SICULICIDIUM - A rothadó virágok színüket vesztik

Siculicidium is one of the underground metal bands from Romania that has always caught my attention. Even if the band has been around for almost 10 years and has had pretty constant activity when it comes to releases (one demo, two EPs, one split and one full album), the reactions from the Romanian extreme metal audience seem more than reserved when it comes to Siculicidium. Perhaps Hungarian language lyrics are a barrier for most, but then I think that Burzum has lyrics in Norwegian and there’s no barrier there.

This material is titled A rothadó virágok színüket vesztik, in approximate translation Withered Flowers Lose Their Colour. To be honest, what Pestifer and Lugosi Béla make is as authentic and sincere as it can be, and I’d say they are quite unique in the Romanian underground landscape, and by that I don’t mean the music, which has strong references to Tormentor, Ildjarn, Darkthrone or Burzum, but rather their preservation of the Székely identity of the band members. Starting with the name, a reference to the massacre of the Székely by the Habsburg Empire, and continuing with the Hungarian language lyrics and ending with the art on the band’s releases, everything is a tribute to their identity. I would really love to see this from more members of ethnic groups in Romania, materials with no hint of extremism, just offering a bit of that ethnic group’s values.

On A rothadó virágok színüket vesztik, Siculicidium give us five new songs, and two songs recorded in the rehearsal room Halványan az idï ellen and A sajnálat utolsó lehelete (Taxidermia), which appear in their final version on the album Utolsó vágta az Univerzumban, which was released in 2009. The first song, Zuhanás, is, as the title says, a dive into the deep waters of old school black metal, atmospheric in places and not at all rudimentary. The second track of the record, Holnap majd felgyújtom az erdït (translated: I Shall Burn the Forest), gives us evil and grotesque black'n'roll, filed with all sorts of simple but effective guitar interludes, combined with Béla Lugosi’s demonic and captivating vocals. The third song, Várnak a varjak, is rather a folk-ish interlude, almost two minute long, referencing specific parts on so many records that appeared in the early 90s. Effective old school. The fourth song is Ökörtej, direct and full of hatred, as an eighties’ black metal song should be. Songs 5 and 6 are, as I have mentioned above, included on the album Utolsó vágta az Univerzumban. It is interesting to see the initial raw versions of the songs and how they turned out in the end. Bakarasznyi mumus is not a scary song, but a short piece built on an acoustic guitar part overlaid with Béla Lugosi’s demonical voice, unfortunately too little for what the band can really do.

I will end by saying that A rothadó virágok színüket vesztik is an interesting material, worth considering if bands like Tormentor, Ildjarn, Burzum and Darktrhone are among your preferences. If you are looking for polished productions or quick and infernal songs, Siculicidium are certainly not what you’re looking for.

H. Nota: 7.5