If Belgrado’s 2016 release Obraz was a result of them stripping their sound down, Intra Apogeum takes things in a bit different direction. There’s a lot more layers, synth, vocal effects, and dancier vibes in this release. This shift takes the sound to a point where it sounds like it could have literally come from the mid-80s, rather than a modern band copying a band from then. The production is superb and the record sounds amazing - but with that comes an entirely clean sound, and any semblance to the dark wave / gothic anarcho past seems distant, replaced by a discotheque soundtrack worthy of a straight up synth pop band.
It is good stuff, but not great stuff to me - the synth gets to be overbearing to me pretty quickly in many of the songs; I always felt the soundscapes and weird noises that were guitar-generated from previous releases were a lot more interesting; and the drummer now plays the drum machine here instead of a traditional kit which is disappointing change to me too. I will say that Patrycja’s vocals have continued to improve with each release, and the album artwork is phenomenal, done by the aforementioned drummer.
I still listen to Belgrado’s previous LPs plenty, and this one will get much more limited play time than those records.