J-Man The Russian metal scene is not one that I've spent a tremendous amount of time exploring, but it seems to me that Moscow's Gardarika is certainly among the country's more unique exports. On their second full-length album, 2012's Chthonica, the band explores a progressive style of thrash metal that sounds unique even on an international scope. Resting somewhere between Voivod and Fates Warning, the music of Gardarika has plenty of fast thrash riffs, but also throws a surprising amount of melodic hooks and complex rhythmic phrasing into the mix.

As such, Chthonica should have no trouble appealing to thrash fans craving something a bit more intricate than usual (or prog metal fans looking for something on the heavier end of the spectrum), although I wouldn't quite call this a flawless album. For one, the thickly accented and unique vocal style of Alex Izgarny is a bit of an acquired taste, and his voice doesn't impress me very much - although I've spoken with folks that find his delivery beneficial to the music, I don't think his voice has the level of dynamics that the compositions call for. The songs can also be challenging to distinguish from each other without numerous repeat listens, which is pretty substantial when we're talking about an album with as much rhythmic variation as this one.

Still, Chthonica's high level of musicianship and original stylistic approach makes it worth a listen for fans of progressive thrash metal. Although I think Gardarika hasn't fully hit their stride with this LP, they've put together a strong observation with an impressive attention to detail.

UMUR "Chthonica" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Russian, Moscow based metal act Gardarika. The album was released through the band´s Bandcamp profile at a "Name Your Price" tag in October 2012. Even though Gardarika have only released two full-lengths at this point, they are quite a seasoned act, having existed since 1995.

...and that is quite apparent when listening to "Chthonica". The musicianship is excellent and the interplay between the band members is strong. Lead vocalist Alexandr Izgarniy has a voice that reminds me slightly of Blaze Bayley (Wolfsbane, Iron Maiden, solo), albeit with a pretty thick accent. It´s rather charming though and not at all an issue. The music is not easy to describe, but if you picture "Angel Rat (1991)"-era Voivod or maybe their self-titled from 2003 and mix it up with some traditional heavy metal elements, some old school thrash metal elements, a slight folk influence in the melody lines and some progressive ideas you´re half way there. Gardarika are generally very well playing and we´re treated to some nice solos and solid rythm work. It´s the rather original vocal rythm patterns that make the band´s music stand out the most though. Sometimes I´m not even sure it´s intentional, but perhaps more a matter of Alexandr Izgarniy not mastering the English language to an extent where he puts the pressure on the right syllables in the words. No matter what the cause is for the unusual vocal patterns, the music is as a consequence highly original sounding.

The material are overall of high quality even though I could have wished for more tracks to stand out. "Chthonica" is however still an interesting album all the way through the 49:09 minutes long playing time and repeated listens of course also reveal more hooks. The album is packed in a powerful and detailed sound production that suits the music well. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.