Anonymous droning black metal priests - A review of Batyushka's Apostol

If anything, then this second studio album released within three days, proves that it's not too complicated to reproduce the sound that made the original band of the same name so unique four years ago. Try to hide your real identities, take a mysterious cover artwork inspired by Eastern Orthodox culture, add some Cyrillic song titles, plug a few smooth chorals in the opening tune, mix droning guitar sounds with stoic drumming, add a muddy underground production and end the record on a high note with the heaviest track. If you follow these steps, you might as well create the sixth, twenty-second or three hundred nineteenth group of the same name.

In the band's defense, the second release Apostol is a very slight improvement over the redundant debut record. The drum patterns are a little bit more diversified and adventurous but still overtly present in the production and too smooth for a black metal direction. The guitar work is droning yet again but overall heavier than on the predecessor which puts this successor closer to drone or black metal while the previous output was best described as simplistic ambient release. 

Aside these few positive elements, Apostol has similar flaws as its predecessor. The Eastern Orthodox elements are very minimal and the band lacks creativity, direction and identity. The musicianship is fairly limited and mostly based upon simple industrial metal drum patterns and repetitive guitar patterns. The song material ends up sounding boring, redundant and repetitive. It's very difficult to distinguish the different songs that just rush by and fail to leave a deeper impression. In addition to this, the joke of bringing to life a fourth band of the same name might have worked with the unexpected debut record but this follow-up doesn't have that amusing momentum anymore.

Still, one has to admit a slight improvement in the musicianship and production and if this band continues like this, its tenth studio album might actually turn out to be a masterpiece and could be released right on time for Halloween. On a more serious note, despite some minimal improvements, this band in general and this record in particular still aren't worth your attention, money or time.

Final rating: 20%