Another respectable outing from Eastern Europe, namely Lithuania. The band must have been around for a while. Although this album was released in 1996, some of the lyrics were written as early as 1992-93. Black metal is a name of the game here. Occasional guitar solos and healthy doses of folksy acoustic guitars are injected into the music. Plenty of keyboards are employed. Also, simplistic drumming, in the vein of Burzum, should me mentioned. Oh, and "Jie ateis..." gave me a flashback of the old Emperor. Poccolus though, have enough talent to do their own thing. The songs veer from the slow, lengthy epics ("Begeyle Pecolle," "Ugnis kyla virs Azuoly," "Kirsk, Medeine, Kirsk") to the shorter, more upbeat tracks ("Valkolakiai," "Tai bus mano triumfo valanda"). For the most part it's pretty well done. The band has a good sense of melody, and throughout the album they dispersed some very catchy guitar lines to keep songs from lagging. All in all, this is a pretty decent work, although it took several listens for it to really sink in. I suppose some of you might get bored during some of the lengthier songs, but the band really makes up for that with their faster, melodic parts and cool acoustic passages. Although not essential, Poccolus created a very potent work.

© 1999 boris