Review by Vladimir on December 8, 2023.

Innocentia is a new face in the Croatian metal scene which dabbles in depressive and atmospheric black metal, consisted of two members, Stranac, aka Grof Vragovzov (Voha), and Knez, aka Knez Svitogor (ex-Stribog, ex-Exterior Palnet). They recently released their first single 'I Close Thy Eyes', and not long after, they released their debut album ...And Winds Shall Caress via Bandcamp on December 7th. Without further a do, let's take a look at their debut release and what mysterious sorrows it holds...

The music of Innocentia is deeply melancholic with an immense expression of agony, doom and gloom, with a big emphasis on slow tempo riffing and drumming, with maniacal and schizophrenic vocals that scream out in pure pain with rawness and harshness, backed up with clean guitars, acoustic guitars and synthesizers that amp up the emotions. The album is like one story told through chapters, where each song carries a deep and personal background behind it, all the while you go through this heavy rollercoaster of emotions that crawl under your skin as you listen to the music. My personal favorite is the sixth track 'Her Tears Are My Final Execution', which has some incredible catchy mid-tempo riffing and drumming, followed by some beautiful melodies that create a completely different mood than the rest of the album. The songwriting is split into two categories, that being ambient and DSBM tracks, which is a very 50/50 approach that despite its unusualness still manages to convey the sorrow and tears through the music. The overall progression of this album seems rather simple and easy to follow along, as track by track it goes from ambient to black metal without a prolonged pause between the two. My only complain I have about this album is that it seems incredibly short with its total length of 26 minutes and 8 seconds, which really brings this journey to a very quick conclusion, and it makes you begging for more. To some it may not seem like a bad thing, because in the end it's always nice to have even a small glimpse at something new and promising, although I still feel that its fast jump to conclusion is tolerable but still a bit underwhelming. Nevertheless, I hope that this opens new doors for potential future releases, because I would hate to see this potential go to waste, especially since I crave for more. The sound production of the album is quite solid and properly done in my opinion, with the biggest highlight of the production being the clean guitars and synthesizers which sound clear and in place.

Like I said, the potential of this newfound band should not allow itself to go to waste after just releasing this one album, because it sure does promise a lot and it is perhaps the most ambitious work of both Knez and Stranac, who are gradually climbing up the stairs of becoming two experienced musicians in the Croatian metal scene. The brainstorming ideas of these black metal minds were put together quite well that resulted in the album that is ...And Winds Shall Caress, and I can certainly say that these two know their intentions with Innocentia. If you are looking for something deeply personal, melancholic and full of sorrows, then I highly suggest that you give this album a go.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10