The highly anticipated debut full-length by this Slovak band. Hrob was founded by Michal (guitar, vocals) and Kiko (guitar) in November 2021, as a side-project to their band Krudus. Less than a year later, drummer Narran and bassist Ivana joined the band, but this lineup would only last about six months. After the departure of those two members, Matej (also drums in Krudus) joined the band, followed by Vrana on bass (Radiation, ex-Goatcraft). With this solid lineup, the band recorded a self-titled demo in June 2023, which was released on tape format under Vrana’s label, Atomic Vision Productions. The first gig took place in August 2023 in Bratislava (at the legendary spot/garages under the Port Bridge), and since then, the band has played several gigs in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria and Germany, sharing the stage with bands such as Morbific, Fessus, Beton, Abortion, Cancer Void, Perversity, Sedem Minút Strachu, Teratoma, Kaosquad, Night Hag, Cryptic Brood and Claustrum. In October 2024, the song “Hrob” was featured on the compilation tape New Wave of Old School Death Metal, released under the Rotting Racoon Records banner. Now, nearly five years after their formation, Hrob’s debut album is at last upon us. Titled “Brána Chladu”, the band’s choice to growl in their native tongue loses nothing in the translation: Hrob’s first full-length is a putrid Death/Doom Metal abomination that evokes a sense of dread and desolation. As expected from the sub-genre, the album shifts between slime-slow passages soaked in brooding heaviness and shake-you-from-a-trance pummeling blasts. Where Hrob strive to elevate above the usual death/doom tropes are their well-timed injection of hauntingly melodic leads and caveman-crude tremolo riffing, respectively. In fact, where those leads sometimes are delivered in clean(er) tones is where “Brána Chladu” truly sends shivers down the spine, as on the album’s two bookend tracks, “Chrám Prázdnoty” and the monumental title track. Between them, the listener is transported into a dank, moist crypt forlorn in time -and reeking of rot, both physical and supernatural- augmented by sewer-level vocals that only add up to the horror. With chillingly sublime cover artwork by Jan Vlášek as the literal icing on the cake, Hrob’s “Brána Chladu” is a morbid celebration of those fertile years of the early-to-mid 90’s, when Death/Doom Metal rose from rotting Death Metal and each bled b(l)ack into the other, and thus highly recommended for maniacs of equally early Paradise Lost and Septic Flesh as well as diSEMBOWELMENT, Asphyx and Gorement.
