There is something highly likeable in this eclectic yet potent mix of black, crust punk, doom and heavy metal. In creating such a varied first album, the credibility of Wojna immediately skyrockets past those of other new underground black metal bands who tirelessly crank out listless bang 'n' howl garagey black metal. However, it does takes a few tracks for the band's numerous influences -- which range from Pink Floyd to Nile -- to construct an additional, complex dimension: the first, fresh offerings are little more than murky meanderings of beat box type drums sparsely decorated with burbling, goblin-esque vocals. Yet when the tempo picks up, punky, hook-laden guitar lines and a bass driven, grotty aura that reeks of mid-era Carpathian Forest and Beherit begin to writhe and snag.

Chugging riffage on "Goat of Mendes" signals more than a passing wave to Sodom's _In the Sign of Evil_, and drum bursts akin to those of Darkthrone's _Transilvanian Hunger_ threaten to break through the mire. All of a sudden, the album reveals itself as a promising tribute to the first glory days of black metal, which might be well and truly dead, yet this blackened child manages to rekindle the spirit with wolfish passion. Not bad at all.