IZOTERI-KA

"Mesedjer of Ancient Self-Understanding" opens like when an orchestra is tuning their instruments but the sounds are artificial and the oppressive drumming makes immediately clear that we are still in the "Industrial-Metal" of its predecessor. Very powerful (electronic) drums at a volume higher than the keyboard so that the melodic line is overwhelmed by the beatings. When the drumming stops, the melody of "violin" and "piano" (in quotes as they are synthetic sounds) makes it more melodic, but some artificial noise in the background keeps the tension high. A harp sound closes the track which fades out.

"Изгнание из Реальности" (Expulsion from Reality) Is based on the same chords of the previous track but it's metal oriented and has lyrics. Does a genre called Electronic-Metal exist? I have the impression that the lyrics are in English, but the background noise over Senmuth's screaming makes it impossible to understand.

"Я покидаю Гелиополь" (I leave Heliopolis) is another metal track with lyrics. the title, together with the sleeve design reveal that this is a concept about Egypt, but I'm not able to say what's it about. From a musical point of view it's not very different from the previous track, but contains some good parts of piano and guitar specially in the second half of the track.

"Amarna's Exitium" has a slower rhythm and is more chaotic. It's a psychedelic track in the way of some 35007 works.

"Дендера. Зодиак Моей Души" (Dendera. Zodiac My Soul) is a heavy track still chaotic with a tendence to psychedelia. I can't understand if it's Russian or English, maybe Russian this time.

"Amantha" is not much different. There's more "Violins" and less chaos, but also this, is not an easy one. The piano section is very nice.

"Осознание Непригодности" (Awareness unfitness) is on the same line but a bit quiter.

"Мотивы Прошлых Воплощений" (Motives of past Reincarnations) has less background noises. A repetitive sequence of 7 notes backgrounded by harp.

The theme is reprised by "Познать Незримое Имя" Discovering Invisible's Name", the most symphonic song of the album, with some scream but with a distinctive melodic line. In my opinion one of the best album's tracks.

"Astoreth and Ra" is the one closer to my tastes. Imagine a metal version of Alan Parsons. That kind of melody and rhythm with heavy metal sounds.

"146, 64m. Восход. Всего лишь видение.." (146, 64m. Sunrise. Just a vision ..) Starts with a slow piano harping with the omnipresent background wind. At least a bit of relax. The theme is still dramatic, but less noisy and chaotic of what we have heard until now. Very nice.

" Misericordia [ir-remediabilis]" restores the metallic percussions that are a distinctive element of Senmuth's music, but a melodic line is clearly present. A metal closure to a challenging album.

It's the usual Senmuth, so if you like this music, one or another of his 80 albums doesn't make a big difference. Not that they are bad, but It's my second taste of this prolific Russian artist and it's not different from the first.

Good but non essential.

After an engaging, yet flawed debut with 'Cognitive Discord,' Senmuth took very little time to get a follow-up in the works. While many bands and artists take up to a few years to get a second album in the works, it only took a few months for 'Izoteri-Ka' to back it's predecessor up. As a relatively small part of an absolutely massive discography, this album seems to through in a more equal dose of his ethnic/avant and metal leanings than before, which certainly makes it a better demonstration of what the project is all about. While I may put 'Izoteri-Ka' on a similar echelon of quality that 'Cognitive Discord' rests in, the two albums are incredibly different, and they earn their common rating for very different reasons.

This second time around, there has been a definate development in the sound of Senmuth. Gone is the over-the-top, bombastic dance-craziness which defined the debut. 'Izoteri-Ka' is a much more challenging and complex listen, drawing much more heavily on his interest in classical and exotic instruments. With that being said however, there's no doubt that this album is the child of the debut. At it's core, there is still a hefty portion of industrial metal, and the same distorted vocals. While the unique vocal style of Senmuth may have worked for 'Cognitive Discord,' the added complexity and subtle flourishes in the music here give it an added sophistication; effectively making the Moscovite euro-dance pop inflections of the singing even more undesirable.

Instrumentally however, the music is very imaginative. A heavy collage of ethnic and ancient musical styles, the greatest strength of 'Izoteri-Ka' is it's ability to effectively transport the listener to other, exotic places. There are more than a few instrumental sections of the album where one is able to vividly imagine landscapes and surroundings, simply based on the suggestion of the music alone.

While I may enjoy 'Cognitive Discord' more for it's 'fun' nature and the album's catchiness, 'Izoteri-Ka' shows a much more progressive and experimental side of Senmuth's music that I am all the more willing to explore. With so many albums under his belt, the greatest thing I could hope for this early on is a sense of development and steady improvement, and I'm getting that impression from this music. 'Izoteri-Ka' certainly doesn't give the lasting impression that 'Cognitive Discord' gave, but I am positive that somewhere along his discography, Senmuth will have made an album that reaches this level of intricacy, and maintains the level of consistency and interest that drew me to the debut.