Woven throughout the unrelenting onslaughts of nightmarish, fire-blackened dread that comprise Hrůza Zvítězí are moments of hope, small glimmers of light amidst the consuming darkness. But the futile fleetingness of these moments ends up making the profound anxiety that coils itself around Czech solo project Kostnatění’s debut full-length even more oppressive; the complex, labyrinthine dissonance that lies within the heart of each of these tracks claws and drags at any attempt for conventional harmonic beauty, plaguing major-key lead guitar lines with queasy accidentals and falters that prevent them from climbing too far above the murk. According to D.L., the sole member of Kostnatění, Hrůza Zvítězí was a cathartic outlet for uncontrollable feelings of panic and fear of death that caused them to live within “a constant suffocating dread,” an emotional state that is evoked remarkably well by every carefully placed occult chant, droning guitar riff, or driving blast beat. From the infernal amalgam of textures achieved with the addition of trumpet in the title track to the brutally angular introduction of “Jedna generace” to the climbing bass lines and scalding noise augmentations of “Donekonečna v přítomném čase,” Hrůza Zvítězí displays both stellar musicianship and stunning emotional clarity.
Noise Not Music 