Grzyby by Błoto

After a three-year hiatus from releasing new music, Błoto knew they had to make up for the long wait with a flood of fresh material. Their fruitful recording sessions at Studio Pasterka produced a wave of new tracks—like mushrooms springing up after the rain. These sessions have already brought us two 7" singles, the Grzybnia LP, and now, rounding off this chapter, comes the final piece: the album Grzyby (eng. Mushrooms).

Anticipation for new Błoto releases reached a fever pitch. Vinyl collectors quickly snapped up all copies of the singles Szlam / Ścieki and Bakteria, the latter featuring a guest appearance by DāM-FunK. In less than six months, nearly all copies of Grzybnia were sold out—setting a record pace for Astigmatic Records. In the meantime, the album was nominated for a Fryderyk Award in the Alternative Music category. Though Grzybnia didn’t take home the prize, Błoto did win a Fryderyk for their track “Godzina W”, featured on the WAWA album dedicated to the Warsaw Uprising. It’s been an electrifying time for the band, filled with shows across Poland and abroad.

Grzybnia laid the foundation. It emphasized the importance of collaboration and the collective spirit—just as mycelium builds connections between plants in the forest. Since its release, not much has changed around us. Societies still fall short of functioning like mycelium. If anything, the global situation has worsened. The idea behind Grzybnia was to present an alternative to egoism and individualism. Yet today, it seems even harder to find common ground. We build more and more walls—first within our own families, then in increasingly polarized social bubbles, and ultimately at political levels. Perhaps those political forces are what trickle down and rupture our social bonds? This is where Grzyby comes in. What can the fruiting bodies of fungi teach us? They are in constant communication, using the mycelium’s vast underground network—the “internet of the forest.” Dialogue, negotiation, and communication should be the antidotes to polarization. In uncertain times, we must learn to connect beyond our divisions.

The album Grzyby features fungi with medicinal properties on Side A—and one parasite on Side B. These aren’t your typical mushrooms you’d throw in a culinary basket. “Wrośniak” helps fight autoimmune diseases, “Maczużnik” has antibacterial properties, “Chaga” eases digestive issues, and “Soplówka” stimulates the immune system. Side B brings “Pleśniak”—a toxic mold. Poisoning from this fungus can be dangerous, causing damage to the liver, skin, and mucous membranes. Yet even “Pleśniak” has a silver lining. It played a key role in the development of penicillin—the antibiotic used to treat tonsillitis, pneumonia, and more. Under controlled conditions, it's even used in cheese production.

For optimal listening experience, Grzyby has been pressed onto 12-inch vinyl at 45 RPM—enhancing the low frequencies that are abundant on this album full of broken beats and club energy.

The record will be released in a limited edition: 1,000 vinyl copies and 500 CDs, with the CDs including bonus tracks from the earlier 7-inch singles. Pre-orders go live on May 2, 2025, exclusively via Bandcamp. Mixing and mastering were once again handled by Kwazar, with visual artist Sainer bringing his graphic concept full circle.

Błoto is a band that came to being accidentally, yet naturally, like a puddle after a rainy day. It all started in the summer of 2018 when the Wrocław-based EABS sextet had a day off between the concerts in Brzeg Dolny, Łódź and Sopot.

The music is deeply rooted in brutal hip-hop grooves, referring quite loosely to the sound of the 90s.

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