Stridulum – Soothing Tales Of Escapism (Album – Manic Depression Records)
Genre/Influences: Electro-Wave, Wave-Pop, Dream-Pop.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Stridulum is a Polish duo driven by classically trained singer Marita Volodina and musician Arkadiy Berg. They’re both also involved with Minoar. They previously released a few singles and this year unleashed their debut album.
Content: The work takes off with a short intro-track and progressively moves into a dreamy darkness of Electronic songs. There’s an 80s touch supporting the work, which globally also reflects a minimal approach. Marita’s graceful- although sometimes bit cold way of singing is one of the album’s main characteristics.
+ + + : The main strength of this debut album is the angelic signing of Marita Volodina. Sound-wise Stridulum will mainly appeal to lovers of dreamy Electronic music with some simple melody lines on top. I especially recommend listening to “Ghost” revealing a true potential.
– – – : The main aspect that has to be improved is the songwriting. Everything sounds a bit flat and even monotonous, with the exception of “Ghost” this work doesn’t have many highlights.
Conclusion: This album is a debut, which has to be the basis for elaboration.
Best songs: “Ghost”, “Odium”.
Rate: 6.
Artist: www.facebook.com/stridulum.official
Labels: www.manicdepressionrecords.com / www.facebook.com/manicdepressionrecords
About Stridulum
Stridulum is a Polish duo formed by singer Marita Volodina and musician Arkadiy Berg, both of whom also record as Minoar. The project started with self-released digital singles: “Collapse” and “Burial” in 2020, then “Ghost”, “Bleeding” and “Home” in 2021.
“Soothing Tales Of Escapism” followed in 2021 through Manic Depression Records. The duo continued with the singles “Fear” in 2022 and “Astray” and “Flesh” in 2023, and a second album, “Paradigm”, in 2023. Stridulum tracks have also appeared on compilations including the Orkus CD “The Dark Hits Of Tomorrow Vol. 3” in 2022.
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