Piołun – Exolvuntur
Release Date: 22nd May 2026
Label: Malignant Voices
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Genre: Black Metal
FFO: Martwa Aura, Mgła, Blaze of Perdition, Deus Mortem, Gorycz.
Review By: Aeons Burning
Black metal and Poland go together like a drunk person ordering delicious food: you just know it’s going to be good, and if it’s not good, then at least it’ll be palatable. I’ve been following the Polish black metal scene for quite a while as it’s one of the freshest sounding black metal scenes out there right now, with there being a large number of bands that prioritize pure quality over quantity. The music itself can range from more of a pure second wave influence to being way more inspired by post metal, so the possibility for variety is pretty large.
So, where does Piołun fit into all this? Having come onto the scene in 2022 with their debut album Rzeki goryczy, this band definitely plays more of the second wave style, and is a duo consisting of Vitor and Sorh (Manbryne, ex- Blaze of Perdition). I enjoyed Rzeki goryczy well enough, but overall, I found it to be not quite packing the heft I wanted out of this scene. Naturally when I saw Exolvuntur lying in the promo bin, I jumped at the chance to review it. Unfortunately, Exolvuntur leaves me feeling much the same way the debut did.
To clear any misconceptions, Exolvuntur is not a bad album by any means. This is a solid record, but there’s just not enough going on to really make me want to pick this over other bands in the sphere. What I can do, however, is occasionally pick this up from time to time because some of the songs on here absolutely rip. Opener Manifest kresu is a scorcher, and Sorh shows why he’s one of the best guitarists in the scene throughout the record as a whole, because Exolvuntur riffs for days. Length isn’t an issue either, coming in at just under forty minutes, so the whole experience is short enough that one or two spins won’t hurt.
Possibly my favorite moments come in songs Czas and Moribunda, though, and those are the glimmering lead sections during the main riffs that add a sense of etherealness to Exolvuntur. Guitar work really is great from start to finish, but it just brings me back to my original point that while I enjoy Exolvuntur, I’d just much rather listen to something with a bit more urgency to it instead of the languid pace that seems to stay throughout the record. I can’t recommend this wholeheartedly except if you’re one of the diehards who will eagerly listen to anything from the Polish scene – but even then I think people will struggle to find reason to come back to this after more than a couple listens. I really hope Piołun goes for more than just solid on album three, because there’s so much potential this project has.
(3 / 5)
