Description

Krada is a band from Selyatino in the Moscow region. This is a band with a strong ideology and the performs pagan black metal but also incorporates classical motives and folk sound much taken from musical environment they have grown up in. As a result, the group managed to achieve luscious, high-quality music. Conceptual and melodic music with a dark atmosphere perfectly harmonizes with literally composed lyrics. Krada released their debut album Steps in 2008 and it was followed by I Am Fire in 2009. On Steps Krada practically sounded like two different bands. One being a rather typical symphonic black metal band, blasting along at a thousand miles per hour; the other being nice-sounding folk band. On I I Am Fire, it appears that the split personalities of Krada have blended into one great metal band with a healthy dose of folk to give it some nice pagan atmosphere. A lot of the aforementioned ferocity of the band comes from the vocalist, whose venom-filled voice is given a lot of room to snarl its way through the songs. His voice has that really angry sound that reminds me of the vocals of Rodosvet and Dub Buk. In fact, the overall style of Krada would fit pretty well between those two bands. It’s black metal but with varied pacing and some thrash metal in the mix. The drummer does far more than just blastbeats on the album, though those are still easy to find. Some competent flute playing, audible bass, mild but atmospheric keyboards, and occasional female vocals and what sounds like a zhaleika add some flavour to the album. Unlike the too-brief debut album, this one clocks in at a solid 40 minutes and doesn’t waste much of its playing time. There are two brief instrumentals among the eleven tracks, one being an arrangement of a Rimsky-Korsakov piece, apparently. The strange thing about the album is that it is divided into two chapters. The first chapter ends with a nice Russian-language cover of Burzum’s “War,” which is track 7 on this disc, and then track 8 begins the second chapter of the album with an instrumental, followed by two metal tracks and another instrumental. Was this second chapter originally meant to be a separate recording? I have no idea. At least it all seems to go together and doesn’t create a distraction when I listen to it. Krada isnt a well-known name in Eastern European pagan metal yet, but this album is good enough that they should gain some well-deserved attention. If you’re a fan bands such as Piarevaracien or Znich, or bands like Kamaedzitca, Rodosvet, and Dub Buk, you’ll probably find Krada’s I Am Fire! to be a welcome addition to your collection.

Track list:
1. Trinity On The Hand Of The Great Sich-instrumental
2. Obereg
3. The Quintessence Of Lies
4. The Harbinger Of Ragnarok
5. Fraternal War
6. Yary (Way Of The Warrior)
7. On Demand – Life
8. Here And Now
9. Wild Hunting-Apraxia cover