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Not so long ago, BreadGod has made some good points on how small music blogs cannot compete anymore with the big portals like metalarea.org or dark-world.ru, especially when the bands themselves are joining Bandcamp in droves, and dealing with the DMCA warnings is becoming harder and harder (especially if they come for the least expected reasons - a DMCA warning for Iszonyat's demo, seriously?). My blog has a mission statement that's quite similar to his one, and I also was downloading a lot of music from DC++ before discovering music blogs, so I can relate to a lot of things he's writing about.

Right now I'm working on setting up a Wordpress-based mirror of this blog on a professional hosting platform, but frankly I don't feel like I'm going to put any significant amount of work into it in the future. There are other options to improve my English skills, and there are better ways to spend my free time that writing reviews of (mostly) very obscure music and visual arts for a blog with hardly any readers. Maybe I'll still continue doing it, but my blog is going to be purely review-based (no download links, unless they're explicitly approved by the band members themselves).

By the way, today's my birthday. Greetings are welcome, of course, even if they're going to be a bit belated.

Blackthorn - "Gossamer Witchcraft" [2009]

Artist: Blackthorn

Title: Gossamer Witchcraft

Genre: Symphonic Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2009

Track List:

1. Immortelle for a Hollow Grave (Intro)
2. Edenbeast
3. Necromance
4. The Moon Emerged from Behind Clouds
5. Saturnia
6. Blackthorn Winter
7. The Blackness I Prowl
8. Gossamer Witchcraft
9. Will-o'-the-Wisp
10. The Cobweb Veils Fall Down with Grace (Outro)

Sorry for not updating the blog for such a long time. I'm busy with transferring this blog to a paid hosting platform, which will probably take a lot of time (and I'm not sure if I'd still have enough motivation and energy to continue posting after that). In the meanwhile I'm listening to a new track from the upcoming 3rd album of Blackthorn, and I like what I'm hearing:

I think it makes sense to review their debut album on here too. Even if it isn't quite as "mature" and well-produced than "Codex Archaos", it's still very good, and a lot of people consider it to be the best release of Blackthorn. In terms of sound, it's what is usually called "gothic metal", with noticeable influences of symphonic black metal. The vocal style reminds some people of At The Lake, but I personally don't hear much similarities. Honestly, I find Aina's voice (lyrical soprano) a bit too high-pitched at times (the second album doesn't have this problem), but it isn't a major flaw. All the lyrics are written by Aina (if I'm not mistaken), and deal mostly with the usual topics for this kind of music - supernatural stuff, witchcraft, sexuality, etc. Nothing particularly outstanding, but to be honest - it's way better than the lyrics of most metal bands on here.

This album was recorded with the 2008 lineup of the band: Aina - vocals, Verbena - bass, Elvira - guitars, Freya - keyboards, Max Sightless - bass. Back then they were known for having a blind (male) drummer, but now their lineup is all-female, with Aina & Elvira remaining the only original members.

If you live outside the former USSR and want to see Blackthorn live (and I know for sure thay have a lot of fans in countries like Argentina and Mexico), you better have some patience. They have toured Germany, Poland, Hungary and some other Central/Eastern European countries, but I don't think they'll come to Western Europe soon - let alone South America, which is mostly visa-free, yet tremendously expensive to travel to from here...

Halgrath - "The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance" [2014]

Artist: Halgrath

Title: The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance

Genre: Dark Ambient

Country: Russia
Year: 2014

Track List:

1. Acceptance Of Inner Self
2. Consecreation
3. Afflatus (Amanait Akhat)
4. The Opposite Mind And Mutuality
5. Cold Breath Of Mountains
6. Epic Journey And Oblivion
7. Deep Immersion And Repose
8. Your Soul Is Just A Particle Of Stars

Halgrath is an one-woman dark ambient project from St.Petersburg, started by Agartha (Ekaterina Alexandrova) circa 2010. Agartha herself prefers not to name the exact date when the project was started, claiming her development as a musician is inseparable from the development of her personality in general. As far as I know, she wanted to became a professional vocalist at some point of her life, but eventually decided that classical music isn't her thing, and quit her studies.

Agartha defines her style of music as "esoteric/cosmic ambient". Her debut album "Liquid Mind" almost instantly became an international success, and in 2012 she released 3 more albums. So far I've listened to only one of these ("Out Of Time"), and despite my initial scepticism, I found it to be really good. "The Whole Path Of War And Acceptance" is her newest full-length album, released by Cryo Chamber. Its 128kbps mp3 rip was posted on dark-world.ru, and I think it'd be OK to re-post it here. If you want it in better quality, buy it.

