Poland’s Kir have created a bleak, unforgiving world on their debut full-length, L’Appel du Vide. Roughly translated that means ‘The call of the void’; but whilst the word ‘void’ might conjure up thoughts of vast expanses of nothingness, the very opposite applies to this record. These three blokes have packed an awful lot into the five tracks that make up the album…

However, the opening brace of instrumental opener DestinationVoid and second track Monument don’t really hint at the blackened opulence to come; Time poor wretches that we all are, it’s just possible that you might listen to those couple of tracks and decide that you’ve got more pressing things to attend to than listen to the rest of the record – but that, my friends, would be a serious error on your part. A very serious error indeed…

Like much of the best modern black metal, L’appel du Vide is an album that requires a bit of time, and a bit of patience before the listener is able to unlock it’s secrets. Immersion is the only way to get inside the heads of vocalist Harvest and stringed instrument wizard Ferment; But that immersion leads to a better understanding of what’s going on, an appreciation that these two blokes aren’t just interested in stoving your ears in, they want to impart some important truths as well.

Of course, you don’t need to wrestle with hidden verities to get your jollies, and, as noted, once the album gets going there’s more than enough of the good stuff on offer to appeal at the most visceral level, but the superb musicianship and songwriting on Znów, Eter and especially the riotously good closing track Apoptosis really does deserve to be recognised as rerally rather special and definitely a cut above a lot of the opposition. Imagine a more thoughtful Behemoth, stripped of the cartoon bombast and rooted in real life misery, and you’re getting close to just how good this album is.

L’appel du Vide is out now.