Re1ikt - "Rivers Broke the Ice"
An extra-calm, cosy and slow, but absolutely not light album of the once nearly-grunge band.
The CD "Rivers Broke the Ice" by the band Re1ikt is an event which is absolutely worth attention in Belarus. I think that we haven't published such monumental works so far, although I may exaggerate things a little. The musicians call their album the first post-metal in this country. Probably, they have grounds to say so although they are not the first in fact, something of the kind has already been done here. There are only 7 compositions on the CD "Rivers Broke the Ice", and I am afraid to use the word "songs" here. Each track is about 10 minutes long and has no less than three melodic parts, each of them is in fact capable of being a separate composition.
On
the whole, Re1ikt decided to refuse from the classical form
"verse-chorus-verse". You will not find a song composed like this on
the CD. Slowness and gloom of the songs make you stop for a while, sit and
listen to them very attentively. Moreover, the tracks change absolutely
unnoticed, and not because they are similar to each other. They sort of float
into one another and, as a result, you have more than an hour of time spent
with your eyes closed.
There is another secret why the album is so float-like. "Rivers Broke the
Ice" is one of the rare CDs with totally well-weight concept. Starting
from the first song "Rivers broke the Ice" and ending with
"Three Minutes", it is all about the struggle against the obstacles
of life. This is how the musicians explain the album's concept. A person is a
river which can float under the ice all the time. However, when a person wants
to develop and to see something different there is a necessity to break this ice.
Besides, the song "Three Minutes" was previously called "Tree
Minutes of Smoke Break", which means, when the obstacles are demolished a
person can rest for a while and then move forward.
The only song which does not meet this concept is the cover version of the folk
song "Early on Ivan Kupala's Day". The band "Pesnyary" also
did a cover version of this song, but they are absolutely different.
Re1ikt made an almost 13-minutes metal ballad out of the folk song.
It's a pity that the guys chose the style which could hardly be called a
popular one. I can imagine their concerts, where several dozen real music
addicts who are capable of coming to a concert to really listen to the music,
not to drink and jump under the stage, sit and listen with their eyes closed
for more than an hour. Maybe this is not bad, and even better as it shows sincerity
of the musicians and their devotedness to quality. However, it's a pity because
they really have high-quality performance, and good arrangements, and lyrics
which are worth attention of broader audience- for the people to grow, to
learn, to understand real, sincere music.
In my opinion, the CD "Rivers Broke the Ice" by Re1ikt is
worth listening to, also because we lack such products - well thought out,
obviously well done and strong.
Track-list:
01 - Rivers Broke the Ice
02 - Continuum
03 - Superstitions
04 - Snow, sand and salt
05 - Time to decide
06 - Early on Ivan Kupala's Day
07 - Three Minutes
Music: A. Dzemidzenka/Y. Lyubichau (1,3,4,5,6), Y. Lyubichau (2), A. Dzemidzenka (7)
Lyrics: A. Dzemidzenka (1,2,5,7), U.
Kazlou (3,4), folk (6)
Uladzimir
Kazlou – vocals
Yahor Lyubichau – guitar
Zmitser Narkevich – base
Alyaksandr Dzemidzenka – tambourines
Vital Makshun – guitar
Mixing and mastering – Pavel Sinila (Everest Studio)