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Ab Noctem - s/t demo [2010]

Artist: Ab Noctem

Title: Ab Noctem (demo)

Genre: Blackened Folk Metal

Country: Italy
Year: 2010

Track List:

1. The Last Dawn
2. Through Ages of Wars and Gods
3. Keepers of Earth
4. Lu Rusciu Te Lu Mare

I found out about this (admittedly, very obscure) band circa 2008-2009, when I got nothing better to do than chatting on Myspace with their singer/keyboardist, Jolie aka "Yuka". (This nickname, according to her, was taken from some shoujo anime/manga - Fruits Basket, if memory serves me right, but I'm not sure... after all, I can't remember the last time I watched anime at all). She gave an impression of being a very nice and interesting person, but I had no idea of what kind of music her band was playing, as they didn't have any recordings back then.

Now I finally have listened to their first and only demo, and I have to say that I'm a bit surprised. I expected to hear standard Italian symphonic/gothic metal with female vocals - but instead of yet another Lacuna Coil clone, I got Scandinavian style folk metal with dual vocals (mostly male). The last track is a bit different, though - it's a folk ballad with only female vocals. Yuka's voice is a bit... "specific" (can't come up with a better word for it), and some listeners probably won't like it, but I have to admit that it matches this kind of music quite well. The production is of course far from prefect, but good enough for a demo. The melodies in all 3 songs (the 4th doesn't count, as it's a cover) are a bit simplistic, yet very catchy. Would like to hear a properly recorded full-length album from them, but sadly it seems like they've split up. 3 of 4 members of Ab Noctem (including Yuka) then formed a band called A Thousand Winters, but I couldn't find any further info about them.

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Tenochtitlan - "Tezcatl" [2007]

Artist: Tenochtitlan

Title: Tezcatl

Genre: Industrial Folk/Doom Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2007

Track List:

1. Nemiliztli & Miquiztli
2. Teokalli
3. Ix Chel
4. Печаль Тонатиу
5. Fatal Xihupohualli
6. Lament Ol'antay
7. Kal'Yal'Yapi
8. Inti Raymi
9. Haa-Ma Chah'-Been-Tzil
10. Повелитель Майяпана
11. Xayacatl
12. Ayhara killa
13. Quetzali Dance
14. Mihtohtli Citlalin
15. Падение Ахау Ягуара
16. Chanin Tiqsimuyu
17. Tutamantan
18. Icxiohtli
19. Aymarkayi
20. 2012

I already have mentioned Tenochtitlan in the context of Senmuth's numerous side projects, but, in my opinion, this album deserves a separate entry. Unlike Senmuth's solo albums, which are mostly inspired by the ancient history of Egypt, Tenochtitlan is focused solely on the culture and history of pre-Colombian Central America. It's not easy to find musicians interested in this particular topic enough to form a band, even in a city as large as Moscow, so all the members of Tenochtilan live in different cities far away from each others, and coordinate their work via internet.

This album is very original; at least I can't think of any other band which sounds like this. Yeah, I know of Yaotl Mictlan and some other Mexican "pre-Hispanic metal" bands, but they all play more or less folk-influenced black metal. On the other hand, the music of Tenochtilan is based on the same kind of industrial/doom metal which can be found on Senmuth's solo works, with a healthy dose of folk (of course they don't claim it to be the authentic Mesoamerican folk music... but still). The vocals are highly diverse, from growls, to clean (male & female) voice. Same can be said for the languages they're singing in: the lyrics are mostly in Russian, but Mayan, Aztec (Nahuatl), and Quechua languages are also used. To my shame, I'm not very familiar with the history of the Aztec Empire, so I can't comment on the historical accuracy of these lyrics (for instance, I'm not sure if the use of the word "legion" therein is justified - since it comes from the Roman Empire, not Aztec). The quality of production isn't excellent, yet still quite good.

If you found this album interesting, there are 3 more full-length releases by Tenochtitlan, but they aren't as rich musically as this one. The latest album ("Сотворение Мира", 2012), however, is better produced than the rest, and more influenced by doom metal, so I think it's their second best release after "Tezcatl".

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Senmuth - "ΑiΣΘΗΣΙΣ INTEGRA" [2014]

Artist: Senmuth

Title: ΑΙΣΘΗΣΙΣ INTEGRA

Genre: Ambient, Industrial, Ethnic

Country: Russia
Year: 2014

Track List:

1. ΑiΣΘΗΣΙΣ
2. Roman Road
3. In Garganta Del Diablo
4. The Rustle Of The Petrified Forest
5. Mahabalipuram
6. Lament Integra
7. Iguazu Falls Dreams
8. Merops Orientalis Cleopatra
9. The Two Ladies, Divine Of Body

Speaking of industrial metal with folk/ethnic elements, there's another project of this kind which was already mentioned on my blog a few times before. Senmuth is an one-man project started in 2004 by Valery Av., an extremely prolific composer and multi-instrumentalist from Moscow, whose main source of inspiration was (and still is) everything that has to do with the Ancient Egypt. He's sometimes seen as a Russian counterpart to Muslimgauze, since both projects have VERY vast discographies, and extensively use oriental motives in their music. However, unlike Muslimgauze, Senmuth doesn't have any apparent political agenda. According to his own words, his music is indended for "educated, socially active and intellectual development of young and mature individuals who know how to conduct self-identity and criticism surrounding reality, capable of resisting the imposed priorities and the impact of the media".

