Lithuanian trio, Juodvarnis, celebrate their fifteenth year of existence in 2026, and what better way than to deliver a new album? Steeped in the vitriolic purifications of black metal and the sophisticated muscle of post-metal, these boys know only one way to express their emotions. Tėkmės teaches us that the art of venting can be liberating.
There’s no time to waste in opener, ‘Dvasios Ligos’, which scuttles and swerves like an aircraft being sucked into a vortex. It makes the first verse all the more pleasing when they rein in the speed and focus on the anguish of a restless heart. Paulius Simanavičius sees his microphone as an enemy rather than a platform. Listen to his masculine roars power through the incandescent levels of rage. By contrast, the melodic chord choices ache in heavy amp gain as if seeping through the shoegaze rigs of the 1990s.
You should have a feel for this record after two spins. Atonal doom is the order of the day in ‘Laikui Varvant’ using the great traditions of post-metal. There’s always a worry that this type of music will be shapeless, but the two axemen know it’s not a cliché to lean into the power chords when required. Simanavičius could be singing about the most banal things in his lyrics, but who cares? His vocals will awaken your dormant agitations like a hypnotherapist. The main surprise here is how the basslines remain innocuous when the guitars operate in the mid-range frequencies. They ought to be louder and meaner in the mix and having a permanent four-stringer in the band would solve this problem.
How to maintain a superhuman level of intoxicating adrenaline is always difficult when you make this your raison d’être. Here, Juodvarnis often deprioritise the flamboyant riffs, but they’re not averse to guitar solos (see ‘Tamsiausias Nušvitimas’). Keeping everything aligned requires the greatest effort with music as intense as this. It means that all must be prepared to burn at high energy levels. A fine fettle of palm-muting opens ‘Juodos Akys’ like Gojira working from a Voivod tab book. The self-obliteration that comes with blast beats ought to spoil it, but it doesn’t. They don’t need gothic choral choirs to fill the gaps here when the fast chord changes can create a similar effect through strum and vigour.
A rare chance to think your next move presents itself on ‘Svoris’. Here, vocal phrasings glisten rather than galvanise you to spill blood. Of course there are moments of blistering aggression frothing underneath it all. Unfortunately, they have no way of condensing the melodic vocal parts into smaller lines with a wider range. The effect is to round off the stanzas with belated uplifts that struggle to leave their mark. Paulius Simanavičius idea of singing is similar to Burton C Bell of Fear Factory: the words come through a head voice working beyond its natural baritone range. An offbeat breakdown riff at 03:05 reminds us in ‘Platybės’ that this band is not just dissonance and screaming. All manner of string bends, hammer-on accents, and finger-twisting chords operate around its edges.
Tėkmės is a welcome relief from the tuneless black metal beloved of today’s atmospheric and progressive artists. Daring to furnish their harsh yet sensitive aesthetics with cleaner vocal textures is a risk that pays off here, though the moments of hyper aggression are the most invigorating. The path opening up for Juodvarnis should be clear: more experimentation will yield more quality.
Kirk Houghton
Verdict
Release Date: 23/01/2026
Record Label: Self-released
Standout tracks: Juodos Akys; Dvasios Ligos; Platybės
Suggested Further Listening: Harakiri for the Sky – Mӕre (2021), Erdve – Savigaila (2021), Namebearer – Industries of the Fading Sun (2025)