Zørza - Twilight of the Golden Star (2026)^{Release ID: 69607}

The Polish atmospheric black metal band Zørza and their second full length studio album has a severe bloat problem. I was certainly worried at first when I picked up this record and saw Michael Kogler as a special guest vocalist. Those fears were met with a ten-plus-minute opener which has many of the same problems that Harakiri for the Sky albums have. Now to Zørza's credit, the album does get a little bit more refined after that point, but it does not pick up any momentum until about halfway through. The first three tracks are all mainly disposable and are generally forgettable. "Against Theocracy" takes me by surprise with its thrashier riffing and solid balancing between two closely related themes. 

The record ends in an odd place too as the thrash influence now becomes the forefront and "The Devil Wears Well" turns into a straight up crust punk song. I don't think the song is terrible; in fact I quite enjoyed it thanks to Zørza actually preparing it earlier on in the album. But as the closer it feels less like a definitive statement to end the album and more of a question. Questions like "What is Zørza trying to say on Twilight of the Golden Star?" or "Why is this album so painfully overbloated?" or my favourite one, "why does Zørza want to sound like Harakiri for the Sky so damn much?"

Best Songs: Against Theocracy, Stormspell

For Fans Of: Harakiri For the Sky, Groza, Hulder