Friday, November 21, 2008

Album Review: Внуки Святослава - Плести венками песни



Artist: Внуки Святослава (Vnuki Svyatoslava) [Russia]
Album Title: Плести венками песни
Record Label: Slav Sunrise (Russia)
Released: 2008

As I think I stated in a review of a Krynitza CD, I haven't had much exposure to pagan folk music, and most of it that I have heard has been due to the artists' connection to metal. In the case of Vnuki Svyatoslava (translated as "Grandchildren of Svyatoslav"), I discovered them when I came across a Youtube video of them performing the lovely song Укатилось Красно Солнышко with Rodoslav of Krynitza at a concert. Because their label, Slav Sunrise, has no distribution in the United States, it took me a while to track down any of their work. Eventually I happened across a copy of their 2007 release Искать себя from an Amazon related seller. I was fairly impressed with that album, with its blend of Slavic, Celtic, and other folk styles, but the album I really wanted to find was their 2008 release Плести венками песни, which I'd heard was a big improvement. Thanks to a favorite Russian Ebay seller, I finally obtained this album in October. It was well worth the effort it took to get it, too. This is one of the most beautiful albums I have heard in a very long time.

Vnuki Svyatoslava is an eight-piece band from the Yaroslavl oblast of Russia (I believe), currently consisting of four males and four females. Their official website details their tumultuous history since 2002, full of line-up changes and changes in direction. Quite frankly, I find it amazing that they persisted through that turmoil, and it's even more amazing that they have produced a piece of art as stunning as Плести венками песни.

The band is fronted by Oksana Knyazeva (I apologize in advance if I improperly romanize any names, as there is virtually no English-language information I can discover about this band at the moment), an academically-trained vocalist who also plays tambourine and frog rattle. She is joined by two violinists, Kseniya Lukyanenko and Alina Petrova, flautist Irina Nadeinskaya, guitarist Michael Gryzyhin, guitar- and balalaika- player Dmitry Konov, bass guitarist Sergei Bushuyev, and a percussionist Sergei Glebov. Most members play multiple instruments, so there's a nice variety in the sound. Hopefully this lineup is a stable one, because each member of the band is very talented and they create wonderful music together. Most of the music is written by Oksana and Dmitry.

The first album was fairly straightforward folk, but Плести венками песни has a strong classical feel to it. Part of this is due to Oksana's breathtaking vocals, but the prevalence of violins and flutes and the arrangements themselves also helps the band transcend easy categorization. I would say don't even bother trying to figure it out, but rather enjoy the sound. The songwriting is very strong, with each song featuring beautiful, rich, and often catchy melodies. There are many high points, but the very classical-sounding Ярославль and the folky День-день are my definite favorites. There is not a single weak song on this album. Everything is simply perfect and beautiful, down to the production itself. The production on the first album was pretty good, but it had its flaws. The production on this album is absolutely flawless; each instrument is given enough room to breathe, and the full range of sound is treated with the utmost care.

As a bonus for fans of Russian pagan metal like myself, the great Rodoslav (Krynitza, Oprich, Vo Skorbyah) appears on two tracks. First, he provides background vocals to enhance the already-excellent Ярославль, and then performs a duet with Oksana on a re-recorded version of Укатилось Красно Солнышко (the original of which appeared on the first Vnuki Svyatoslava album, minus Rodoslav). As another apparent nod to pagan metal, Sergei Bushuyev employs a sort of growling vocal on the third track, Заговор. This is a little strange to hear in music such as this, but I thought it was kind of cool.

This is a rather short album, as seems to be the norm for folk albums. The ten tracks that make up the album proper total about 28 minutes of music, though, because I never tire of listening to it, I don't feel the least bit short-changed. Also, they included two bonus tracks, which boosts the total length of the CD to 33 1/2 minutes. I'm not sure why the two tracks at the end are not considered to be part of the album, as they appear to have been taken from the same recording sessions and are just as good as the rest of the songs, but I'm sure the band had a reason for it.

