The mysterious Darzamat have returned with their third release called "Oniriad". An obscure Gothic / Avant-garde Metal band from Poland, unlike anything else we've been treated to lately, from that country. They are the only band I know of from Poland who do not have their female singer as the prime lead, in their music, like say Delight or Moonlight etc.... They use the duel vocal male/female format. Although some may not care for the male vocals, they do not bother these ears at all. His name is Rafal "Flauros" Gorel, and has to me, a very normal sounding male voice. No growling, just singing in a normal octave. He reminds me a bit of the singer for Asgaard, not as dramatic, if you've ever had the pleasure of hearing that Polish band. But for those put off by the male voice, there is the heavenly vocals of one Katarzyna Banaszak to wet the pallet of us lovers of female voices in our music. She too, has a normal type singing voice, which is a bit childlike at times. Her voice is not varied and she sings with the same style consistently. She is not the best of the femme singers, but not the worst either. The voices fit the music perfectly.

Their music use to be more Black Metal than what I'm hearing on this new effort. Their other two releases, "In the Flame of the Black Art" and "In the Opium of the Black Veil" have recently been re-released and re-mastered by Polish label Metal Mind and I thought them to be more on the Black Metal side in style. "Oniriad" borders on being some sort of Gothic Medieval type of music, which even the band itself, has a hard time classifying into a genre. Lets just say, its pretty complicated music, hey? Thus why I give it the Avant-garde label. I cannot lump them together with any of the other Polish bands with female singers. They are different, very different. And as I've stated at the beginning, mysterious. But you don't have to go crazy trying to figure out the music. Any one of their albums is a worthwhile purchase and a good listen. Their instrumentation consists of vocals by the two I have mentioned previously, and Midi programming by Szymon Stutzek, Guitars by Krzysztof Michalak and Drummer Pawel Chudzicki. The production and sound level are very good for this release as was the case with their re-mastered previous albums. There are nine tracks and the album seems allot shorter than the 40 plus minutes it actually is. Standout tracks are the opener "Into the Abyss of Forgotten Woods", "The Longest Journey", "Time", and "Moon Has Imprisoned Me in Her Shrine".

For fans of the band, "Oniriad" will be a fine addition to their collection. It show's a new direction for the band in their musical talents. It would be hard to give references, such as bands they may sound like. They definitely have a style all their own. Maybe somewhat like a Polish Blackmore's Night, with all the medievalness on this album. Katarzyna, does not sound anything like any of the other singers of metal, that I know of. Unfortunately though, Katarzyna, has left the band after the recording of this album. In the biography at the web-site it says, she's gone to the USA, whatever that means. She has been replaced by a singer who goes by the name of Karolina Widera.