Staruha Mha - "Rusali" [2003]

Artist: Staruha Mha

Title: Rusali

Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone

Country: Russia

Release date: 2003

Track List:

1. Wheel Of The Year / Колесо Года
2. Grasses / Травы
3. On Branches / На Ветвях
4. Blue Rivers Of The Sky / Синие Реки Небес
5. Deformation / Kруг Железного Предначертания
6. ...And The Trees Woke Up / Iikkooorrr
7. Over Quiet Water / Над Тихой Водой
8. Bark / Кора
9. Bonfires On A Hill / Костры На Холме
10. Ear Of The Night / Ухо Ночи
11. Through The Woods / Через Леса
12. Paporotnik / Папоротник

Staruha Mha was started by Roman Sidorov, a member of several post-punk and industrial projects (Der Golem, Sedativ, Fatal), in 2000. The project has released two demo albums on CD-R before Sidorov hanged himself on 20th September 2003. After his suicide, both albums were released on CD with the tracks names crudely translated to English. While the author was intending to keep his music strictly underground, his works have reached a cult status on the post-Soviet industrial scene nevertheless. I personally wouldn't call myself a #1 fan of his music, but this album is definitely a classic without which my blog won't be complete.

"Rusali" is nearly 80 minutes long, featuring 12 tracks of drone ambient, field recordings, and some elements of industrial noise (although it's inspired by nature, not industrial landscapes). Main sources of influence: Rapoon, Coil, Apoptose ("Nordland", 2000), Troum, Bad Sector, Iszoloscope, Lustmord.