seu tremolo picking) é algo que obtém aqui resultados fascinantes. Logo a começar pelo tema de abertura épico “As Shadows Wander”. Excelente surpresa.
https://worldofmetalmag.com/wom-reviews-napalm-death-ukranakh-embryonic-autopsy-death-from-above/
Formed in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic year, this band of powerful and deadly sound, makes the appearance with this great work, in which the Ukrainian DNA is shown in its icy sense of making music as powerful as full of stoic pride, despite the adversities that historically revolve around this nation.
The album is formed by 7 songs that squander an acid death metal, current and of great manufacture since the first cancón, the band does not stop wasting an iota of quality although we can say in certain passages of some songs, you feel that dense doom metal so heavy but no less liked, there is no doubt that the band polished and filtered the best songs for this album. The album is sung in his native language, at times they give us a sequence of overwhelming riffs as necessary to delight each of the songs that are heard, the bands of those republics are taking control of the black metal scene and Ukraine is not the slightest exception that it is empowered on the world stage by its bands, the average time on the songs is 6 to 7 minutes spent on the disc player, leaving the feeling of a happy and convincing weariness for this band.
Songs to follow, as usual in a personal capacity: "Where Sorrow Embraces Anger", "Star between braches" and "He was painting by the Highland mist", that as a suggestion, you will want to listen to the whole album carefully. The best choice and opinion is yours.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Cas6qKiLR3J/
Apparently recorded back in 2020 but just released a few months back for whatever reason, this ostensible black/death album stands head and shoulders above the usual Dissection/Watain wannabe crowd (or even the Behemoth/Belphegor xerox types) by working a very different approach.
At times the riffs come off very (tech) death with hints of melodeath/metalcore, but where they really shine is in the midsection, when things go depressive and atmospheric. It’s not doomy, exactly…but with the same sort of despair and sense of impending fate that underpins the best representatives thereof. Better yet? Literally happens on every. single. track.
Not perfect, certainly not what anyone would expect…but when it works, it goes down sooo sweet.
Due hails, and hoping for more of a move in this right direction (i.e. more time spent on the second half material than the more confused opening halves of literally every track herein) with future releases.
https://thirdeyecinema.wordpress.com/2022/02/22/dark-horizons-east/
Today’s review is of Ukrainian Atmospheric Blackened Death Metal band Ukronakh’s debut album.
This release combines the aggressiveness of modern and fairly technical Blackened Death Metal with the elegance and transcendent aura of Atmospheric Black Metal to offer something dark, enigmatic, all-enshrouding and wretched. The full-length consists of pretty long songs with an ominous approach that may be enjoyed by any fan of modern Black Metal.
There are also some parts with feelings that remind of Atmospheric Death Metal, though the Blackened direction is much more prevalent, weaving a soundscape of wild and untamed nature. The dark atmosphere is well-preserved throughout the album, offering no rest whatsoever at the cost of some monotony. Nonetheless, the beauty beneath the extremity shows its paradoxically rotten features in these songs in all its splendour. This is a great sonic journey through vast lands of obscurity. My personal highlights are “As Shadows Wander” and “He Was Painting By The Highland Mist”.
I recommend this album to fans of Blackened Death Metal and Atmospheric Black Metal.
https://www.bathoryzine.com/2022/02/ukronakh-stonewounds-review-by-varg.html