Armia Krajova is a punk band that was originally active between the years '95 and '96 - back when the members were between 15 and 18 years of age and them being in the rather well-known metal bands such as Battlelore, Evemaster, The Mist and the Morning Dew and Unholy was still far away. In the year 2010 the group's original line-up decided to come together once again to record all their old songs that they managed to find, and to reminisce and recollect those past times. This EP is the result from that recording session. Do note that despite it's name the band is not political or ideological; the name was picked by a 15-year-old at the time, which should explain why the name choice wasn't thought through.
The opener is a fast one with a nicely flowing guitar riff with nice nuances and an overall aggressive feel that really gets you excited, but this is soon to change: it's follower is even melancholic and composition-wise very even and stable theoughout it's lenght, and he fourth song even has some nice and simple jamming topped with synths in it's chorus. These kind of changes are constant throughout the EP; the songs vary between very simplistic and more thought-out output, as well as simply aggressive stuff and (even teenage angst-filled) melancholy - and the same applies to the lyrics too. This is no wonder though, as the tracks were made by a really young band. All the songs have the same basis though: punk rock through well-produced but nicely raw guitars, really professional but still fittingly simplistic drum-work, a very fleshy and vivid bass guitar quite high in the mix and one to two female vocalists that deliver the songs' feel and emotions well.
Even though the band mostly consists of even professional Metal-musicians, it doesn't really show in the end result - unless one wants to think of the sturdy bass guitar sound as an indication of the band's past. It can be seen that the members handle their instruments really well, but this fact is not rubbed against your face through the music: you moreso have to really listen to see it. This is how it should go in the future, too.
The release is more of a compilation than an actual EP, but it's luckily of overall good quality. All of the songs are a good listen, and even though some of the songs might seem dull at first they all have something in them that makes their existence worthwile; aside of song six which would need something to lift it up from the bitter melancholy. The songs just would sound a lot better if they weren't so out of place amidst each other. The vocal styles would also need some stability, but it all will most likely come naturally when the band's new material comes together. The interesting, fleshy and rather clear soundscape really does justice to the individual performances, but in the future a more holistic soundscape would be better in order to make the band's sound and the songs' whole more unified.
The band is going to keep active from now on, and to go forward they'll be developing their sound and style with wholly new songs and a partly new line-up - this EP was "just" a recollecting-session, and in the future the band will most likely be making something with more of it's own overall character and idea. Even though this release has good and even very catchy songs with a good dose of emotion, it's quite difficult to listen to as a whole. It's too easy to leave this one collecting dust on the shelf.