Wij (pronounced ‘veey’) is the Polish spelling of “Viy”, the title of a supernatural horror story by Russian writer Nikolai Gogol. It is also the Polish word for Myriapod, a centipede-like species which thrives in darkness and lives off decay.
‘Dziwidło’ (pronounced ‘gee-vee-dwoh’), on the other hand, is a monstrous tropical plant called Amorphophallus titanum, a.k.a. ‘the corpse flower’, due to the rotting meat stench it emanates during its flowering period. All of the above hint at the psychic universe the band Wij inhabits: shadowy, morbid, occasionally beautiful, potentially venomous and liable to inflict painful bites.
Their minimalist sound is steeped in metal’s seventies roots yet maintains a modern heaviness, even without a bass guitar. Imagine the White Stripes if Jack White had learned his blues from Tony Iommi instead of Son House, with a wailing female Viking warrior singing of ancient mysteries in Polish. The trio consists of Maria (a.k.a. Tuja Szmaragd) who contributes voice and lyrics, Grzegorz on baritone guitar and Miko on drums.
‘Dziwidło‘ is their first full-length release, featuring ten band originals plus a Polish-language cover of ‘In a League with Satan’ (‘W przymierzu z diabłem’), originally by extreme metal pioneers Venom.
Album was recorded by Haldor Grunberg known for his work with Behemoth, THAW, Dopelord and Moanaa. Artwork was designed by renowned Polish graphic artist, photographer and designer Maurycy Gomulicki.
‘Dziwidło‘ & ‘W przymierzu z diabłem‘ singles available on bandcamp profile
tracklist
1. Żmij
2. Dziwidło
3. Czarny Lew
4. Czerw
5. W Przymierzu Z Diabłem (Venom cover)
6. Wielki Martwy
7. Peperuda
8. Kat
9. Madame
10. Łapacz Snów
11. Tyrania Trupa
street date:
august 6th, 2021
Recording, mix & mastering: Haldor Grunberg
Artwork: Maurycy Gomulicki
https://www.instagram.com/maurycygomulicki/
discography:
2020 ‘Promo’ EP
2019 ‘Zmierzch’ EP
Bandcamp https://heavymedicationrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dziwid-o
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wijrock
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wij_protometal_warsaw/
Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTuKKDAnec4n2vPqSFQJdVA
