ROJSTVO IDOLA

"The Birth of Idols" as the title translates in English has a bit of history. Original line-up of SEDMINA disbanded after the second album "II dejanje", with Melita Osojnik continuing as a solo artist and Veno Dolenc forming soon another group called DUMA. Here he invited a new sophisticated female vocalist, Klarisa Jovanovic to replace Melita. Another important contributor to this album was Boris Kovac. He is a multimedia artist from Novi Sad (during the 1980s he led an experimental ensemble RITUAL NOVA, combining classical, jazz, traditional and rock music), who had co-written most of the songs with Dolenc, played flute, saxophone, keyboards and acted as arranger and producer. Along came the legion of session musicians playing an assortment of traditional and rare instruments (double bass, percussion, brac tambura, viola, cello, harmonium, choir vocals...), thus creating a collection of wonderful songs. This was to be released on cassette only, under the artist's name DUMA in summer 1993, by ZKP RTV Slovenija label in a modest circulation. Finally, during the 1990s, Dolenc and Jovanovic revived SEDMINA, and after the album "Onkraj reke" recorded in 1997, decided to re-issue the old DUMA material, this time digitally re-mastered under SEDMINA tag.

Music on "Rojstvo idola" is basically arranged upon the lyrical poetry of Veno Dolenc, historic Slovene poet France Preseren and French author Francois Villon. Musical structure consists of elements from mediaeval, Renaissance, alternative rock expression and traditional folk music of Central-South-eastern Europe. Material was recorded in a church; hence a sacral, quite dark and "Gothic" feeling is present throughout the record. Although Melita's soprano vocal was a distinguished mark of the first two albums, Klarisa's somewhat lower voice which bears an archaic, eerie chant- like sensation, is equally stunning.

Dark, acoustic elegies like "Ptica" ("The Bird"), "Balada o obesencih" ("Ballad of the Hanging Ones") and "Druidi" ("The Druids"), are masterpieces of highly intimate, passionate and devoted songwriting, with almost metaphysical experience. Containing minor-key vocal harmonies, symphonic/baroque passages and reciting the Bible excerpts ("Our Father") in what sounds like Old Church Slavonic liturgical language, these pieces invoke an early 1970s folk-psychedelia of German acts like AMON DUUL II and BROESELMACHINE or British ones like INCREDIBLE STRING BAND, mixed with mid- 1980s darkwave champions DEAD CAN DANCE. In contrast, "Zapuscena" ("The Untidy Woman") and a traditional cover "Igraj v kolu, Jabolko" ("Do the Dance, My Apple") bring a relaxed atmosphere made by acoustic guitars, light percussion and strings with beautiful voices of Klarisa and Veno.

This album is a perfect piece of art and the ultimate progressive acoustic folk record, which ranks among the very best albums of the genre ever recorded in all countries of the former Yugoslavia, and is a pure masterpiece without a single weak moment.