I'm prone to "bubbling" about CD's I'm really excited about, but I think this is another case where it is warranted. In the five weeks or so that I've owned this CD, I've probably listened to it, on average, two or three times per day, and that's a conservative estimate. I don't normally listen to an album that often, no matter how much I enjoy it. I've listened to Плести венками песни a few times just in the length of time it has taken me to write this review, and when it's over I always want to listen to it again. Those looking for metal or even rock definitely won't find it on this album, but fans of folk, Russian classical music, or simply beautiful music in general would probably enjoy this album. If I were to construct a list of a handful of CD's I would take with me to a desert island, provided of course that I had some way of listening to them, Плести венками песни would be on it. If eventually I make a list of my favorite albums of 2008, I'm certain this one will be at the top.

The major problem facing anyone (on the American side of the ocean, at least) interested in tracking down this CD will be the fact that it's almost impossible to find, anywhere. I was fortunate enough to find it on Ebay, but it seems that, currently, the only other way to legally obtain it is to learn enough Russian to allow yourself to order it from one of the online stores that Slav Sunrise distributes to. You may be able to contact the label at slavsunrise *at* yandex *dot* ru and inquire about ordering a copy, but I haven't contacted them yet, myself. Your best bet, at least until Slav Sunrise can get some distributors over here, would be to google "Vnuki Svyatoslava," or, even better, "Внуки Святослава," and hope for the best. It's a shame that such a great album can be so difficult to obtain, but maybe if enough of us express an interest, the label will realize that they have a potential market outside of Russia and will get in contact with some distributors.

In conclusion, Плести венками песни is an incredible, absolutely breathtaking CD that is a headache to find but would be a worthy addition to any fan of Slavic pagan music.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Album Review: Hate Forest - "Scythia"

Hate Forest - Scythia

Artist: Hate Forest (Ukraine)
Album Title: Scythia
Record Label: Supernal Music (United Kingdom)
Released: 1999 (original) / 2004 (Supernal reissue)

Buying demos reissued on CD can be a risky proposition if you haven't heard the actual music before purchasing. This is why I initially steered clear of Hate Forest's first demo, Scythia. Would it contain little more than half-baked ideas, terrible production, and sloppy musicianship? In this case, the answer is certainly "no." This may be Hate Forest from 1998-1999, a few years before they arguably hit their creative peak (in this band) with Purity and Battlefields, but even at this relatively early state they put many well-established bands to shame with their aggressive and raw brand of Slavonic black metal.

Those who are familiar with their more popular works but haven't heard Scythia may barely recognize the band. In fact, the overall cold atmosphere and hyperactive drum machine are the only major similarities I can find between Scythia and an album like Purity. Roman Saenko and Thurios had not yet adopted the drone-y, hypnotic sound that would become the most recognizable element of their aesthetic. Instead, what we have here is fairly standard raw black metal --though that's not to say it's not well-done, just that they were still at an early stage of their evolution-- along with a couple of short dark ambient pieces. Roman Saenko appears to handle all the vocals on the Scythia demo, and his deep growls are electronically distorted to sound pretty demonic or beastly. This is the only Hate Forest release I'm aware of that uses this distortion, and it gives it a more menacing sound as a result. The higher-pitched growls of Thurios are nowhere to be heard, except on the bonus track.

Scythia is a well-produced and surprisingly focused and accomplished demo, but it's also kind of short, at 25 minutes long. Thankfully, they threw in a great bonus, the 11-minute "To Those Who Came Before Us." This song, recorded in 2002, is much more easily recognizable as a Hate Forest track, as it sounds as if it could have been taken right off of Purity. It is quite possibly my favorite Hate Forest song ever; a long, droning epic of a track with some great guitar lines and vocals from both Roman Saenko and Thurios. The last four minutes of the song are pure melancholic beauty.

I'm sure many Hate Forest fans have probably already heard this release, but any who haven't should hunt down this CD. Drudkh fans who want to hear how it all began may find this to be the best starting place. Just about any Hate Forest release is worth your time (the awful EP The Gates and the bland full-length Sorrow may be the only exceptions) and may help you better appreciate the creative progression that led to the creation of Drudkh.

