Enshrined in agonizingly set stone these tragedian monuments to existential reasoning are left staring fraught unto visions of violence and callous creation directed by the steadied hands of Silesia, Poland-based black metal quintet CZORT who return wizened, ethereally charged on this melodious third full-length album. Bristling with downcast, spiraling-loose energetic charge and humming in experting performance ‘Monumenty‘ offers finesse through the outright distraught moodiness of its movements, engaging the ear with stirringly melodrama while yet ensuring the listener they’re still capable of chest-thumping feature. We are welcomed warmly into the naked arms of their muse, a darkly lit yet thrilling step beyond the pale of black metal into increasingly personalized craft.

Czort formed circa 2016 as an anonymous group of folks who’ve kept it pretty close to the chest in terms of their intent, contributing to the south Poland scenery with little commentary on their first couple of full-length releases. Their debut LP (‘Czarna Ewangelia‘, 2018) was notable for its classics inspired and at-times melodic movements, a sinister but not unheard of sound out of their region. It’d been their pandemic era second album (‘Apostoł‘, 2021) that’d gathered greater interest as they’d begun touring within their country while the album leaned into cleaner production values and ear-catching guitar work, to the point of a few sublimely approachable pieces. For my own taste songs like “Narodziny Końca” from that second album had shown some immense potential in the melodic black metal minded realm, hyping up for this third album in hopes that touch would translate directly into ‘Monumenty‘.

As it turns out this third album only prolongs this thread of maturing songcraft, a refined and occasionally glowingly melodic focus which pushes to the edge of dark metal inspired fuse as ‘Monumenty‘ slinks in steadily and efficiently. As we step into the first few songs here the first thing to note is a continuation of the dual rhythm guitar work that’d been so notable on ‘Apostoł’ spread into cinematic, or, atmospheric layering on the first four songs all of which call for some manner of melodic directive laid out by way of strong lead guitar narration…. And they’re all solid headshots, hits which’d struck right where it counts from the combined opening effect of “Paroksyzm Ludzkosci” b/w the immutable revelry of “Zjawa” through the indefatigable hooks from main single/preview piece “Oczyma Monumentu“. The second song (“Zwaja”) does a particularly fine job of setting expectations for quality of compositions and performance, its striding dramatism set within the realm of Polish black metal compatriots (see: Odium Humani Generis, Halny, Blaze of Perdition) in some sense but also likely to check the ear of longtime fans of everything from Rotting Christ to Moonspell in their pre-commercial eras.

The break into those first four or so songs ensures ‘Monumenty‘ is an experience akin to catharsis, one which treads between ecstasy and anguish in a way which is familiar in its affliction while also reading as sufficiently performative, inviting the ear to be equally detained by the subject at hand. The elemental ideas gathering around their melodic black metal adjacent style are not exactly alien but those first steps on-board are captivating to say the least. There’ll be no divining the meaning of their lyrics just yet, maybe a loose translation of the song titles might direct the mood a bit more but the feeling conveyed by the ringing leads of “Oczyma Monumentu” should be fairly intuitive as a surreal sense of awe. Side A does a fine job of pulling the ear into its wiles, offering immediate melodic payoff and enough of a guiding hand to keep the brain from pulling away.

The second half of the album works a bit harder for those moments up front as “Cyborium Zgnilizny i Brudu” isn’t exactly beating around the bush with its reveal but the use of choral keys in the background, a bopping jog-paced movement with backing vocals almost gives off a pagan black metal ride to start. The folkish, slow-breaking chorus follows suit (see also: “Kuznia Materii”), a folken wheel back and forth through this dynamic rise and fall. This is perhaps one of the best times to point to the production values with a strong, grinding bass guitar with properly rounded definition directing the flow from verse to chorus and the punch of the drums keeping the mind guessing in terms of the song’s tonal shifts as they go on reveling in disgust. There is a distinct post-punk backbone to some of these rhythms, however buried it might appear to start but as we hit the end of the album and particularly the first few minutes of “Ubostwo Idei” this notion is reinforced.

‘Monumenty‘ is a trip through some manner of dissolution, a slow-fading point of inspiration that finds an odd maze-like step out of view after several album defining pieces early on, carrying itself with admirable stature through ’til the end. It is a dramatic step for Czort to have taken especially considering they’d been concerned their last album might’ve been too approachable. Here their work is outright inviting to start and only begins to flex its depth of meaning over the course of time. The wilting effect that it illustrates is from my point of view beauteous as it is dark, perhaps darker in its actual content than expected and this’d enough of a reinforcing note of depth for an album which is, again, enjoyable from the outset and easily given to pleasure listening from a superficial point of view. Even after three dozen listens I’d still found myself wanting to go back and spin this album one more time, especially for the highs of Side A and the mystifying folken side-step into the second half. The standard set here somehow manages to outdo their previous album without flatly repeating its effect, lending sense of identity which yet yields an ambitious new tome. For my own taste this is a prime standard one could only hope to achieve with third and defining full-length. A very high recommendation.

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