Haiduk - Spellbook (2012)

One-man metal bands are in no minority these days, most opt for the simplicity of making raw black metal or something akin to the truer side of that genre, Haiduk, the solo project of Canadian musician, Luka Milojica is however a bit different.

When Luka first contacted me I had initially expected something black metal based off of the albums cover and his own promo photo, but here on his debut album, 'Spellbook' were treated to thirty three minutes of thrash influenced death metal.

Perhaps Haiduk's first notable quality is the pummeling momentum of his music, this is largely due in part to the programmed drums, but also his own dynamic guitar and vocal delivery. If I had to make an honest comparison, Haiduk doesn't sound entirely different from a merger of modern Behemoth, both in the technical sense and even guttural roars similar to Nergal though with some thrashier Slayer-ish bits tossed in the music tends to be faster and catchier to my ears. Largely a riff based album, the listener can find tons of appealing and largely headbangable moments during this album and with the music basically sticking to the speedy tempos the energy remains high and engaging the whole way through. The riffs are certainly not overly melodic or insanely memorable, but both the basic riffs and leads have a level of precision that allows them to deliver and carry me through each of these ten short songs with ease and enjoyment.

A few negatives to point out is that the bass guitar rarely does anything than follow the guitar and a lot of the time its not even that audible, while the drums, which as already mentioned, are programmed and therefore the beats are simple but effective enough, though they lack the same technicality as Luca's guitar work. The songs are said and done too, ten songs in thirty three minutes seems to short change the listener a bit. There's also no solos to be found. Basically Luca needs to consider the possibilities of expanding Haiduk and making it a full band - Another guitarist on par with him and the real drummer would make for some beastly awesome tunes.

Additionally the album and booklet artwork are simply stunning for an unsigned solo artist, an enthralling, deep and curious cover as well as all the lyrics printed atop occult symbols and more great artwork within are far better than most bands signed to labels.

Luka is really onto something with 'Spellbook', it may not be the most original thing out there, but its enjoyable for what it is and if he does choose to pursue the full band path he could likely come up with something masterful someday.