Over three albums in just under six years, Bratislava’s Malokarpatan have achieved a bit of a feat: they have managed to maintain their fun, slightly medieval aesthetic (both in their sound and their capes; we like capes) while showing consistent and notable musical evolution. Debut Stridžie dni was a trad-tinged black metal record with touches of folk, a heap of melody, and quite the raw production. Sophomore effort Nordkarpatenland dropped a good amount of the rawness (without adopting even an ounce of polish, it must be said) and greatly upped the melodic NWOBHM factor. This was clearly a band in love with the 80s but aware of what had been made in the decades since. Release date: March 21, 2020. Label: Invictus Productions/ The Ajna Offensive.Like the transition from the debut to Nordkarpatenland, the transition from the latter to Krupinské ohne (“The Fires of Krupina”) sees the band going through a couple changes.