Review: O.D.R.A./PARH – O.D.R.A./PARH

O.D.R.A./PARH is, as you probably already expected, a split release between O.D.R.A. and PARH. Both bands are extremely heavy sludge metal bands coming from Poland. O.D.R.A., currently consisting of vocalist Hudy Byk, drummer Ziółko, guitarist Kobi and bass player Świta, already released five full-length albums and one four-band-split, with 71TonMan, V Rukou Osudu and Mushrooms of Yuggoth, before. The latest release by O.D.R.A. before this split with PARH already dates from two years ago, which was their fifth full-length album, simply titled V. Bass player Świta just joined O.D.R.A. recently, the bass-parts that can be heard on this split are by O.D.R.A.’s former bass player Wrona. PARH, consisting of vocalist Shkielz, bass player Mariano Mariani, drummer Piotr Śmigielsky and guitarists Anslaut and Bedi, already released two EP’s and one split with Baalberith before, with that split, which also was released in 2017, being the latest PARH release before this split with O.D.R.A..

O.D.R.A. and PARH deliver a very energetic and heavy split with eleven tracks in 35 minutes. The first four tracks are from O.D.R.A., after that PARH takes care of the remaining part. O.D.R.A. starts opener Ghetto WUWA with some very distorted guitars to bring you in the right mood for this split. Soon after that it gets clear what it’s about with their music: very heavy and thick sounding guitars and drums, such as in Trzonolinowiec, combined with a battering bass, such as in Seria 1305. Every O.D.R.A. track also contains a nice guitar solo by Kobi. However, what stands out the most while listening to each aspect of O.D.R.A.’s music on itself are the extremely intense shouting vocals by Hudy Byk, such as in AgendaSystem, but unfortunately these are a bit too much mixed towards the background. The production of O.D.R.A.’s part isn’t really very clear, but that also contributes to the nicely sounding dirtiness of their music. O.D.R.A. doesn’t play very fast, but it surely is heavy, crunchy and dirty as hell. Exactly this is O.D.R.A.’s power: the extremely heavy and dirty totality they show.

While O.D.R.A.’s part of this split is definitely worth checking out, I like PARH’s part a bit more. That’s probably because PARH puts a bit more variation into this split. Violent Time is the track that stands out the most, where it comes to this. This hardcore-like pounder which rages at a very high speed in 41 seconds is the most different compared to the other tracks on this release. However, PARH also brings a bit more variation within their other tracks, with tempo-changes, such as in We Are and  Epileptic Creations. After O.D.R.A.’s four tracks, PARH starts with a short intro, titled Flies. You probably already guessed what can be heard during this intro: flies of course. PARH also brings very heavy, thick sounding guitars and drums, such as in Epileptic Creations and Control, that also includes a nice guitar solo, combined with a battering bass, such as in We Are and Bobby L., but with a bit more variation. The vocals of PARH’s Shkielz are also very extreme and intense, but these are more clearly audible and show a bit more style variations compared to those of O.D.R.A.’s Hudy Byk. For example we hear, besides his intense vocals that are sounding somewhere between screams and shouts, some growls, such as in We Are and Epileptic Creations, some more shouting vocals a la Mayhem and Taake, including “blegh!” in Bobby L. and some clean vocals combined with very intense screams in Violent Time. That everything is more clearly audible during PARH’s part compared to O.D.R.A.’s part doesn’t mean that PARH’s part got a slick production. Don’t be scared, it still is pretty dirty and raw.

This split between O.D.R.A. and PARH is a very heavily pounding, dirty sounding split that surely is recommended to everyone who likes their metal extremely dirty and thick. When you are someone who digs extremely intense vocals, then also make sure to check out this split!

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