If I were putting together a list of the ten best Polish metal releases of this millennium, "Affliction XXIX II MXMVI" would be one of the first titles I would reach for. Blindead's third full-length is probably the greatest thing that ever happened to Polish post-metal. It was also the record that began my own history with the band. Only later did I work my way back to their first two releases, and then waited, with high expectations, for "Absence" and "Ascension". I love both of those records, although there is no denying that by then, Blindead had already become something slightly different. Later, of course, I was also skeptical about "Niewiosna", but over time I came around to it as well. For a long while, then, I kept waiting for a successor that would not necessarily recreate the old formula, but would at least remind us why so many listeners fell in love with Blindead in its most suffocating, monumental, post-metal form. Instead, in 2022, the group announced that it was coming to an end.

Over the past dozen or so years, I have tried many times to find my way into Darkthrone. Sooner or later, every one of those attempts ended in failure. Until last year, that is. Something finally clicked - and clicked so decisively that the Norwegians' discography landed on my shelf almost in one sweep. Perhaps it is another reminder that taste changes with age, but so does the way we listen to music. Something that once felt off-putting, chaotic, or simply not meant for me suddenly began to fall into place as a remarkably coherent whole. There is so much material there that I am still finding new details in Darkthrone's music, and that also lets me approach the new album with fresh ears - the first one I knowingly waited for and the first one I preordered. That is a very different experience from catching up years after the fact. This time I was not reaching for another missing piece of the discography, but for an album whose release genuinely felt like an event.

Never before have Iron Maiden fans had to wait so long for a new release from their favorite band. A lot has changed in the world during the six years that have passed since the release of "The Book Of Souls", so one could quietly hope for changes in the Englishmen's work as well. And since the release of the "Brave New World" over two decades ago, they give malcontents a lot of reasons to complain - mainly because the band still plays the same stuff. And even though I'm a fan of Iron Maiden's music, I have to admit there's some validity to that.