(written by Islander)
Our site is not a well-oiled machine. Everyone here pretty much does what they want, with very little coordination. And so it is a complete coincidence that today we’re premiering a song from a new album named Międzyczas by the Polish black metal band Odium Humani Generis AND publishing a very good interview with its vocalist/guitarist Biały. I didn’t know that our Comrade Aleks was conducting that interview, but it arrived out of the blue just as I was beginning to work on this premiere feature. Kismet!
Aleks‘ interview, which will follow this premiere in about one hour unless a meteor strikes my home, provides insights about what inspires this Polish band and how they approach their music. Among other things, it tells us that the band took their name directly from Mayhem‘s song “My Death” from the album Chimera, but Aleks also identifies its even older source, an expression by the famous Roman historian Tacitus in his work Annales, a Latin phrase that literally means “hatred for humanity”.
In the interview Biały, referred to the concept — “Contempt for humanity, society, disappointment in the world, disappointment in oneself, and a constant rush towards an inevitable end”. But he also further explained:
“Of course, we don’t constantly walk around angry at humanity and the whole world, but every day there are more and more reasons why it would be better to escape somewhere where there is no one. In the face of the ever-approaching end, nothing in human affairs has any significance. The lack of meaning in life and in the world, the constant passage of time, are very important elements of our lyrics and the meaning of our music.”
photo by Radosław Chojnacki
Aleks then suggested that music itself is a form of communication and asked what point there is in making music if there is no meaning in life. Biały answered:
“Well, yes, but what other choice is there? We are, life happens, we have to find our place in all of this. If we can manifest our anger and fears in this way and somehow give vent to these emotions – it’s worth it.”
That same interview also includes a discussion of how the band’s music has evolved, about the broadening of their musical horizons to “touch on inspirations from outside the black metal canon”.
Which now brings us to the song we’re premiering from the Międzyczas album. Its name is “Idée Fixe“, a French phrase that’s probably more famous than the Latin source of the band’s name, a psychological term that refers to “a preoccupation of mind believed to be firmly resistant to any attempt to modify it, a fixation” (per this source).
The powerful melodic strains of this song, rendered by piercing guitars that both ring and abrade, are in keeping with a beleaguered world view, channeling moods of grim disgust and painful hopelessness. As the drums move from racing to wandering, and the bass warmly throbs while vocals roar and scream, the melody becomes both more musing and even more anguished, more introspective but still unsettling.
But the song continues to evolve, surging and slowing and also bringing in big tumbling beats, sizzling chords, and ethereal pinging tones, as well as soaring cascades of fervent striving and jolting grooves. At times, the experience becomes mesmerizing, and near the end, rocking and skipping beats, coupled with vividly gleaming and chiming riffage, bring the music toward something that might sound defiant and maybe even hopeful — though the outcome is clearly in doubt.
Despite its downcast moods, the song is exhilarating to hear, and mixed in a way that allows each performer’s vivid role to stand out, with a balance between harsh roughness and clarity. And as forecast above, it also deftly draws upon ingredients outside the conventional black metal canon, not forsaking black metal at all yet creating an out-of-the-ordinary experience.
ODIUM HUMANI GENERIS are:
Biały – Guitars, Vocals
Ominous – Guitars
Bartos – Bass
Murukh – Drums
Międzyczas is scheduled for release on September 27th by the Polish label Malignant Voices, in CD, vinyl, and digital formats, and you’ll find pre-order links below.
The album was recorded with Mariusz Konieczny at Heavy Gear Studio, and it was mixed and mastered by The Fall (Owls Woods Graves, Hauntologist, Mgła (live)) at Skrzypłocz Studio. The graphic design was created by Emilia Śpiewak.
The song we’ve premiered follows the release of the title track “Międzyczas”, which you can stream below. Like “Idée Fixe“, it’s a song of changing facets, definitely dark and depressive in its melodies and moods but also electrifying and wholly immersive, accompanied by truly shattering vocals — and it’s also intensely memorable. (Once more, it’s a thrill to pay attention to what each performer is doing as the song follows its changing path.)
PRE-ORDER:
CD: https://bit.ly/OHG_CD_preorder
Black Vinyl: https://bit.ly/OHG_vinylblack_preorder
Violet Vinyl: https://bit.ly/OHG_violet_preorder
T-shirt: https://bit.ly/OHG_tshirt_preorder
ODIUM HUMANI GENERIS Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/odiumbm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/odiumhumanigeneris_
Bandcamp: https://ohgofficial.bandcamp.com/merch
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3VPnJGm
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