Catharsis is a large part of what metal has become in many of its corners rather than trying to implement a specific emotion or to simply devastate the listener for one reason or another, and it’s a concept that is slowly gaining steam across the underground with bands like Gaerea (just to name one) really showing us how it can be done to tremendous effect. Bednja is planted very deeply in that very vein with their last album really showing us what they’re made of with an interesting cross between black metal and hardcore to make for a sound that was unforgiving as it was deeply evocative. In a more condensed form that doesn’t waste anytime whatsoever and holds nothing back, it’s with their brand new EP that Bednja puts one foot in front of another as they make a real show of true, powerful suffering.

If there is to be any work that could ever fall in this particular vein of evocative heaviness that could be fitted with the word “bipolar” then I fully believe that this EP could very well be the epitome of that concept brought to life with its themes that are all too real in many places throughout the world with the frustration held within all but universal as it consumes all before it as we’re left stunned by such lashing out even as the somber finale lets us succumb to the pain of reality. Sandwiched between two somber pieces that pay tribute to conflicts that occurred within the Balkans during World War II are two utterly blistering works that show Bednja at what may very well be their most unhinged as there isn’t all that much form to them as they make up the core of the soul of “Ponosni U Smrti”. Focusing on that raw cathartic release paired with a near-formless execution that doesn’t feel like it has much more of a goal than to expel all the frustrations of society from the soul, Bednja has truly made a vicious and forlorn EP the likes of which that such a combination of styles is all but made for. There is little to no salvation to be had in “Ponosni U Smrti” even in the acoustic ending moments as this is unfiltered annihilation to the maximum with even the soft ending leaving you feeling hollow as you come to realize that the suffering will still go on, but the soul has truly been filtered because of the uncompromising performance that Bednja has put before us with it equally being a homage to what’s come before as well as a refuge to the present.

This is a step aside from what we have seen Bednja attempt before this while still very much being a work that is very much a record that couldn’t have come from any band other than this one with every step of the way showing us what’s likely one of the most unforgiving visages that the union of black metal and hardcore has seen to date as it slowly grows. The whole of “Ponosni U Smrti” is something that you must fully surrender yourself to in order to truly experience the piece for all that it is, and you surely will not be the same when you come out on the other side.

LISTEN to “Ponosni U Smrti” on Bandcamp here, or via YouTube here or below.

LIKE Bednja on Facebook here.