Band: DZIEWANNA
Country: Poland
Title: Widziadło
Label: Independent
Year: 2019
Style: Melodic Folk Metal

Review:
Just before the end of the year 2019 „Widziadło” was released in official way. Tittle („Phantom”) is taken from effect f brocken spectrum in mountains. Dziewanna (the name of the band is taken from slavic legends and folk herbarium) is a music project of Agnieszka Suchy, ex. Othalan’s singer, and the music on the one hand, it is a kind of continuation of what melodious Othalan played, but on the other you can hear the difference. The debut  Dziewanna’s album combines at least several styles of music: melodic folkmetal, medieval-folk, folk rock and ambient, acoustic neofolk and poetry. And all this was fastened with a “buckle of melodic”, artistically refined as real folk metal. From the first notes played (the song "Dnieje" - “Sunrise”), the Slavic-Viking climate neatly combines with the spirit of the mountains, where the “highlander-sounding” violin is pleasing to the ear and soul... A moment later, the whole enters into a musical dialogue with the broadly understood Slavic and neo-medieval sounds. Dziewanna does not spare listeners a moody acoustic guitar in a poetic edition, weaving many motifs from Slavic beliefs and myths into the lyrics - we also have a neofolk version of "Świergołuszka" (popular Polish  traditional folk song), which inadvertently even associates with the iconic music motive of Robin Hood from the Clannad’s repertoire. And when the ballad-nostalgic mood begins to prevail, the thunderer Perun (slavic god of thunder and war) introduces some energy to the music, the note returns to folkrock-metal tracks, without losing anything from the fantasy atmosphere. This is another big positive moment of this album - well-balanced proportions between emotions, delicate flute, singing violins and “predatory” guitar riffs. Dziewanna also moves musically to the south of Europe: "Oj, ružice", taken from ex. Yugoslavia but on the album in the neo-Celtic edition sounds fresh and at the same time is a great material for acoustic playing at festive fires. And in the end the sound becomes more harsh and gently changes into Scandinavian climates, to finish the album with the rock (and the title) "Widziadło". 
Reviewed by Vilcin
Rating: 8/10