"Aisthesis Integra" was released in February 2014, shortly before Senmuth decided to put his project on hold due to serious health issues (right now he's back on track, but I haven't listened to any of his newest releases yet). It's pretty representative of his music in general, except maybe for his earliy industrial/doom metal works. This album is entirely instrumental (just like the majority of his releases) and consists mostly of ethno/ambient with some "heavier" parts. The last track - "The Two Ladies, Divine Of Body" - is the longest on the whole album, and represents the whole diversity of styles on there.

The problem with Senmuth's music is that he releases quite a lot of it (about a dozen of albums per year), which makes a lot of his works too lengthy and forgettable - maybe good as a soundtrack to some movie about ancient mysteries or exotic lands, but a bit dull for a stand-alone work. Anyway, if you're interested, you should feel free to check out Senmuth's full discography on his official site. If you want to start from something that sounds similar to "Aisthesis Integra" and has an "oriental" feel to it - I'd recommend "Madinat al-Mayyit". Want some cosmic ambient? "RXG-242-11", "Exouniverse" and "Expanding Architecture" are quite fine. A mix of industrial metal and folk? Check out "Neocortex". You might also like "Bark of Ra" or "Hexeractime" (which are among the most popular works of Senmuth), or "Kemet High Tech" (the album which I started listening to Senmuth from). Either way, it's worth to give "Aisthesis Integra" (or at least its closing track) a listen, and after that it's up for you to decide if you want to further explore Senmuth's huge discography. Senmuth also has a "Mesoamerican folk metal" side project called Tenochtitlan, which is very interesting too.

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Gire - s/t [2007]

Artist: Gire

Title: Gire

Genre: Industrial Metal, Avant-Garde Metal

Country: Hungary
Year: 2007

Track List:

1. Zöld zivatar
2. Aranyhajnal
3. Hét madár
4. Éjmély
5. Az őzek futása
6. Törjön testünk!
7. Bábel
8. Eocén expressz
9. Nyártáj
10. Trans Express
11. Nádak, erek

After listening to the whole Gire discography, I can safely say they were one of the best Hungarian metal bands ever. They already were mentioned on my blog in connection with Thy Catafalque, the other project by Tamás Kátai which is industrial/avant-garde metal too, but has roots in black metal (Gire's music is based mostly on death metal, but I don't think they fit in any particular genre). The early Gire demos from the late 90s ("On dist.", "Energire") are more or less regular death/thrash metal, yet they already were innovative enough to expect something big in the future.

Here you have it: the one and only full-length release from Gire, mostly consisting of re-recorded demo tracks from the 1st half of 2000s. Nearly every song on this album is great, it really sounds more like a "best of" compilation rather than an ordinary album (which actually makes sense, since it includes only the best tracks composed by Gire during 1995-2007). Another pecular feature of this album is that it contains a lot of folk elements, which isn't very typical for industrial metal. Unfortunately, Gire doesn't exist any more - they have split up shorly after this release came out, due to Zoltán Kónya's lack of motivation, and the relocation of other two members to Scotland. That said, they definitely have left their mark in the history of Hungarian avant-garde music, and this album is well-deserving its 1st place in Hungarian Metal Awards 2007 chart. By all accounts, Gire were an unique band, but if you liked them, there's a probability that you'll like Guilthee and Watch My Dying as well.

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The Moon And The Nightspirit - "Of Dreams Forgotten And Fables Untold" [2005]

Artist: The Moon And The Nightspirit

Title: Of Dreams Forgotten And Fables Untold

Genre: Neofolk, Ethereal

Country: Hungary
Year: 2005

Track List:

1. Égi Táltos
2. Lullaby (The Final Gyre of Suns)
3. Beloved Enchantress
4. The Secret Path
5. In Gardens of Worlds Undreamt
6. Holdanyánk
7. Echo of Atlantis
8. Pagan
9. Of Dreams Forgotten & Fables Untold

Here's a band that quite similar (both musically and conceptually) to Romowe Rikoito, but comes from a different cultural background. The Moon And The Nightspirit is a pagan folk duo that was formed in 2003 by Ágnes Tóth and Mihály Szabó. Their sound is mostly based on medieval Hungarian folk music, but they're also interested in traditional music of other Turanic countries (i.e. Mongolia). "Of Dreams Forgotten And Fables Untold" is an excellent release, especially for a debut album. They've released 3 more albums since then, which all are very good too, but the music on them isn't as accessible for an average listener as on this one. "Of Dreams Forgotten And Fables Untold" is also the only their album where they sing mostly in English (7 tracks out of 9; their other albums are entirely in Hungarian). As far as I know, their new (5th) album is expected to be released within next two weeks, hope it'll turn out to be no worse than the previous ones.

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