Review by JD on August 3, 2014.

The Czech Republic has been offering good extreme metal for a while now. They seem to take metal, throw away the blueprints and make it their own. Many forms of metal are invoked from this former Soviet Union satellite, and one such act is blackened pagan metallists Panychida - a band I have reviewed awhile back.

Combining various types of instruments along with their brand of black brutal guitar riffs and blast beat drums, Panychida has finally come of age. Their last album I reviewed (2011 - Woodland Journey - Rating: 8.8) was showing a band that was near their potential and yet not quite there at that point in time. With this new album and matured as musicians, this band has now have arrived.

With eleven great tracks flowing effortlessly as one, it is difficult to choose a few tracks to talk about so the solution is to put it out there. Grief For An Idol is one of the strongest albums in the whole black/pagan metal scene. They know when to go at it full force, when to pull back and when just to go for the jugular. The truest mark of a band that has finally worked it all out.

This is an album that has made a firm fan of me. Panychida has proven my prediction right, and is one that probably will hit my top ten. It is satisfying for me when any band lives up to every ounce of their potential and they even give hints that there is a new level to come. I'll wait to see what it is that is next, and hope like mad that they have not peaked just yet.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Review by Felix on December 1, 2021.

Czechs and Slovaks were compatriots until 1992. When they parted from each other, both sides did not share many tears. Too many national differences had shown up, not least because of a different destiny before and during World War II. It is therefore all the more surprising that Czechs as well as Slovaks have an affinity for a pretty strange form of black metal. Master’s Hammer hover above everything, but Malokarpatan or Krolok also have something to say. (Cult Of Fire and Death Karma impress with their individuality as well, but their kind of blackness points into a slightly different direction.)

So here we have Krolok’s long-player number two, Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky. Its almost magical artwork visualizes the title perfectly and the music also casts a spell over the listener. For those who only feel good if they have a reason to feel bad, I confess that the quasi-instrumental, pretty melodic intermezzo 'Path To The Haunted Ruins' is okay, but not outstanding. Anyway, I do not have more information to feed your hunger for bad mood, because Krolok present a mature black metal output with a very eerie atmosphere. The lead vocals reverberate extremely and give them a nearly supernatural character, the often-used keyboards underline this impression and yet the heaviness of the music does not suffer from these two elements. Despite some theatrical moments, Krolok play nothing else but authentic black metal. They just add a touch of wizardry in form of outstanding melodies, background vocals that seem to have nothing in common with our earthly existence and unexpected twists and turns. It’s not only the title track (simultaneously the closer) that fascinates in view of these details. Already the introduction of 'Black Lore Of The Fens' opens the gates to the weird realm of the Slovaks. But don’t be fooled by the relatively soft beginning – the opener also provides a lot of dark energy. The high-speed drumming is at risk to drown in the eerie, surely not perfectly balanced production. However, this kind of individual black metal only comes into its own with an equally individual sound and it is hard to believe that Funeral Winds & Crimson Sky would reach a higher level of quality with another sound.

The songs deliver drama and tragedy, brutality and harmony. It’s really cool to experience the mix of mid-paced black metal, surprisingly occurring vocal lines and old school riffing in 'Towards The Duskportals'. The band varies the intensity masterly and thus I have the feeling that this song (and the entire album) marks a very late, but also very brightly shining highlight of shitty 2021, the year the virus is still alive. But at least we and the big number of black metal legions are also not dead yet! Therefore, we are able to enjoy comparatively straight, atmospherically dense songs like 'Reptile Abyss Beneath Dowina'. Okay, instead of a reptile, I rather see flying bats before my inner eye when listening to this song. It doesn’t matter. Just make sure that you don’t miss this album. It will not set off an avalanche that results in the re-union of Czechs and Slovaks (I bet a medium high amount on it), but it will make your day if you like slightly dotty yet extremely competently designed black metal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10