Explore the sacred domains

• The Horny-Goloch Is an Awesome Beast/Soople and Scaly/It Has Twa' Horns and a Hantle O' Feet/And a Forky Tailie (1999, Save the Werewolves Foundation, 7 copies),
  
• Eaten by Wolves (2000, Save The Werewolves Foundation, 7 copies),
  
• The Dark Grows Blacker (2000, Save The Werewolves Foundation, 7 copies),
  
• Consider the Birds of the Air... (2001, Save the Werewolves Foundation, 7 copies),
  
• Jean Genet's Lonesome Rhino (2010, May 21st: Dot Dot Dot Releases, 300 copies on red and black 7" vinyl).
  
  Compilation appearances:
  
• Gold Leaf Branches - "We Will Not Whisper" (Digitalis Industries, 2005, 3 CD),
  
• Shadows Infinitum - "Sonja" (Crucial Blast, 2004, CD-R),
  
• City Songs XIII - "The Man Watching" (Requiem, 2004, CD-R),
  
• For the Dead in Space Vol. II-III - "Song About A Rose" (Secret Eye, 2003, 2CD),
  
• Heat and Birds - "Red Rocking Chair" (Jewelled Antler, 2003, CD-R - out of print),
  
• Cat Sun Kompilation - "O mój rozmarynie" (Cat Sun Release, 2003, CD-R - out of print),
  
• Hand/Eye - "We Will Not Whisper" (Hand/Eye, 2002, 2CD)

Dead Raven Choir was an experimental folk and raw black metal/noise project founded in 1996 in Kraków by the enigmatic multi‑instrumentalist D. Smolken, a musician known for his unconventional approach, abrasive aesthetics, and deep fascination with Eastern European folklore. Though born in Kraków, Smolken spent formative years in Texas before returning to Poland, a cultural dislocation that shaped the project’s strange, hybrid identity. Dead Raven Choir became one of the most idiosyncratic and prolific entities in the Polish underground, producing a vast body of work that blurred the boundaries between black metal, noise, avant‑folk, and outsider art.

The project’s early recordings, including the demos Forest and Bear (1998) and Forest, the Forest (1999), established its raw, primitive sound: distorted acoustic instruments, harsh noise textures, and vocals that alternated between whispered folklore recitations and tortured shrieks. Smolken’s music drew heavily from rural Eastern European traditions, pagan imagery, and philosophical reflections, yet filtered these influences through a deliberately abrasive, lo‑fi aesthetic. The result was a body of work that felt both ancient and confrontational, ritualistic and chaotic.

Dead Raven Choir’s discography is unusually extensive, especially for a one‑man project. Between 2001 and 2007, Smolken released a torrent of albums, EPs, splits, and micro‑edition tapes—many issued in extremely limited quantities, sometimes as few as seven copies. These releases, often bearing surreal or grotesque titles, became cult artifacts within the experimental underground. Albums such as ...But Inside They Are Ravening Wolves, In All Poems There Are Wolves, Sky of Rose and Wolves, Armoured Wolves, and The Blood of Two Wolves showcased Smolken’s obsession with lupine symbolism, using the figure of the wolf as a metaphor for instinct, violence, and the untamed aspects of human nature.

The project’s sound evolved over time, incorporating elements of neofolk, drone, and avant‑garde composition while retaining its raw black metal roots. Some releases leaned heavily into noise and dissonance, while others embraced sparse, mournful folk structures. Smolken’s unconventional instrumentation—often including bowed banjo, detuned strings, and homemade percussive elements—became a defining feature of the project’s identity.

Dead Raven Choir also appeared on numerous compilations curated by experimental labels and art collectives, contributing tracks to releases such as Gold Leaf Branches, Hand/Eye, For the Dead in Space, and Shadows Infinitum. These appearances helped introduce the project to international audiences within the noise, drone, and avant‑folk communities.

By the mid‑2000s, Smolken began shifting his creative energy toward other projects, most notably Wolfmangler, which carried forward many of Dead Raven Choir’s themes but with a more structured, doom‑oriented approach. Dead Raven Choir eventually dissolved, leaving behind a sprawling, chaotic, and deeply personal discography that continues to fascinate collectors and listeners drawn to the fringes of extreme music.

Today, Dead Raven Choir is remembered as one of the most unusual and uncompromising projects to emerge from Poland’s underground. Its fusion of folklore, noise, black metal, and philosophical introspection remains singular, and its limited‑edition releases have become prized artifacts of a visionary artist working entirely outside conventional boundaries.