COLD FUSION / SCHWADRON "Scontrum Act I"
self-released | CD-R | 2004
V-1 / COLD FUSION "Prince de la Mort / Libertine"
Beast of Prey | bop 1.3 | CD-R | 2004
NAWIA "Westerplatte"
Beast of Prey | 2004

Well, some time ago we reviewed a bunch of BOP's releases, and now it's time for another portion of martial industrial related music. No idea why there're so many split releases but I think it's all about promotion. Never mind.

"Scontrum Act I" is shared by Polish Cold Fusion and German Schwadron. Both projects have an itch for military moods and loftiness but, luckily, they differ in style. The first time I listened to the opening track by Cold Fusion, I couldn't resist the impression that these French speeches, dark & cold sound shakes, with the piano hidden somewhere in the background, is a Polish answer to Les Joyaux de la Princesse, but the next pieces don't make the things so obvious. The second and the third one are a quite successful mix of dark ambient moods with voice samplings, slow drumming, and some f/x, which reminds me of some peaceful passages from Law or Raison d'Etre. The fourth track, the last of Cold Fusion's share, is somewhat disappointing. He set himself to do an over 8-minute-long opus and, the previous three tracks being pretty short and quite impressive to these ears, this one feels a little boring - the music revolves more or less around powerful poundings in vein of Sophia, dark ambient background, and a screaming mob's samples. A run-of-the-mill work that contributes nothing new to the genre. German Schwadron leans more towards harsh noise areas. The coarse-grained sound structure of their part's first track places them near Aube or PBK's pigeonhole. The second, of more intense and abrasive noise reminds the works by, let's say, Folkstorm, but some, ekhm, "devilish" moans betray the group's black metal tastes too. The third track finally gives the answer why this affair has been released on the label specializing in martial industrial - military drumming, distant tunes... The fourth continues the mood with just pre-war tunes mixed with dark ambient osmosis, while the final piece displays more violent face of war-inspired music - intense, throbbing power electronics - cold and obsessively repeated commands, and counting in the German language...

Another split release, featuring Cold Fusion too, shows different facet of this project, but before we get a taste of his more progressive/experimental music, the label gets us to get through the block of 6 tracks titled "Prince de la Mort" by V-1. Why the guy behind this project named it after that lethal but often inaccurate WWII missile, while the music suggests the author was rather inspired by romantic tradition - Stocker, Byron, or de Sade is a mystery. When I listen to V-1, the military aspects of WWII are the last things I'd think of. Castle ruins, full moon, dungeons, and vampires come to mind immediately - gusts of wind, murky piano, dark ambience, and male/female voices reciting some poems... Quite static music, which brings some listenable moments, but quite boring in the long run. On the other hand, though, I couldn't remember when I'd listened to so rich with spoken texts dark ambient record before. Ok., let's leave it... For the opening of his share of the album, and to evoke a fitting mood, Cold Fusion chooses a vintage war march mixed with some cheesy beats and rumbling sound bands. The track signals that some style changes may happen in their, and the next piece just proves it. Cold Fusion shifts towards more progressive, strange stylistic fusion in vein of the latest Ildfrost. There's a pretty big deal of experimentation in his music, sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but that daring decisions bring some fresh air. He sharpened his sound, incorporated more violent parts with more live electro beats, and thus got closer to In Slaughter Natives, Mental Destruction and the like. What irritates me in his present style is the appearance of EBM/primitive techno elements. Actually, it's the only one track that was composed that way, but I am afraid he won't stop with one track in the future. Generally, his music got rhythmically varied; typically dark ambient moments are in retreat now. It's definitely a change for better. What remains the same is the choice of samples - in most cases related with WWII - be it war marches, speeches, radio announcements, although some old Polish pop songs can be found too. "Libertine" is the best material of this promo set.

As the press note says, Nawia was found in 1993. It's strange because I've never heard their works or about them or about their previous labels. Would there be a false bottom in the Polish underground? The leitmotif of the 3 track single is the place of Polish military glory in 1939 - Westerplatte. What can I say? The character of the music fails to do justice, much less homage, to those days, no trace of fighting, pain, and desperate defense of Polish soldiers. So maybe the murky aftermath? No way... Nawia presents a sort of a soundtrack that seems more suitable for an RPG game, or to some fantasy movie, but, for God's sake, not for that battlefield! It's a keyboard-only music, with some f/x, probably done with PC software. Boring !!!

Well, that's it folks. Beast of Prey keep publishing stuff that's at least listenable, but nothing outstanding here yet. However, if you want to get some Polish war inspired music, there's no one else here but Beast Of Pray, although I'd rather they were more critical when choosing they music they are to publish.

[krzysztof sadza]