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Z popiolów i krwi... is the second album from one-man black/pagan/Viking metal band Norden. Taking cues directly from Bathory (there's a cover of "The Land" from Nordland II if you weren't sure), Norden fills the album with epic songs crafted with tremolo picking, keyboards, acoustic instruments and sounds and a variety of vocal styles from rasps to gritty choruses to clean singing. While there are some nice elements on the album (I particularly enjoyed the acoustic guitars and singing thrushes), I found the riffs didn't quite sweep me away like I believe they were intended to do. The rasps and clean singing are fine, but the choruses are weak and occasionally flat which tends to dispel any vision of far away places Norden is trying to create. For me, Z popiolów i krwi... worked as background music but it really didn't grab me when I focused too much on it.