In the right proportions, sorrow and heaviness can make for one of the most potent creations in the entirety of the metal spectrum. Any band can come around and bring either one to their own concoctions to make for engaging flavors that cut into the very deepest wells that the human soul has to offer, but it takes a band of a different caliber to bring them together in such a manner that cannot be seen as anything short of transformative. Having become exceedingly proficient at it years ago, it’s with their newest effort that Groza stands as a menacing beast of sorrow that holds nothing back.

The very name of Groza is something to be respected. With the act’s reputation only rising as the years have gone on, one can only wonder how far the band can still take their sound before they reach any sort of barrier or an unfortunate decline that the tolls of time inevitably take their toll on any name that presses on for so long. To live up to that reputation is to overcome great adversity and rise up to an occasion that incredibly few are capable of achieving with the very power of Groza nothing to defy! Rather than succumbing to nothingness, Groza is shown to have grown into a truly imposing beast whose outward appearance is certainly foreboding, yet it’s within the depths of the work’s humanity that a work such a “Nadir” takes on an undeniably massive presence the deeper you fall into the work. Destructive in its raw form but shockingly restorative for all of its cathartic notions, “Nadir” is simply all-encompassing and a real treat to lose yourself in. Much like contemporaries along the lines of Gaerea and Harakiri for the Sky, this is black metal that stands by many of the core values of the sound, yet never once does “Nadir” stray from the personality and magnitude of what a band like Groza brings to the table.

A breed of album that demands to be lost within over the course of multiple listens, Groza has made for an exceedingly dense piece that has much to offer should you simply spend time with the album, picking apart its layers and seeing all that the work has to offer. Simply take the step underneath the umbra “Nadir” has to offer, and I can almost guarantee a spectacular experience.

“Nadir” releases on September 20th via AOP Records!

LISTEN to advanced tracks from “Nadir” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Groza on Facebook here.