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

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