Шитрок (SHITROCK)

2012 saw the release of the four-track EP 'Shitrock', and the led title track provides an excellent example of what is so good about these guys when they get it right. Musically there is plenty of folk metal, along with pronk and prog, and while the guitars crunch and are incredibly heavy there is also room for brass, a balalaika and probably the kitchen song. It flexes, it moves, it twists and moves through myriad styles and fashion, all of which just makes the listener want to turn it up just that little more. The EP is incredibly intense, with a great deal going on, as the music is powered and pushed along.

Three of the songs are less than four minutes in length, while the last is in excess of ten, and it is this that shows just what this band are really capable of. There are times when it feels like modern opera, with over the top baritone male vocals and a female soprano who has been multi-tracked to sound like a choir, all with robust folk metal accompaniment underneath. This feels much like a return to form than their previous album, as there is no longer a sense of parody and instead here is a band determined to carry through their vision.