Let's address the elephant in the room: Batushka went through a nasty split after their debut record and there are now two groups releasing music under that moniker. Many people claim that the band reviewed here stole the initial idea and should be completely ignored. I'm not going to be pretentious and claim one band deserves the right to exist and the other doesn't. That will be settled in court. This review aims to describe the music offered on Hospodi.

The original Batushka combined sacral elements inspired by Eastern Orthodox Liturgy with atmospheric black metal music on Litourgiya. This combination can still be found on Hospodi. ''Wozglas'' opens the record with sacral chants and you can almost smell the incense through the speakers.''Dziewiatyj czas'' transitions into a fierce black metal song with appeasing chants, smooth chimes and hypnotizing percussive sounds. The music offered here sounds like a coherent continuation of the debut record and manages to bring back the magic of said album even though the initial surprise while listening to the unique predecessor can't obviously be reproduced.

Some slight changes have been introduced to spice things up. The album sounds straighter than the predecessor. This mean that the expressive vocals are more domineering. The fierce guitar riffs are more present in the production and meander between black and industrial metal. In a few passages, even the drums take more space which gives the album an overall less timeless and more contemporary touch.

Some tracks introduce completely new elements. ''Polunosznica'' was criticized for its opening but those aren't sacral chants but rather make us think of a group of peasants having a party which one would rather expect from a folk metal band. It's an unusual shift which grabs the listener's attention. ''Utrenia'' is easily the most contemporary song on this record with its domineering industrial metal riffs that are equally present as the mesmerizing sacral chants. This record's heaviest tune ''Pierwyj Czas'' comes along with variable extreme metal drum play that might make the band more interesting for more traditional black metal fans.

In the end, Hospodi manages to keep the elements that made the debut record great in form of sacral chants, smooth percussive elements and occasional sound samples intertwined with atmospheric black metal stylistics in form of fierce vocals, glacial riffs and hypnotizing instrumental soundscapes. Instead of only repeating itself, Hospodi also adds a few new elements such as more varied drum play, occasional industrial metal guitar riffs and expressive vocal performances. Other noteworthy changes are the more detailed and modern cover artwork and the Polish song titles replacing repetitive Cyrillic ones. The record finds the right balance between trademarks from the predecessor and new soundscapes and manages to keep the listener's attention from start to finish. That wasn't the case for Panikhida, the release of the other band playing under the Batushka moniker that was at times plodding, repetitive and rushed. Strictly musically speaking, Hospodi is the superior release.

Final rating: 80%

Batushka released a surprising debut record with Litourgiya that combined Eastern Orthodox Liturgy with blistering black metal elements. The band however had a nasty split and there are now two bands that exist under the Batushka moniker. This group here revolves around songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and original founder Krzysztof Drabikowski. The other group is centered around vocalist Bartłomiej Krysiuk. Both bands went to court to claim to be the rightful interpretation of Batushka and both bands quickly tried to release new material after the split to pull fans on either side.

Regardless of what might have actually happened, what ultimately matters to me is the music itself. From that point of view, Panikhída is a slight disappointment to me. The ugly cover artwork and bland song titles desperately try to connect to the groundbreaking debut but the music isn't as atmospheric, enigmatic and inspired as it was four years earlier. The sacral choirs have been reduced and only make a few short and mostly uninspired appearances on this release. Instead, this record is much closer to atmospheric black metal with blistering cold riffs, varied drum play and sinister vocals. This approach works well in a few songs such as the brutal and sinister ''Песнь 6 '' and the apocalyptic and rhythmic ''Песнь 8'' that ends the album on a high note. However, the new approach is missing the unique atmosphere that made Batushka stand out in the first place. The vocals have grit but lack variation. The cold guitar riffs sound equally repetitive after a few tunes. The varied drum play on the other hand is decent. A few sacral choirs employed with care at least partially bring back the magic of the predecessor.

Batushka's Panikhída has several promising elements such as gritty vocals, dynamic drums and atmospheric choirs but the songwriting feels rushed and repetitive. The album sounds as if Drabikowski had had enough ideas for a decent extended play of four songs but felt the need to quickly release a full length effort before his former band mate and concurrent Bartłomiej Krysiuk could. Without trying to claim this or the other band is the rightful new version of Batushka, Krysiuk's new record Hospodi sounds much more entertaining, fleshed out and inspired than Drabikowski's at times repetitive, plodding and bland Panikhída that offers solid atmospheric black metal but can't compete with the unique predecessor or reinvent it creatively.

Final rating: 60%

Sabaton once started as a serious power metal band that treated historical subjects with care, energy and respect but after the inspired Carolus Rex record and the split with two thirds of the line-up that followed immediately after, the band has gone downhill. The last two albums offered repetitive power metal tropes by the numbers regardless of the serious matters treated in the lyrics. Independent single ''Bismarck'' raised my hopes earlier this year since the song had a more creative structure than usual, sounded epic and bold and was accompanied by a great music video. To be honest, none of the tracks on The Great War can even remotely compete with said single and my advice would be to download said single and ignore this joke of a record entirely.

I don't mind a band developing its very own style but when the exact same patterns are blandly repeated throughout the first nine tunes of the album, the band becomes a sad parody of its former self. The songs are all three and a half minutes long. They all revolve around supposedly catchy but extremely predictable choruses. The melodic guitar play in the key of Yngwie Malmsteen sounds so repetitive that it could come from amateur players from a high school band who have just learned how to play a handful of cover songs. The domineering keyboards imitate stereotypical fanfare sounds and feel phoned in and copied and pasted unto every single tune. The bass guitar is nearly inaudible and is given no space to shine. The mid-paced drum play is uninspired and might as well come from a computer.

The biggest issue is that the songs are short and uplifting. When one sings about the devastating effects of First World War, you simply can't get to the point in just three minutes and deliver vocal and instrumental approaches that would rather fit the soundtrack for a show for toddlers on Disney Channel. It's a lack of respect towards the soldiers and civilians and their families that died and suffered back then. Metal bands have often been inspired by war and there are numerous outstanding songs and records about such historical events but Sabaton's The Great War is without exaggeration the weakest, silliest and cheapest approach I have ever listened to. It's insulting.

The only reasons why this record didn't get the worst possible rating are the final two songs which are at least decent. ''The End of the War to End All Wars'' isn't spectacular by any means but at least takes the time to establish a serious atmosphere over a decent running time just below five minutes. ''In Flanders Field'' is obviously inspired by the famous John McCrae poem which might be the best poem of the twentieth century. The song isn't even a genuine Sabaton song as we hear choirs performing the poem in an emotional, gripping and haunting way to end the album on an atmospheric, creative and memorable note. It's ironic indeed that the only song that doesn't feature any of Sabaton's members is actually the best.

Sabaton has kept repeating itself over the last three records and each album got progressively worse. The band doesn't seem to care about the serious topics of war anymore but only seems to be interested in making money and performing in front of drunk festival fans these days. While listening to this output, I felt like the guy on the decent cover artwork. The band harms its own legacy established throughout the first six studio records of its career and one simply can't take the Swedish quintet seriously anymore. I think the time has come for the band to split up before completely destroying its own legacy. Sabaton's The Great War is a dragging defeat and the band should be buried and rest in peace now.

Final rating: 15%