ninehertz

As attentions turn to end of year lists and release schedules quieten until the new year, this is blast from seemingly out of nowhere to provide a spark just as the cold is setting in. Czernina, from the West Pomeranian region of Poland come barraging through the ice with a blackened heart.

A blackened-hardcore heart to be precise. From the off, as they launch into stylish post-metal and hardcore quick smart, it has similar thrills to the likes of This Gift is a Curse. They can change tempo too, Eigengrau is slightly more withdrawn, although this merely allows for its chaotic nature to reveal more of itself. It feels of the Plebeian Grandstand school of a terrifying, lurking hardcore threat within black metal ferociousness.

There’s discordancy in the guitars, nice plays with pace, and times when it edges towards the emoviolence and crust worlds of Fall of Efrafa, Morrow and many of the Alerta Antifascista roster. There are a couple of longer tracks at its end that draw out their sound, more variance at play, although still providing adrenaline spiked blasts.

I had wondered if the great period of European blackened hardcore was coming to a close, tied perhaps to the reduced activity of the label at the hub of a good percentage of the best of the sound, Throatruiner Records. But this year has seen the sound reinvigorated, with outstanding records by This Gift is a Curse, Crossbringer and more. Czernina are new to my world but have instantly entered that select group with an excellent album, bringing fire and fury in a period usually quiet with the winter wind down of releases.