Hrob - Brána Chladu

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Hrob is a death/doom metal band from Slovakia, who formed in 2021.  Their latest release, “Brána Chladu,” is their debut full-length album, after releasing a demo in 2023. 

This album is more dynamic than I expected.  The album’s awesome cover art led me to believe the atmosphere of this album would be cold and destitute.  It definitely didn’t disappoint my expectations but actually gave more than I bargained for—which is great.  “Brána Chladu,” has plenty of atmospheric textures through the use of clean instrumentation and can be very melodic when called upon. I'm impressed by the many different paths this album takes; it has the brutality death metal, the cold, evil atmosphere of black metal, and the cavernous, slow approach of doom metal while it still offers many moments of speed and melody.


The album isn't everything all at once, either.  Each version of their brand of doom is released only when needed so it comes off as free flowing instead of disconnected.  The production helps with this—it is bottomless and captures every detail of the music in its abyssal darkness. 


The album begins with sparse tones that I can imagine to be the thoughts in one’s mind before beginning to descend into the deep unknown.  This sets up the album very well and seamlessly flows into the first proper song, “Chram Prazdnoty.”


This song leaves the clean tones of the intro behind for a blackened death speed trap that rips through like a winter storm.  Clean guitar returns, mixing with the riffs for an atmospheric passage that still packs a punch.  The drums are unrelenting, the march of death itself.  The slower parts of the song are where the bass guitar really gets a chance to show the damage it can provide—immense.  Melodic tendencies make their way through in the final minutes–an icy touch that fits into the theme well.


“Genocida Snov,” uses more ambient/atmo textures to plant a seed that grows into a monolithic boss. It sounds subterranean but it always towers, especially the faster riffs that are dense as tree trunks.  The melodic guitar is engaging, bridging the gap between the faster pieces and the slower, more doomed oriented ones.  Some of the best riffs come around the 4-minute mark, a touch of Gothic depression to them.  


The title track is probably my favorite on the album—it has everything that I could want in death/doom while serving up all the previous elements in the best way.  The melodies are hypnotic, entrancing me into this frozen world.  The double bass is a constant reminder of the never-ending crushing weight that exists—the song embraces that as this is beastly heavy. After the halfway mark, another catchy melodic passage appears then followed by a path walked by sinister forces—the instrumental tone is pure darkness. 


Hrob’s “Brána Chladu,” has been a solid surprise for me as the band seems to have come out of nowhere.  But their ability to balance atmosphere and the crushing weight of death/doom is very engaging


Rating: Great













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