With either of Batushkas, the one thing I expect is atmosphere. This is a watered down, almost radio-friendly, completely soulless attempt to do that.

I don't know where they were trying to get or achieve, but this feels off. Good production, but everything sounds like a mash-up of church chants and generic metal melodies.

I never liked Babuska, Batushka, Bartłomiej Krysiuk's Batushka and even less Patriarkh, this is more less some kind post and soft sound, I did not like this one,

I like it but there's still too much choir and spoken word. Last song from 1:25 to 1:49 reminds me a lot of Velen from Witcher 3.

"Wierszalin III" has a huge The Witcher 3 vibe. The sound of the suka is very recognizable.

The way he writes "Патриархь," sticking a soft sign on the end, is just ridiculous. Even funnier than those goofy titles like Machine Head's Øf Kïngdøm And Crøwn. It makes the word sound so silly in Russian, like something a small child would say, not serious at all. You can tell right away the guy has zero clue about the language or culture he’s ripping off.

As for the music, I don’t really get why anyone still cares about it. Feels like this dude’s been just stealing listeners' time since at least Раскол.

I hate how bart is still not giving up on batushka since the original album is listed on patriarkh's spotify. fuck this guy and this band

Written by Nightmare^ on 03.01.2025 at 10:58

With either of Batushkas, the one thing I expect is atmosphere. This is a watered down, almost radio-friendly, completely soulless attempt to do that.

I don't know where they were trying to get or achieve, but this feels off. Good production, but everything sounds like a mash-up of church chants and generic metal melodies.

Went in pretty skeptical, but was positively surprised (maybe low expectations on my part). Is it watered down and radio-friendly? For sure.
But I actually liked that they seem to be taking a bit different, even soft approach with all the chorales and spoken word on this album. So found myself suprisingly enjoying this one.
Makes me appreciate Derphs Batushka even more though

Solid record, but i prefer the last half of the record. The music is good overall though.

Top Releases of 2025

Written by Shmelevod on 04.01.2025 at 14:35

The way he writes "Патриархь," sticking a soft sign on the end, is just ridiculous. Even funnier than those goofy titles like Machine Head's Øf Kïngdøm And Crøwn. It makes the word sound so silly in Russian, like something a small child would say, not serious at all. You can tell right away the guy has zero clue about the language or culture he’s ripping off.

I think your statement needs a little clarification for people who don't speak the language
There's a caveat.
It is not the soft sign 'Ь' that they should be using, but rather the hard sign 'Ъ'. The font of the band logo is very unfortunate in blending the final letter with its neighbors, so one would be excused in supporting either version. As a native speaker, I hadn't doubted its being the correct hard sign, but your comment made me take a closer look, and now I'm undecided, lol.
Before the early XX century language reform, the hard sign was put at the end of the words ending with a consonant in both clerical and secular practice. So what the native speaker will instantly think of is either something archaic or something associated with the orthodox church. Which is exactly the intent. But the implementation is lacking

This man stole the name of Batushka and made so much trouble for the original mastermind. This is garbage by a man who is a piece of shit. Frankly they shouldn't even include this shit band anywhere
And the music is just awful. Unoriginal and uninspired. This is pure garbage by a talentless hack

For those people who are worried about the ratings below 5 being neglected, I'm happy to point out that this album has (as of right now) received votes across the complete rating spectrum from 1 to 10!

Written by F3ynman on 06.01.2025 at 22:30

For those people who are worried about the ratings below 5 being neglected, I'm happy to point out that this album has (as of right now) received votes across the complete rating spectrum from 1 to 10!

So mixed, huh?

I guess people are most likely more judging the drama than judging the music, but a score so mixed like that picks my interest. Maybe should give it a listen.

Written by Pavel_K on 05.01.2025 at 23:57

Written by Shmelevod on 04.01.2025 at 14:35

The way he writes "Патриархь," sticking a soft sign on the end, is just ridiculous. Even funnier than those goofy titles like Machine Head's Øf Kïngdøm And Crøwn. It makes the word sound so silly in Russian, like something a small child would say, not serious at all. You can tell right away the guy has zero clue about the language or culture he’s ripping off.

I think your statement needs a little clarification for people who don't speak the language
There's a caveat.
It is not the soft sign 'Ь' that they should be using, but rather the hard sign 'Ъ'. The font of the band logo is very unfortunate in blending the final letter with its neighbors, so one would be excused in supporting either version. As a native speaker, I hadn't doubted its being the correct hard sign, but your comment made me take a closer look, and now I'm undecided, lol.
Before the early XX century language reform, the hard sign was put at the end of the words ending with a consonant in both clerical and secular practice. So what the native speaker will instantly think of is either something archaic or something associated with the orthodox church. Which is exactly the intent. But the implementation is lacking

Yeah, you're right, the Ъ is totally legit here. Still I’m not so sure about the font in the logo being hard to read, looks like an obvious Ь to me. That’s exactly my point though, it’s just cultural appropriation without even bothering to use their brain.

Great church like music with black metal infused in it. Number 3, 4 and 6 are my favorites.

Kiss the icons of the Saints of Patriarkh for there work is good and holy.

Written by Sehroth on 06.01.2025 at 22:26

This man stole the name of Batushka and made so much trouble for the original mastermind. This is garbage by a man who is a piece of shit. Frankly they shouldn't even include this shit band anywhere
And the music is just awful. Unoriginal and uninspired. This is pure garbage by a talentless hack

Nice try, "original mastermind". Unless you really are him, have you ever met these guys?

Not a black metal fan, but this album is amazing!

I came to this album with open mind not thinking about the drama... First of all, I don't think the sound is unorginal and the Witcher comparision is totally on point. But man, I felt like I was participating at a Christian/Orthodox mass. For some that could be a positive, but as a child forced to participate in these kinds of events that was a disgusting experience. Let the preacher keep his morals to himself!

Written by Paz on 16.01.2025 at 14:45

I came to this album with open mind not thinking about the drama... First of all, I don't think the sound is unorginal and the Witcher comparision is totally on point. But man, I felt like I was participating at a Christian/Orthodox mass. For some that could be a positive, but as a child forced to participate in these kinds of events that was a disgusting experience. Let the preacher keep his morals to himself!

Yeah I could totally understand that.
I never had that childhood but going into a church or seeing a mass always freaked me out and I guess that's kind of the appeal 😆 kind of like how we drawn dark apocalyptic themes in metal in general.
I find it a unique theme for a black metal band but can see how it'd be a bit too close to home for people who have trauma from Christianity. k