Reading the description of this Russian band’s music and style was enough for me to have a punt at this album. Portraying themselves as instrumental math-doom was intriguing but stating that some psychedelic touches had been added since their second full length was certainly enough to bag this for review. The cover art is certainly striking, a swirling mix of black, blue and grey strokes with a white eyed lady staring out from an entanglement of shrubbery it is likely to end up as a desktop image on my PC at some point once I’m bored of the current album art adorning it. With only four songs spanning over 40 minutes you get some idea of the journey about to be undertaken when you press that play button on whatever device you currently use for listening to music. The cavernous doom tones of the opening riff on “Duplication Of The World” is accompanied by a laid back guitar hook that is hauntingly melodic but highly suitable to the mood of the start of the tune. Densely played and thunderous on the bass, the music implodes in slow motion technical sound bites counterpointed by keyboard touches that create that psychedelic flavour hinted at by the band. A lot of this doom sludge style is oppressive and given that this is supremely dense on the opening tune that oppressiveness is lightened by the dextrous guitar hooks added as sonic brush strokes throughout. The opener is relatively short at close to seven minutes but during that time the tune creates a canvas where you can see the outline of where this album is to unfold.
The eleven minute “Union” starts very soothingly with tempered drum fills lightly filling the space around the melodic guitar work before shifting itself into heavier tones of distorted riffing and slightly disturbing with it too. The abrupt introduction of sludge bass driving a wedge into the tune is persistent as is the developing drums which are complex and punctuate it exceedingly well. The band does not like to repeat the riffing too much hinting at their math sensibilities but each stays long enough for you to remember it and allow it to fade away as new material replaces it making the song feel like a never ending look into two mirrors facing each other and the sounds coming at you endlessly. There is a convoluted charisma surrounding this release, with deft harmonies being surrounded by keyboard work it is easy to compare the music to The Ocean at times only this is much slower than that bands later material but similar to their mid-era offerings. As stated earlier this is primarily an instrumental album but as the track hits its last couple of minutes you hear glimpses of monastic chanting in the background which gradually crescendo and are joined by child like choral voices. The massive 17 minutes “Forest” is a sprawling lunging piece of music, eclectic and perplexing the song starts with wind and acoustic guitar elongated for maximum penetration as the guitar work and gentle drum sound are carried by the wind as a distant echo on a wild winter evening. The tune is soft but bitterly exposed as the various components coalesce into a protracted soundscape that is really very ambient. No signs of electric guitar until past six minutes and then harshly distorted with tons of delay the drums are emphasised more dominantly but still wrapped in keyboards. As it unfurls the heaviness intensifies but the pace does not, preferring to lure the listener through hypnotic aural tranquilisation the song is expansive, multilayered and thoroughly engrossing leaving the release to close with a reworked version of the opening tune under the title of “DOTW RX” which has been bastardised to the point of nightmare with colossal amounts of electronics. The version is challenging and not like the rest of the album, the songs main riff has been mangled, corrupted into a highly processed but lurid incursion.
An audacious, bold and inventive release that sonically pirouettes through varying textures of sublime doom melancholy lacquered by math gilding and keyboard pliability the album is as relaxing as it is challenging.
(7.5/10 Martin Harris)
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