Sometimes, to know what is happening in many moments in the world's history demands to read and hear what all the sides have to say. It's a gross mistake to take a side without understanding what really happened. There are many things to learn on Ukraine's history to see why certain things are being said and done. There are many people calling Ukrainian bands as 'Nazi' because there is a political resistance to left wing parties and values. Maybe if they come to listen to KHORS' latest release, "Where the Word Acquires Eternity", and to understand its lyrics, things will be easier to understand.

The quartet follows a personal way into Black/Death Metal (and to sound personal is a feature usual for Ukraine's bands). Their music has a personal appeal, and some melodies can be heard, as Folk elements from the country, and some touches of keyboards in many parts to create the right ambiences. It's brutal and aggressive, but shaped with melodies and the musical experience they carry, along with a personal energy. The quartet itself produced "Where the Word Acquires Eternity", creating something that preserves that essential crude and dirty touch that extreme Metal bands have to show on their albums, but in a way that their music can be fully understood. Obviously that it could be better, but the final result is really very good. And the keyboards parts were recorded by the invited musician Mihaylo Kujba.

"Where the Word Acquires Eternity" is a conceptual album. The lyrics are homages for a series of writers, poets, actors and many other Ukrainian intellectuals from the 20's and 30's from XX century that were persecuted, arrested and killed by the communists' purges (that killed almost 4/5 of the intellectual elite of the country). The core of the history told on the lyrics is a building called 'Slovo' ('Слово'). The lesson given is simple: you're not a fascist or even a nazi just because you're not into left wing ideas. The Ukrainian Renaissance was killed on its cradle...

Another interesting point: the lyrics of "Під Гострим Часу Лезом / Beneath the Keen Edge of Time" is a poem written by Mykhailo Yalovy (nicknamed as Julian Shpol), that was shot dead on 1937. All the songs are amazing, but "Голод / Starvation" (a heavy and brutal song with nasty guitars, but tempered with charming keyboards' melodies), the melancholic appeal of "Щастям Забуті / Blissforsaken", the symphonic Black Metal outfit used on "Море Моєї Душі / The Sea of My Soul" (with a great work on bass guitar and drums), the touches of Eastern Folk of Europe heard on "По Драбині На Спис / Up the Ladder to a Lance", and the wonderful contrasts of "Під Гострим Часу Лезом / Beneath the Keen Edge of Time" are the finest moments of the album.

KHORS created another great masterpiece on "Where the Word Acquires Eternity", and it's time for extreme Metal fans to give them a chance.