| CD REVIEW Demon Project |
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Band : Demon Project Based in Novosibirsk, Siberia, Demon Project was started as an experiment in 1999 by singer/ guitarist/ programmer Dmitri “Demon” Novochatskiv. Over the years, the band grew to one of the most powerful Metal acts in the Eastern Russian region, with the musicians seeking their own style. Eventually it came to a mixture of modern Death Metal and Industrial, in which cultural elements are occasionally woven, taken from Russian Folk melodies. The Folk thing is continued in the fact that, since the beginning, the songs are inspired by the ancient myths of the Altai, the highland part of Southern Siberia…the songs (which have lyrics partially in Russian and Altai, as well as English) showing the modern world through the philosophy of ancient tribes. Vocals are mostly Death growls, with an occasional cleaner passage (gaining importance depending on the song)…and a solitary inclusion of a clear female contribution. The band’s 7-track 2000 debut promo album Shaman – The Wolf already attracted attention in the local scene with its unique style, and was published and released through a local Russian label. Songs off the album became part of no less than 6 Metal and Industrial compilation albums. It took some time, but eventually the band (then consisting of Dmitri, second guitarist Ronan “Roger”, and drummer Michail “Miha”) followed up their debut release in december 2007 with the 3-track promo entitled Fear [Is My Rage]…the tracks of which would all end up on their new full-length, which was issued in Russia during May of last. Prior to that, the people at Copro had apparently gotten wind of it all, signed the band for a one-album deal, and lo…here’s the album for the rest of the world to enjoy! I have to say, I’m somewhat disappointed when it comes to the band’s “Industrial” leanings, those mostly confined to a couple of Dance/ EBM intros, as the keyboards otherwize sustain the “Modern Death Metal” part of their utility through atmospheric/ orchestral contributions. Also, the “Folk” inclusions are rather scarce, but we dó get one (1) song, namely the album’s title track (or what had you expected, with such a strange title?) in which a female sings in Russian…probably the same one which adds her clean backings to album closer track “Reach The Sky” (one of the tracks on the 2007 promo, and vocal contribution was then credited to one Vika Chekovaya). But those are really the ónly negative remark I wanna utter here, because the album is actually qite cool, and I’ve grown to love its contents to the point of including Kara Ora into my year-lists for 2009! Check out the 3 songs off the band’s 2007 demo (now in 2009 version, of course) at myspace.com/demonproject. There may be more to enjoy at demonproject.com (I know there’s at least a video), but I was unable to open the website through my network-supported pc! 98/100 Tony. |