Review by Vinny for Martwa Aura - Lament (2025)

Poland is at it again. Producing great black metal is hardly a rarity in terms of a country that has Mgla and Deus Mortem to answer for. Martwa Aura deploy the production skills of Mgla/Kriegsmsachine maestro, M. for Lament, and a mighty fine job he does too. This is another blend of intense black metal that permeates any room it is played in, coating the walls in its acrid output, teasing melodies into the ether like a gang of insane dancing imps. Chiming guitar melodies haunt tracks such as ‘Lament czwarty’, whilst spoken word vocals appear here and there to help induce meditative states in the listener. All performed against a solid background of percussion, dashing tremolos and rasping, venomous vocals.

I was familiar with Martwa Aura following their last album from five years ago. Morbus Animus was a four-star album in the end, and it is pleasing to find Martwa Aura picking up where they left off on that album with Lament. There is no doubt from the beginning of opening track ‘Lament pierwszy’ that the band are on the attack, with this riffy little number firmly lining up what to expect from the rest of the album. Unafraid to be creative, these Poles hint at an almost post-punk style to the clean vocals on ‘Lament piąty’, whilst the rest of the track is a certified black metal banger. Gregor’s vocals can take on a real demented edge at times which underlines the urgency in the tone of the band’s sound. Martwa Aura’s music sounds pressing to the point of being smothering. It is in your face all the time, there is no hope of this being background music whatsoever. This is front and centre of your world for the duration of the record.

There is a fine selection of leads to pick from alongside all these riffs, and these blooping and looping melodies enchant and enhance the overall album experience perfectly. Forty minutes in the company of this record just flies by and before you know it you are being pulled through the final throes of the only track that does not conform to the “lament…” prefix. ‘Morbis Animus II’ seems to be a missing track from their previous album that has parts I & III in the track listing. This track is perhaps the slowest tempo on offer here and is almost a palate cleanser for the album to close with when compared to the primal intensity on show for the rest of the release.