WRATH OF THE GODS: Slovenian hell-raisers Srd set to decimate Bloodstock Open Air this August
From the lush, delicately undulating plains of Slovenia comes the blackened, coldly insidious presence of something infinitely more sinister than you’d ever expect of such an idyllic, holiday brochure-worthy location. With barely a week to go until ritualistic black metallers Srd hit the hallowed grounds of Bloodstock Open Air this month, creator Goran Slekovec reveals how this brutal, brimstone-scorched abomination first came to be…
“When I sing of death, blood, pain and the agony of living and I'm covered with blood and ash, with death and decay itself, I feel it with all my senses,” comes Srd founder Goran Slekovec’s stirringly vivid assessment of the Slovenian aggressors’ blistering, blackly visceral sound. With this ritualistic blending of bristling aggression and grave-scented atmospheres taking its namesake from the Slovenian word for wrath, Srd was spawned in 2016 out of Slekovec’s central, all-encompassing vision of expressing “the suffering and agony of man.” Sourcing inspiration from influences as varied as black metal, Slovenian poetry and the bleakest of philosophical writings, the early stages of Srd saw its lone creator single-handedly bring debut album ‘Smrti Sel’ to meticulously penned fruition later that same year. And since these uncommonly accomplished beginnings, the expansion of this one-man operation into a now fully-fledged five-piece has only further strengthened and solidified this now-tautly intuitive unit.
The frontman reflects, “Moving on from a one-man project to a five-piece force, it evolved very naturally and became more organic due to the fact that every member brought something new; his style of playing, his preferable instrument, sound and, of course, his thoughts and reflections of being. It's impossible to explain how it changed and evolved through time and how it will in the future because for us it is an ever-changing flow that never stagnates. If it does, well I guess it becomes uninteresting and mundane. But how it changed and what is new and different from the past, I leave that to our listeners to decide. No need to dwell on that.”
Now turning their undivided collective attentions to bringing Srd’s blackened craft to UK shores for the very first time this month, the Slovenians’ awaited Bloodstock debut promises to be one of epic and violently exhilarating proportions. With the quintet's delectably dark audio finding a fittingly diabolical accompaniment in an intensely ritualistic live repertoire of bloody, brimstone-scorched theatrics, theirs is as complete and intense an assault on the senses as any black metal fanatic could wish for.
“From a viewer/listener standpoint, what the ear hears has to meet the eye to get the full effect of what it is given,” Goran observes. “But from our own perspective as musicians, it gives you the power to express on a stronger level. To create, reflect and express in the most destructive way possible.”
Catch Srd live at Bloodstock on Saturday 12th August
For more on Srd, check out www.facebook.com/SrdOfficial