Rating: 8.5/10
Release: 1 March 2023
Label: Unsigned

Bulgarian folk metal acts are something pretty unknown and yet very original. You can recognize a bulgarian song in a field of other folk metal tracks from kilometers. Progressive tunes and strange tempos such as 7/8 are what makes Bulgaria special from this point of view, and the new single from Цар Стангра (Tsar Stangra) is no exception to this. Coming from Québec, Canada, they’ve released 2 demos and a full length and a single called Черна песен (Cherna Pesen), translating as “The Black Song” which features all the aforementioned influences. Such an original choice for a band coming from a very different country, you would never thing to find something similar in Canada, but I’ll admit that this new single is very well executed.

The band’s purpose is to melt black metal with bulgarian folk acts in order to spread the typical culture from this one country, and although I’ll admit there’s not a lot of black metal in this single, they’ve reached the “bulgarian” goal successfully. Black metal is found mainly in the screaming, as well as a fast guitar part near the first minute of song, but don’t expect fast drums or tremolo picking like in a pure black metal act. Instead, you’ll be offered very good accordions and keyboards here and there, as well as some synts giving an atmospheric touch during short parts, and this will make the happiness of more than just one folk metal listener.

In conclusion, this is a very nice single without any particular flaw. If you are a fan of Eastern folk metal from Slavic countries you’ll definitely want to check out this single and the band’s work. Recommended!