Review by Felix on December 28, 2023.

You do not know Plaga so far? Then let me start with some general statements to give you a first orientation. Of course, Plaga is black metal. But not only this. Plaga is drama, pain and underground. Plaga is a haunted castle made of sounds. It’s a sin that these dudes haven’t recorded new material during the last ten years. But hope dies last.

“Trąby zagłady” offers three tracks, the first ones the band ever published. Okay, picky idiots scream right now: there are just two regular songs and an acoustic intermezzo. That’s true, but come on, we dive for more than 17 minutes into the eerie sounds of a band where impressive, nerve-shattering shrieks contribute a lot of the atmosphere which is usually created by keyboards. The flair of the material achieves a high degree due to spooky melodies on the one hand and attacking full-force-ahead sections on the other hand. Sometimes the guitars appear like a flickering candlelight, sometimes they are like a strong cone of light in the sky of a dark December night.

The songs uncover a fine instinct for cold, insidious melodies. The band has given plenty of room to the guitars during the recordings and their icy tones prevail. Nevertheless, neither the partly psychopathic vocals nor the drums come off badly. Only the bass guitar is conspicuous by its absence – unfortunately no isolated case, as we all know. However, the overall picture of the recording sounds shimmers in adequately dark colours. Even more amazing is the musical maturity which is reflected in the two fully equipped songs. They score with coherence and justify their pretty excessive lengths. The passion of the musicians beats any kind of boredom and so the 17 minutes pass by much too soon. Yes, there are some repetitive parts included, but they lend the pieces expressiveness rather than boredom. Furthermore, the Polish language adds authenticity and so I have nothing to complain about. “Trąby zagłady” marks an obscure, spiritual and well hidden gem. If you still do not know Plaga, I hope you are going to change this situation quickly.

Rating: 8.2 out of 10