Ladi Sveti - "Веръя" [2015]

Artist: Ladi Sveti

Title: Веръя

Genre: Folk/Pop

Country: Russia (Udmurtia)

Release date: 2015

Track List:

1. Веръя
2. Пӧяд
3. Шузимемын

 Ladi Sveti is the stage name of Svetlana Ruchkina, the voice of Silent Woo Goore. Unfortunately for those who liked the "rock" side of her creative output, her solo works are just pop with some Udmurt folk influences (not much, to be honest). However, while I can't describe is as "great" or awesome", it isn't the worst kind of pop music out there (as someone has described it, "imagine Moloko singing in Udmurt language), and it's surely better than most other Udmurt pop I've heard so far (for some reason, the Udmurt folk/pop scene isn't as impressive as the Mari one). "Веръя" is a maxi-single containing 3 original tracks and 3 remixes which weren't included in here.

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Silent Woo Goore - "Питырес" [2015]

Artist: Silent Woo Goore

Title: Питырес

Genre: Folk-Rock

Country: Russia (Udmurtia)

Release date: 2015

Track List:

1. Питырес

I'm promised to post some more obscure Finno-Ugric music until the end of this year, and let me start with a new single from Silent Woo Goore. I really liked their debut "Toleźe" (2012), and having at least one new track from them after 3 years of waiting is nice for sure. Like their earlier songs, this one is heavily influenced by Udmurt folk music, and the lyrics are about how "everyone and everything has its time, and we are all subject to the passage of time" (if I understood the release notes correctly).

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félperc - "destructible world" [2009]

Artist: félperc

Title: destructible world

Genre: Post-Rock

Country: Hungary

Release date: 2009

Track List:

1. and then they pushed the button
2. clouds are fading away
3. destructible world
4. i can't see the future
5. they should probably be dead by now
6. over

For some reason, today seems to be a good day for reviewing releases from 2009, and here's an interesting discovery from Szombathely, Hungary. I decided to download this album solely because of its cover art and wasn't disappointed - while it might be not quite not as impressive as the debut album of Képzelt Város which was released the same year, it's still one of the best post-rock releases I've listened to as of late, and it does have that "spacey" atmosphere which I love in Hungarian instrumental prog-rock and post-rock. Sadly, it looks like the only member of Félperc has abandoned the project long time ago, as there were no new releases since 2010.

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Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat ‎- "Koskemattomuus" [2009]

Artist: Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat

Title: Koskemattomuus

Genre: Harsh Noise, Power Electronics

Country: Karelia

Release date: 2009

Track List:

1. Perkele!
2. Koskemattomuus
3. Tiedustelija
4. Äänisen Aallot I
5. Äänisen Aallot II
6. Totalitaarinen Valtio
7. Elämä Juoksuhaudoissa I
8. Elämä Juoksuhaudoissa II
9. Odotan Maailmanloppua

If I understand correctly, this release by Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat is some sort of a follow-up to their "Valkoinen Terrori", recorded in 2001 and released 8 years later. While "Valkoinen Terrori" was inspired by Finnish Civil War, "Koskemattomuus" seems to be inspired by the later events of Winter War and the Continuation War, and it definitely doesn't glorify such sort of events (which makes KM's attitudes resembling those of Brandkommando). This release also includes attempts of "deconstructing" some old Finnish military-related songs, in the same manner as Toroidh dealt with "Ack Värmeland Du Sköna" by Jussi Björling:

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Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat ‎– "Valkoinen Terrori" [2009]

Artist: Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat

Title: Valkoinen Terrori

Genre: Harsh Noise, Power Electronics

Country: Karelia

Release date: 2009

Track List:

1. Raja, 1918
2. Riitakysymys
3. Hukka
4. Kuolemaantuomitun Hyvästijättö
5. Valkoinen Terrori
6. Punainen Ja Valkoinen
7. Moment Of Silence

Kriminaaliset Metsänhaltijat are (were?) a very obscure harsh noise collective from Karelia (no idea if they're from the Russian or the Finnish part of that region). Almost everything is known about them (not too much, admittedly) is gathered on this page. If it's to be believed, they have 3 anonymous members and define their style as follows:

"Raw old-school industrial on the bones of SPK and THROBBING GRISTLE through the prism of Japanese harsh-noise and Finnish hardcore-punk. Nihilistic nightmare. Diffused synth hiss, pretentious harsh-noise arcades, crispy scurfy hateful power-electronics. Another spit into the face of rotten society and shitty system. There were a few closed gigs. Also, loads of recordings were made. Most of them have been destroyed. Some parts of tapes full of piss and vinegar have just been lost or erased during terrible hangovers. All that have been saved - works from 1997 and later. Those are sounds recorded on our 4-track. The sounds of sick buzz in our heads. Torn apart sheets of iron and stone walls of slaughterhouses spattered with blood. This is the shit rubbed in the silk white sheets of modern industrial. This is the true old-school noise! No modern bullshit and nazi crap!"

