Батюшка - Панихида

After hearing the message that the band’s once anonymous founder, Krzysztof Drabikowski, posted in desperation on YouTube, I did not think I would be getting a new Батюшка album so soon, at least, not from him. The past few months have certainly been eventful and have kept fans of the band’s magnificent breakout debut album, Литоургия, with their eyes fixed on the current tumult unfolding with the band this year, and it’s what made me so surprised to hear Drabikowski coming out with a new album as soon as he did.

A few months ago, Drabikowski posted a message on YouTube, that was picked up by fans and spread far and wide very well, saying that his former collaborator  Bartłomiej Krysiuk had hijacked the band and taken control of almost all of  Батюшка social media. Drabikowski said that Krysiuk had been pressuring him to make faster progress with a follow-up to Литоургия, eventually became impatient, and resorted to going behind his back to recruit stand-ins to form his own version of the band, essentially splitting the band into two factions (at least for now with a legal dispute about the rights to use the band’s name ongoing). This is why I was so surprised to see that Drabikowski had beaten Krysiuk to the first full-length of 2019 despite the split being driven apparently by Kysiuk’s impatience for this exact album.

Even before the release of this album (ever since Drabikowski’s message really), much of the band’s fan base had been embroiled in the conflict between the two sides, and with both versions of Батюшка releasing singles over the past few weeks, Drabikowski independently and Krysiuk through Metal Blade Records, the verdict in the metal community at least has been decided.

I myself decided to perform the same side-by-side test a few weeks ago that many Батюшка fans did with the songs “Chapter I: The Emptiness - Polunosznica (Полунощница)” from Bartłomiej Krysiuk’s version of Батюшка, and “Песнь 1” from Krzystof Drabikowski’s version of Батюшка. “Chapter I: The Emptiness - Polunosznica (Полунощница)” is certainly not a terrible song from an entirely aesthetic standpoint, and its chorally-supported progression made for an at least meditative atmosphere, but it seemed to be a very timid and dragging composition, one that sounded more like someone more familiar with blackgaze recently becoming influenced by Батюшка than Батюшка itself. This was largley the response I saw echoed most by fans of Батюшка, and it certainly hasn’t helped Krysiuk’s case that Metal Blade disabled comments on the video for the single’s release. But even more damning was how much “Песнь 1” blew it out of the water.

“Песнь 1” very quickly confirmed for most of the Батюшка fan base Drabikowski’s legitimacy as the original creative sovereignty of the band, and after hearing the track, I couldn’t help but agree. The intermingling of liturgical choral vocals and faster atmospheric black metal was, as many put it, a display of the true heart of Батюшка. The song is clearly far more confidently put together and not only closer in resemblance to Литоургия, but also something that feels like a more natural continuation of it. It’s a great song that makes far more comfortable use of the signature elements of the  sound than what Krysiuk had offered up on his version’s first single, and its familiar enrapturing by way of the low-register choir vocals over both galloping and spiritually atmospheric forms of black metal makes for a great start to an album that, whose swiftness I can take with a grain of salt, makes for a respectable, though not rivaling follow-up to Литоургия.

I say that because Панихида feels at least partially constructed from leftovers from Литоургия. Like I said, “Песнь 1” ushered in and begins the album on an exciting note of that crucial spiritual vibrancy that has made Батюшка what it’s known for. But the rest of the album proceeds with a tangible sense of being less fully matured than what its creator probably had in mind and it ultimately comes across in the form of a more homogeneous album than the debut it’s trying to live up to. Again, the whole contextual dilemma in which the album was released almost certainly has had an impact on its creation and is an unfortunate grain of salt that has to be taken with listens to it.

The song “Песнь 2” is the longest on the album, but despite its interesting progression through its several sections, it stands out in the track list more for its featuring of this oddly light-spirited, classic metal guitar chord motif that seems just a little out of place on a Батюшка song, the rest of which is more in line with the kind of soulful meditation that the band is known for.

I may have been a bit extreme earlier in calling this album homogeneous as the next song, “Песнь 3”, seems to take on a lot of the same atmosphere that much of American blackgaze does after its slow, clean guitar intro, while the very next song, “Песнь 4”, makes excellent use of some slow eight-string guitar riffing as its more menacing vocals and double-bass fury take the album back to a more sinister and cultish vibe.

The echoed baritone/bass vocals that show up on the liturgical “Песнь 5” are some of my favorite on the entire album. The song rings very true to the sound of the debut and is possibly one of the most suspicious tracks as far as this album being made of leftovers is concerned, but for a potential leftover from a great album, the song feels pretty well fleshed out and perhaps its suspected age and time to mature is part of why it stands out at one of the more well-groomed tracks on the album. And while I like the odd intro of the subsequent “Песнь 6”, it does feel to be one of the more dragged out tracks on the album, with the composition kind of walking in circles to bide time until the album’s shortest song, “Песнь 7”, enters. “Песнь 7” feels like another leftover from Литоургия with its liturgical vocals flowing smoothly over fast double-bass/blast-beat drumming, deep, bass-y guitar grooves, and bright guitar atmosphere.

“Песнь 8” ends the album on a somber, yet seemingly triumphant note, wrapping together all of what Батюшка combines so well. It feels much like a continuation of the tracks before it that echoed Литоургия so clearly in a way that concludes the album as a largely identical offspring of Литоургия, and perhaps that was kind of the point for Панихида. Being that Drabikowski was up against a former collaborator who had (in his words) seized much of the band’s legal collateral alongside a relatively big record label, he really didn’t have much going for him going into this legal dispute other than his creativity and his ability to channel the heart of Батюшка. Like I said, this album needs to be taken with a grain of salt, and I imagine that its close resemblance to Литоургия was an intentional display of Drabikowski’s artistic sovereignty and his being the driving creative force that produced Литоургия.

While writing this, I learned that Polish courts ruled in favor of Bartłomiej Krysiuk’s version of Батюшка bearing the rights to use the Батюшка name just a few days ago, which may explain why Drabikowski released Панихида so quickly. I’m honestly not surprised that the court ruled in favor of Krysiuk and Metal Blade Record, it seems like because he and they had access to all the band’s legal and organisational resources, Drabikowski unfortunately left himself vulnerable to this kind of mutiny, and perhaps midway through the proceedings he realized this and decided to make his one last stand for Батюшка in the musical sparring arena. While Krysiuk has the legal upper hand and the advantage of not having to rush his release quite as much as Drabikowski did, his first single doesn’t really suggest that those advantages are even going to matter. The gulf in class between the two sides’ material so far really is what it comes down to at the end of the day, and even if Krysiuk has convinced the courts that Батюшка is his project, he will have a hard time winning over the fans (who have mostly decided their allegiance to Drabikowski) without a serious step up to contend with Drabikowski’s work, which seems unlikely with what we have to gauge this debacle by currently. For now, court ruling aside, Drabikowski’s Панихида stands as a far more worthy follow-up to Литоургия, than what Krysiuk’s version’s new album seems like it will be. As seemingly rushed due to what appears to be unjust or at least unfortunate circumstances, Панихида is an album that bleeds from the heart of what made Литоургия and of what made Батюшка.

Батюшка/10