SLISHKOM DOLGO I PUSTO

After having released one of the best albums Senmuth has ever recorded, it seems ironic he would follow up his efforts with one of the worst. Perhaps the album sounds poorer to me than it actually is, due to me having listened to the fantastic 'Orion Mystery' only recently, but this seems a very unfitting follow up to an album that really gave me a new appreciation of this Russian ambient/metal project. Instead of progressing further down a new musical path, Senmuth seems to have regressed back to his typical heavier-leaning material, which by now, is very tired and uneventful.

For anyone that hasn't heard of Senmuth before, it is a one-man project that has become notorious for releasing a great deal of music in a very short time. While many of the earlier albums of 2004-05 seem to revolve around this same style of industrial metal and world influence, there have been a few to break the convention and lend something a bit different than what the listener might be used to. 'Слишком Долго и Пустo' is unfortunately, one album that does not cover any new ground for Senmuth. Anyone who loves the noisy 'heavier' material that Senmuth's main man Valery Av has released before this, will find something to appreciate here, although this record sadly does not amount to the same overall quality as any of the others before it.

Another typical trait for Senmuth albums is that there is usually at least two or three tracks that really stand out and are excellent, regardless of an album's overall quality. With 'Слишком Долго и Пустo,' there are no songs that stand out to me, sadly. The album is not without saving graces however; the album still has the typical 'atmosphere' you might expect from a Senmuth album, although the mixing seems to favour the mildly irritating vocal tracks far too much, which isn't a problem shared by any other Senmuth album to date. Perhaps this was Valery's attempt to make the heavier Senmuth albums more 'melodic,' but his music (and more importantly; singing style) doesn't seem to be a type that lends itself well to melodies in the conventional sense.

In any case, anyone who is not planning to cycle through the dozens of Senmuth albums (like me) should steer clear of 'Слишком Долго и Пусто' and move onto another record in this vast discography. My only hope is that the following record ('Sirius Mystery') will follow in 'Orion's footsteps and impress me just as much... As it stands however, this album has left me dissapointed.

The good consists in the instrumental tracks that are still improving, while the bad is in all the parts sang by Senmuth.

His usual distorted voice is, more than on other albums, obscuring the music. An example is Pokromke Dush", the 6th track whose instrumental part is very good but when he sings is irritating.

This doesn't happen when Ana Cephal sings on "Brain Hunter". I hope Senmuth has realized that distorted voices can enhance a song but they are not always the best way to vehiculate a message.

There are some highlights in this album: in particular "Rip", "Alternative Vision" (the instrumental part and the guitar riff), "Tere Liye" and "Вспыхнула и Погасла".

The last two tracks are not bad, but the melodic line is a bit trivial. With a 4/4 tempo they could be transformed into disco-house songs. The closure has something of the "Tatu" (if the pop duo name is correctly spelled). This is the first Senmuth's song that I could consider "commercial".

So it's not a totally bad album, but the usual 3 stars are now rounded up.