Mrtvesvit – Jolimaa (Album – Castle Of Dreams)
Genre/Influences: Ritual.
Format: Digital.
Background/Info: Mrtvesvit is a Russian project that released its second album by the end of 2021. The album comes five years after their debut. This project has an ‘archaic’ approach in the sense of conceiving their own instruments from the skin of a dead animal (for the drums) and its bones (as a flute).
Content: From the very first notes you’ll perceive the Ritual approach of Mrtvesvit. The work has something minimal, but authentic. The drums are essential in the writing process, but also in the global atmosphere hanging over the work. The flutes inject an extra mysterious touch while the vocals also are part of a secret rite.
+ + + : I often think by myself there’re not enough Ritual projects in the truest sense of the word. Mrtvesvit reminds us of the essence of ‘pure’ Ritual music, which brings me back to the genius of the legendary Zero Kama. I like the authenticity from the work. The rhythm sometimes comes close to a transcendental feeling which also creates a visual appeal.
– – – : The tracks might be a little bit longer and sometimes a bit more elaborated.
Conclusion: Mrtvesvit is a project deserving your attention. I wonder how the next album announced for this year will sound like.
Best songs: “Bear Totem”, “Mutra Satmil”, “Ver Mortuis”, “Hurum Menkv”.
Rate: 7½.
Listen to “Jolimaa”:
Label: www.facebook.com/codmusicdistro
About Mrtvesvit
Mrtvesvit is a Russian one-man project from the Urals. Its label, Castle Of Dreams, describes the music as “ritual / shamanic / ambient / neofolk” marked by “archaism and primitivism”, with the artist aiming to sound like “the music of a primitive man who had just made himself a drum from the skin of a freshly killed animal and a flute from his bones”. The label names the mythology of the Finno-Ugric peoples as the main theme of the project.
The first Mrtvesvit release appeared in 2016. “Jolimaa”, the second album, was released on 13 December 2021 through Castle Of Dreams, with Discogs listing a CD edition on COD Noizes.
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