Vehemency Black metal from Serbia is not the most common thing to hear so I was more than interested to see what Kozeljnik has to offer on their second full-length, and I was pleasantly surprised due to its enough unique take on black metal. Kozeljnik provides something fresh even if nothing too special.

Deeper the Fall’s power resides, first and foremost, in the guitar work. Although Kozeljnik seems to be inspired by the recent religious black metal movement à la Glorior Belli, they have their own touch to the melodies that are sometimes almost rocking, for example, during the very first seconds of the album. Also, the singer (also guitarist and bassist) delivers a bit cleaner shrieks than what is common in black metal, singing some proclaiming verses entirely clean too.

Production-wise, the album leans towards the safe standards of modern, sterile black metal but never going too far with it - only the drummer’s fastest bursts start to sound a bit too plastic for my liking but that is only a minor problem. There is something else to nag about, too: while the drums have that certain crystal clear sound, the guitar production is slightly weaker so that Deeper the Fall doesn’t sound as balanced as it could have been with an altered guitar sound. But, as said, these are just minor things that don’t take away the quality of the compositions.

Those who want their religious black metal with some different tweaks and fresher ideas (you can even hear violin on two of the songs here), Deeper the Fall is worth checking out; but in the end, the album doesn’t go enough far with its personal ideas to keep me interested hundred percent. A satisfactory album, anyways.