This monday, I had the distinguished pleasure to see two relatively fresh, yet very promising bands at club Močvara: Uada and Muka.

Croatian Muka started off. The whole aura of the band and their lyrical themes had us feeling like we were entering the disturbed mind of an insane asylum while the instrumentation was both intricate and controlled chaos.

Guys from Muka took an unorthodox approach to their music and this included everything from twisted and off-time rhythms that twist and wind around each other; a thick, prominent  bass guitar tone and growling/screaming vocals which were perfectly fit to create a haunting atmosphere over the already bent and twisted rhythms of the instruments.

Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that experimentation, while an overused term perhaps, when it comes to this band, has found its way into the band’s sound, as if they are now experimenting with their own already experimental sound. Drumming is perhaps the one element that remained unchanged from day one, yet that doesn’t mean it’s not just as amazing as the rest. Drums had a very clear sound though perhaps the snares were a bit too soft. Stanislav has a great instinct for drumming, which means he knows when to hit it and when not to, therefore even though he could shower us with them, there were very little showoffs.

Ivan Borčić’s voice carries quite a few surprises. His style is vibrant and unfocused, which gives his voice a tone of desperation or madness, delivering equally desperate and mad lyrics while the dissonance explodes around it.

Muka’s music isn’t easy, it’s not meant to be easily enjoyed by anyone and it’s clearly not meant to be comforting. Overall, they were great and enticing to the crowd. Make sure to check them out if you can.

Headliners Uada climbed the stage next. Uada took the stage with their black hoods and dark, seriously blasphemous black metal tunes were put to play.

Uada have been making waves in the black metal scene for well over a year now. They have been invited to play some of the most well respected metal festivals around the world, let alone the active touring that they’ve been doing to support their release, “Devoid Of Light”.

Musicwise, hearing Uada, Mgła and Dissection come up a lot, at least to me. Although, Uada seem to be blazing their own path.

Their guitar riffs and melodies had a luxurious groove which alternated with more furious blast-beat bursts of invading guitars and drums being pounded into frenzy. Uada had shown some interesting twists and changes of mood along with a long runaway instrumental section. Their drummer was pretty badass and ‘goes to town’ on the cymbals and hi-hat. To me, it seemed that they like to stick to their black metal core, finding atmosphere through repetition and subtle lead guitar.

My few objections; their setlist was barbarously too short and there wasn’t any real band to crowd connection. I’ve kinda tried to attribute that to their inexperience and/or touring burnout. At the end of the day, Uada are the real deal.