Drudkh is great, but Hate Forest shouldn't be overlooked.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Album Review: Kamaedzitca - Пяруне

Kamaedzitca - Пяруне

Artist: Kamaedzitca (Belarus)
Album Title: Пяруне (Pyarune)
Record Label: Strong Music (Belarus)
Released: 2008 (March)

Belarus is another one of those beautiful Eastern European countries that I will probably never get to see with my own eyes, yet I can appreciate some of its beauty through the influence it has on the pagan metal bands it inspires. Unfortunately, there don't seem to be a lot of metal bands in Belarus. While Ukraine, Poland, and especially Russia seem to be bursting at the seams with pagan/folk metal bands, their neighbor has only managed to produce a handful, at least that are known to me. The first of these with which I became familiar is Kamaedzitca, from the capital city of Minsk. Their 2004 debut CD, Дзецi лесу, was a very decent pagan metal album that mixes folk with a style of metal that is close to death metal, though it contains clean vocals in addition to the deep growls. Kamaedzitca seemed to disappear for the next few years, leaving many of us to wonder if they'd gone the way of so many pagan metal bands that release a promising, obscure debut and then fade away completely.

Then, almost out of nowhere, their sophmore full-length Пяруне appeared, though it has only managed to trickle into U.S. distros within the last few months. Fortunately, the band has not only managed to not disappear, they have returned stronger than before, with an album that might not reach the lofty heights of the latest Arkona or Moonsorrow releases but is worth looking into for fans of this genre.

Let's get the bad out of the way first. The intro and outro to this album are both very boring. There may be some purpose to beginning the album with the world's most minimalistic 3-minute flute solo and ending with an equally uninspired drum solo (mercifully only 1 1/2 minutes), but to these ears it just makes the first and last moments of the album crawl by. In all, 6 tracks out of the 14 are either instrumentals or atmospheric pieces rather than songs, so we're left with 8 actual songs, and they range from between 2:41 to just under 6 minutes each. Not a whole lot of music here, but certainly enough to chew on.

After the unfortunate opening flute solo, the first actual song on the CD, Колазварот (which I'm 99% sure is the Belarusian word for "sunwheel"), kicks off promisingly, sounding like classic Kamaedzitca but with a hefty dose of Estonian greats Metsatöll in the mix. Clean vocals and folk instruments abound on this album, making it sound much more varied and colorful than the debut album. But fans of the crunchy guitars and growls of Дзецi лесу should not fret, as they have not done away with that part of their sound. Variety is the name of the game here; from one song to the next, the atmosphere and dynamics change. There are very folky and celebratory-sounding tracks like Як на горцы ля ракі…, and then very aggressive songs like Волi герояў подых бязмежнасцi, which immediately follows it. The former track contains mostly clean vocals, while the latter track contains death metal growls. You've also got У вякi вякоў!, with its RAC-ish shouts of "Slava!" and its fast rhythm, and the acoustic track Блуканне ведагоны. The most beautiful song on the album is the mostly-instrumental Водар забыцця, which features a beautiful flute solo and an even more beautiful, mournful guitar solo, along with some nice clean vocals towards the end.

Production can be hit-or-miss with obscure pagan metal bands from former Soviet republics, but fortunately this is not the case with Пяруне. The sound is full and has plenty of punch, and the instruments are all well-recorded. This is as good a production job as I have heard on a pagan metal album, I think. The players are all great, especially considering the variety in playing and singing styles needed. I'm very impressed with the drumming of Viedyaslav Liha; it's a shame that he has since parted ways with the band. Folk musical instruments like flute and bagpipes are well-played and recorded.

I think that some listeners will feel that Пяруне is lacking in content and contains too much filler, but I think most of the interludes are appropriate and set a deliberate pace for the album. I do wish that there were more songs, or that some of the songs were longer, but what is here is very, very good. Because the album is so eclectic, you don't ever really have time to get tired of a certain style before they've moved onto another one.

Fans of folky but serious pagan metal bands such as the great Arkona or Temnozor will probably enjoy Пяруне. Kamaedzitca has a unique enough sound that it would be difficult to confuse them with any other band in the scene. Those who are familiar with the band's debut but didn't enjoy it enough to check out Пяруне should give this new album a chance, as the band has definitely matured and improved since their already promising first album. I remember thinking after I bought Дзецi лесу that the band had potential to become one of the better bands in the scene, given a little more experience, and, indeed, Пяруне confirms my suspicion. It's definitely worth checking out for fans of Slavic pagan metal, and it stands comfortably among the better pagan metal releases of 2008.