Pitva - s/t

Fantastic collection of titles just in from Berlin's Statik Age hotbed (some to which i'll attribute words of their own should i get a moment's peace), though top of the pile currently sits this debut outing from PITVA, a supergroup of sorts consisting of members of previous WOE favourites Heavy Metal, Privat, Bobby Would etc. I can't quite fathom where this lot are from - somewhere between Prague and Vienna, or both? - but their black crusted doom punk is certainly possessed of a greyscale Eastern Bloc aesthetic. There's also a thin line of mid-range black metal hiss that keeps everything a buried a few layers deep, adding a dank intrigue to their obvious hardcore sensibilities and guitar playing that's got that same monochromatic quality as early Total Control/Diat. Beautiful combinations. Lovely interplay. Proper horrible. Looking forward to the tour already, certain to be a watershed tinnitus moment.