Transkarpatia [Digipak]

Symphonic black metal comes from all points of the globe, but it seems to have truly taken hold in Europe circa the early 21st century, as an avalanche of similarly styled bands began sprouting up from this particular locale. And one of Poland's leading entries into the symphonic black metal sweepstakes turned out to be the six-piece Darzamat. Featuring both female (Nera) and male (Flauros) singers (yes, you guessed it -- the former handles the melodic vocals, while the latter supplies the death metal growls), Darzamat's 2006 outing, Transkarpatia, expectedly merges both of the aforementioned styles together. A good example would be the track "The Burning Times," which starts off with rapid-fire guitar and drum work before leading into an Evanescence-esque melodic middle section. More of this style/approach follows throughout ("Vampire Prose," "Blackward," etc.), which makes Darzamat's fifth release overall arguably their most focused and strongest yet. ~ Greg Prato|