Preludium
Impending Hostility
7.7
Most death metal aficionados are aware that there are certain sounds when it pertains to death metal. There’s that Swedish sound (Entombed, Dismember, Bloodbath, etc), the Floridian sound (Deicide, Malevolent Creation, Cannibal Corpse), heck there’s even a Belgian/Dutch sound (Aborted, The Cleansing, Dawn of Demise, Moker). And of course, there is the Polish sound that is immediately identifiable by the likes of Vader, Behemoth and Decapitated, and that sound is developing, gelling and coming into its own as other bands ply it, and one such band is Poland’s Preludium.
Chunky, heavy yet with a degree of complexity and a dash of Middle Eastern hues, Preludium, with their third album, isn’t doing anything new or exciting, but they are adding a Hail of Bullets type of war metal atmosphere (song titles include “Hostile Area”, “Blessing of War”, “Warfare”, and “Death Campaign”) to the already competent, by the number Polish assault. But I ended up rather enjoying many moments of Impending Hostility’s 31- minute runtime as it's a simple but effective blitzkrieg of no-frills Polish death metal that doesn’t try to be complex, and while there are Behemoth-ish hues here and there, it’s not as blatant as Hate’s recent opus.
The opening march and tank-track rumbles of “Legacy of Destination” signal the album’s warring intentions with a stirring pacing and ample swirling militancy. “Realm of Void” and “Desolation” are more immediate, direct strikes with sub-three-minute salvos with very solid chunky climaxes, on par with their peers. Generally, the album is rife with consistent, but not mind-blowing songs that fill a death metal void adequately. The old war metal fallback, the air raid siren opens the album's requisite slow churner, “Bitter Cold”, which is a tangibly Hail of Bullets-influenced track for those that care. The album's other slow track is the standout closer “Warfare”, a Middle-Eastern-tinged instrumental and shows the band has a firm grasp of the slower, moodier side of death metal, even though their more blasting tracks like “Blessing of War”, “Death Campaign” and especially "Execution" are still well done and even contain enough hefty lurches here and there.
With a burly but not overdone production, some convincing low-register growls and a sense of confidence, Preludium is a very competent act, though I don’t quite see them crashing Hate, Decapitated, Behemoth and Vader’s party just yet. But as we have seen with bands like Yattering, Trauma and Lost Soul, it can be done.
