Review by SzejkElRopa on September 16, 2026.

When I was preparing for the high school final exam, I was taught how to write an article. The idea was simple and painfully trite. What you needed was: a "catchy" introduction, which basically was an introduction that talked about a certain problem and a rhetorical question, "what to do about it"; arguments, which you had to develop; and, most importantly, linking words, which are, seriously, easy to avoid, yet they were the point-givers, so I was forced to use them. However, by far the worst was the word limit. It wouldn't matter if you wrote a consistent, interesting piece of writing; after exceeding a certain number of words, you'd lose points. Thankfully, when writing a review, I don't have to do that. I hope you're still interested, because I used one of the hooks I was taught - a personal story. Maybe, after all, I learned something at school.

A recipe for a good black/thrash metal album is also seemingly simple. You play some fast-paced riffs, add to this some wild tremolo-picking, and a lot of darkness, and you should be content. Obviously, nothing can be further from the truth, and the idea isn't as one-sided as the people who design the Polish final exams thought. You have to engage the listener; you have to play a consistent story that matches up all the way through the album, and many other things that I won't talk about. Fortunately, Garota's EP - "Strąceni W Ciemność" - has everything I just described. Thrashy, furious elements can be heard, for example, in the vocals, which are rapid and vehement in nature. The opener - "Soli Mort Gloria" - excels at a fast pace most of the time, especially at the end; however, it lets the music breathe in the middle section. Importantly, the black metal influence isn't limited to tremolo riffs and the overall aesthetic. "Korona Zepsucia" incorporates a slower, dark riff, which feels like the titular falling into darkness. It gives the music enough substance and atmosphere to captivate an average fan. The same track also features more frantic, even unpredictable elements, making this song a good headbanger.

Just as was the case with the word limit, a good album cannot be too long unless you have big things to say. Fortunately, "Strąceni W Ciemność" clocks in at 21 minutes, which means it won't fall into the aforementioned category. This amount of time is also sufficient to give enough room to show off the skills; however, I believe that EPs rarely give the full idea of the music. I might wish the album's story developed more; however, the current shape is still fine. There are plenty of different riffing techniques, without one of them dominating. There are tremolo riffs, traditional heavier stuff, as in "Soli Mort Gloria", and more straightforward black metal, atmospheric passages, as in "O Porannej Gwieździe". The drum work varies between blast beats and thrash beats and is absolutely enough for this type of album. The bass can be heard prominently in the slower moments. As for the lyrics, they are obviously in Polish, and as far as I can tell, the persona tries to rebel against everything, beaming with hate and scorn, yet as the album develops, he slowly but steadily begins to question his existence and concludes that only death is real and nothing will save him. Obviously, that's only my interpretation, and nobody, except for the author, knows what the message really was.

"Strąceni W Ciemność" was a simple but very promising piece of music. Maybe it didn't evoke some extraordinary emotions in me; however, it was interesting enough to keep me fully engaged through the EP. Is this groundbreaking material? Absolutely not. Is it something worth listening to? Absolutely yes. I think some longer compositions and incorporating guitar solos would work, because these guys have a talent for those things. Maybe they've done it before, and I don't know? As for the first encounter with Garota, I think a fair score is 8.5/10. It's not that I necessarily disliked anything on this album, but I simply prefer longer forms. Nevertheless, this EP is definitely recommended for anyone interested in an aggressive yet atmospheric take on black/thrash.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10