MI KUBBESI

Mi Kubbesi (Turkish: The Dome of Mi), released in late 1996 after 3 years of works, is one of the best albums ever made in Turkey, and able to compete easily with mainstream albums. This album appeared in cassette format (which was popular in Turkey from 1980s to 2006), and later on CD. Sadly, no vinyl copies. Group members define their style as "transsexual jazz, an invention which has no reference". It blends various styles such as thrash metal, industrial, ambient, progressive with the melodies of Middle East, experimentally. Turkish percussion instruments (bendir, darbuka, classic drum) and string instruments (kemençe, bağlama) are heavily used in this album.

Opening song "Crying Game" is one of the striking openings I've ever heard. Sadly, this song is short (there are more gems in this albums like this!). Basses and electro-bağlama dominate this with backing vocals yelling, murmuring and so on. No lyrics here.

Fok (Turkish: The Seal) starts with 2-3 seconds sound of a seal, and then basses. Speed and power is variable in this song along with good melody.

Efsane (Turkish: The Legend) is an upstanding song. At some point, folk dance ambiance is present with vocals of "Hey, hey!", then everything stops and ambience switches to dark.

Çarşı (Turkish: The Market, or downtown, especially in older cities) is another short song with guitar, bendir, and darbuka. Fully folk-inspired excellent melody.

94 Kor (Turkish: 94 Cores) has metal influences and speed. Drums enter and exit like there's a gunfire combat with otomatic ones. Too angry. Remember, in their first years, Nekropsi was a thrash band! (This could be used as a film music)

Derinlik (Turkish: The Depth) starts harshly, then gets soft as you don't imagine and relaxes you after a chaos.

Dımlı Mi (Turkish: Wet Mi) is quite psychedelic and tribal. Kemençe have been used here differently, creating dark atmosphere. (Ironically, it makes you play in anywhere if you're from Black Sea) Also, some ascents and descents are present, taking you from one place to another.

Lim (I couldn't understand what it stands for) is another short song, show of electro and bass. Hindu (Turkish: The Indian) is the same, with drums joining.

Çarklar (Turkish: The Wheels) is one of the songs I love in this album. It emulates spinning wheels perfectly, just with bass and bağlama, with speeding and slowing!

Ateis (It should reference atheist, one letter absent) starts with accords, then dominated with basses, has some metal influence.

Göç (Turkish: Migration) instead starts slowly and ambiently, then finishes suddenly with heavy guitars.

Kubbealtı (Turkish: Under The Dome) is just 30-seconds long improvisation record from 1993. A feeling like you're under a dome and echoes present.

Yollar (Turkish: Roads) starts with some ambient sound, then suddenly accerelates, takes some breaks, and finishes softly. Folk melodies exist highly, with usage of darbuka. Good guitar work.

Son (Turkish: The End) is chaotic, with guitar playing like a siren, and drums attacking sometimes. Good closing.

41 (A number has some mystic meaning) should be a track that added later issues. It resembles some industrial to me, with chaos. Like a game music.

Conclusion: An album that you can't find easily in it's genre. Masterpiece. Rating: 8.5/10