Built around Ana Kravanja, Iztok Koren, and Samo Kutin’s deeply collective process, the album unfolds across seven tracks — four of them expansive, long-form pieces that stretch well beyond ten minutes. They play nearly two dozen instruments — many handcrafted — and draw from rustic folk traditions, free folk, spiritual jazz, and outer-national textures.
Between the Fingers the Drops of Tomorrow’s Dawn opens the record in stunning fashion. The production is superb, allowing each instrument space to breathe as the piece slowly reveals itself. It’s visceral, delicate, progressive, and emotionally charged. The track evokes spiritual jazz through a hypnotic vibraphone motif wrapped in warm string instrumentation, creating an atmosphere that feels almost psychedelic in its mysticism.
In my opinion, Curls Upon the Neck, Ribs Upon the Mountain is the album’s emotional core. What begins as a mournful, melancholic folk meditation gradually mutates into something far darker and more dystopian. The violin work is delicately devastating, eventually giving way to grandiose textures that recall the tension-building crescendos of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It’s frightening, beautiful, and utterly compelling, only getting better upon each subsequent listen.
No One’s Footsteps Deep in the Beat of a Butterfly’s Wings offers a moment of relative lightness as one of the shorter-form tracks. Its more folk-grounded and warm, providing a brief respite without breaking the album’s flow.
There’s something unmistakably Central European about this record. Its blend of mysticism, folklore, and quiet dread feels almost Witcher-coded, conjuring feelings of vast landscapes, ancient rituals, and a persistent sense of regional unease. The track Tiny Dewdrop Explosions Crackling Delightfully captures this brooding atmosphere perfectly in its first few minutes before transitioning into a warmer, more comforting sound. The interplay between ominous textures and fragile beauty feels like a fully realised narrative.
Many of the tracks carry a grandiose sense of scale, as if describing landscapes or complex human emotion. The Hangman’s Shadow Fifteen Years On captures this idea best through its awkward percussion and free-folk leanings, helping to create a strong sense of tension and anxiety in the listener. The track feels haunting, especially with the accompanying vocals that offer a painfully human element to the track. Similar vocal moments are scattered throughout the album, deepening its emotional weight.
In the Wind of Night, Hard-Fallen Incantations Whisper is a mesmerising listen — easily the strongest album of the year from the former Yugoslav region so far, and a genuine contender for album of the year on a global level. It’s fearless, uncompromising, and deeply moving. Širom continues to operate in a world entirely its own, and no one comes close to touching it.
Where to Find Them
- Instagram: @siromband
- Bandcamp: listen & support on Bandcamp
