Review by Felix on March 6, 2021.

In Serbia, there is a unit that has been regularly delighting its followers with new music at a consistently high level for years. We are obviously talking about The Stone, the association of dark souls around mastermind Kozeljnik that has been active for over 20 years. The flagship of the scene in the former heart of Yugoslavia released Kruna Praha in 2019, an EP that also contains the group's contributions to the split releases from 2014 and 2016 in CD format. Thus, 31:12 minutes of music hide behind the unfortunately rather generic cover. This much I can already reveal, will not disappoint any follower of the group.

The Stone remain true to their style. There are dark, incisive guitar lines that create a constant high density and intensity. Many different melody fragments are packed into the individual pieces, but any harmonic luxury is alien to them. The Stone celebrate a sinister, anti-life mood that feels like a sharp wind in the Serbian Carpathians. Much like a wilderness, The Stone's songs do not extend a warm invitation to the listener. They rather want to be explored, which is quite tedious from time to time, but mostly worth the effort. I have to admit that I am quite happy to already know 'Antiutopija' from the single with Isvind. The track was my door opener to the catacombs of the Serbs and I still like its fast-paced melodies, its permanent pressure and its dramatic break with the almost harmonic guitar solo afterwards. Moreover, it belongs to the catchier pieces of the idiosyncratic combo, which also makes it a bit easier for my old brain to find access to 'Antiutopija'. But the first two tracks of this EP are also convincing. It is true that a great black metal philosopher from the land of the group once said that perfect pieces have a length between six and eight minutes (see not only "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas"). But despite the consequently flawed brevity of less than five minutes each, the pieces leave their brand. The opener offers the typical hectic drumming, but also melodies that flare up briefly again and again, as well as strict, straightforward passages. The double bass is used sparingly but effectively, the guitars have a powerful sound and even the colleague on bass is clearly audible. A relatively soft break adds an unexpected sound colour... really a very good piece that comes close to the excellent title track of the band's last studio disc, which I must confess I rated too low with 76% from today's point of view.

The EP's title track provides another example of the ominous mood that is a trademark of the band. Besides the good riffing, the expressive vocals are particularly striking here. I don't understand a word, but the sound of the language and the voice as such fit perfectly to the style of the apostles of dark power. Finally, the two remaining songs are similarly structured. Thus, on the one hand they offer 100% The Stone, on the other hand a small deficit of individuality. That’s almost astonishing when you consider that the cuts are by no means all from one and the same pen. The Stone rely on teamwork, the guitarists and the bassist appear as components, singer Glad contributed the lyrics. It can go on like this - the new album Kosturnice ("Ossuary") is in the starting blocks. I am curious.

Rating: 7.8 out of 10