Nar Mattaru
Путь Воинa

From the cold Kaliningrad comes this “Путь Воина”, the latest work (2009) by Nar Mattaru, a Russian quintet active since 2003.

A majestic intro in full viking style leads us on the "warrior's path" and takes us into the sonic battle: the first track is indeed powerful and solid, garnished by the impressively brutal vocals of Dmitriy, while the second track offers a sharper yet still violent growl.

While staying true to black-pagan-metal (or other assimilable genres of which no one can exactly understand the boundaries), Nar Mattaru manage to insert interesting elements, like keyboard interludes, sampled sounds in the background of the title-track, or a short music box break that makes the album definitely more appreciable and complete.

Perhaps more vocal flexibility would have been beneficial, given that in the last tracks the growl remains always on the same pitch (similar, for understanding, to Barnes of Cannibal Corpse), and some songs end up being fillers, albeit well played.

The track where Sergey's bass stands out is also nice, while the final track, with a double bass reminiscent of Kataklysm, is a pearl of classic death-metal.

The frantic time accelerations typical of black metal always alternate with almost thrash passages or more cadenced moments, and denote not only good technique but also a compositional variety that is not always found in bands that play this genre.

ZOT!