According to the same Discogs page, this particular cassette was recorded in 1999 but released only 10 years after (40 physical copies). Side B is said to be completely silent (hence the name "Moment Of Silence", but the only rip of "Valkoinen Terrori" I could find has it as a lengthy noise track. As a whole, it's easily one of the best underground noise releases I've heard so far, and the samples of old Finnish songs (the title track, for example) are nice too. Judging from the track names, the album is dedicated to the events of Finnish civil war of 1918. The band name means something like "Criminal Keepers of the Forest" (a reference to some partisans, maybe, but I don't know for sure). Expect much more obcure Finno-Urgic music to be reviewed on here in the near future, although it'll be nowhere near as noisy as KM.

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Second To Sun - "Three Fairy Tales" [2014]

Artist: Second To Sun

Title: Three Fairy Tales

Genre: Avant-Garde Metal, Blackened Deathcore, Post-Black Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 2014

Track List:

1. The Trapper
2. Merämaa
3. Barmaley

Just like Thy Catafalque, Second To Sun is an avant-garde metal project whose genre can be loosely defined as "post-black metal". Both are basically one-man projects (with a revolving door of collaborators), and both were started by someone with Finno-Ugric roots. However, S2S is heavily influenced by modern progressive metalcore, which can't be said about TC. The first full-length release from S2S, "Based On A True Story", was more or less typical modern metalcore/deathcore, while the later releases (including this one) are more influenced by the avant-garde black metal scene. The mastermind of S2S, Vladimir Klimov-Lehtinen, also has an expiremental black metal/noise project called Voivotus, which I'll review a little later.

Just like other releases by S2S, "Three Fairy Tales" is influenced by Karelian folklore, and it essentially is a compilation of singles released by the band on Bandcamp. All three tracks are instrumental, if some spoken word samples don't count. You can listen to "Three Fairy Tales" here, and read a bit more elaborate review of it here.

Thy Catafalque - "Sgùrr" [2015]

Artist: Thy Catafalque

Title: Sgùrr

Genre: Avant-Garde Metal

Country: Hungary/UK

Release date: 2015

Track List:

1. Zúgó
2. Alföldi kozmosz
3. Oldódó formák a halál titokzatos birodalmában
4. A hajnal kék kapuja
5. Élő lény
6. Jura
7. Sgùrr eilde mòr
8. Keringő
9. Zúgó

Tamás Kátai is back with a new album of his most well-known project, Thy Catafalque. I don't think he needs to be introduced to any of my readers (as I've already reviewed a lot of his works), nor I think I'd be able to write a better review of "Sgùrr" than this excellent one on Metal Bandcamp. So I'll just leave the Bandcamp link here, and let the music to speak for itself.

Технология - "Это война" [1996]

Artist: Технология

Title: Это война

Genre: Synthpop

Country: Russia

Release date: 1996

Track List:

1. Телефон Небес
2. Королева Дорог
3. Яд
4. Скорая Помощь
5. Экран (Ненужный Тормоз)
6. Не Последний Танец
7. Это Война...
8. Хранитель Тишины
9. Тайга
10. Вспоминай
11. Ветер

After I published my previous entry, one of my readers rightfully pointed out that Технология's debut album isn't the only their release that worths attention. Their 1996 album (3rd in their discography) deserves to be checked out too, even if it doesn't contain such obvious hits as "Нажми на кнопку" or "Странные танцы".

During the mid-90s, the band has undergone serious line-up changes. Most importantly, Roman Ryabtsev (their original vocalist and songwriter) has quit the band in order to pursue a solo career in France. Despite that, the band managed to keep their "trademark" sound of their first two albums on this one (which can't be said about their 2009 reunion album, sadly). In the times when almost all the underground music in USSR has largely died due to a dire economical situation, and only the most mainstream commercial pop music has thrived, they've released possibly the most "dark" and depressive album in their discography. And just like their 1991 debut, it reflects the atmosphere of these times quite well. Even the title track, "This Is War", can be seen as a reference to the events of the 1st Chechen war (although the lyrics doesn't explicitly tell that...)

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