Damjan's War 1995 CD Paritor Billed as post-darkwave, neo-futuristic, Kisme… Read Full Bio ↴Damjan's War
1995
CD
Paritor
Billed as post-darkwave, neo-futuristic, Kismet is an Australian-based group of Macedonian origin who combine gothic-rock with traditional Balkan folk music. The traditional element isn't just ethnic flavouring but contributes at least half of the synthesis, thus producing a very interesting, unusual and perhaps unique, sound. Band leader, composer and guitarist, Gorazd Capovski, comes from the ex-Yugoslav province, where his former band, Mizar, enjoyed massive popularity, selling over 30,000 records.
This is not the first gothic group with Balkan influences as Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance comes from Australia and was influenced by the music of the ex-patriate Balkan communities there. This music, however, comes from ethnic insiders, and goes a lot further.
Kismet's first release was a five-track EP, Dormant Dire (Paritor 1994), and this has been followed by Damjan's War (Paritor 1995). The album has eight tracks and features instrumental music utilising traditional instruments such as tamboura, sas, oud, bazouki, zurla and gaida together with bass, drums, electric guitar, synth, cello and vocals.
(Here I was going to demonstrate remarkable explanatory knowledge of such instruments by reference to a booklet accompanying an old vinyl record in my possession, 17 Macedonian Folk Dances (G.B. 1978), by the Zivko Firfov folkdance group, but it has, alas, seemingly parted company with the record sleeve, so that will have to wait).
Damjan's War is at once menacingly gothic, reassuringly folky, and modernistically electro, and these qualities all weld together into a convincing, trancey, whole.
The lyrics to the first track, 'Nostalgia', seem to reflect a winsome patriotism. Other lyrics are obscure and/or in the Macedonian dialect. Noteworthy to many will be the inclusion of a cover version of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' which has a Celtic-sounding intro with Balkan riffs, a sort of Chieftains go electro in an oriental bazaar. They obviously have a sense of fun and I'd love to see them live if they ever come to Europe. (They also cover JD's 'Decades'.)
On the technical front, Kismet are good musicians and this album has professional sound quality. Some comparison with Laibach is inevitable: isn't it always? But they have a style of their own, and I particularly like the wandering and wavering melodies. I used to sing like that too, but people just thought I was out of tune so I gave up...
As a fan of Balkan (and Hungarian) folk music (and of English folk groups like Blowzabella), this album naturally appealed to me, but I'd recommend it as a worthwhile if brave addition to any CD collection.
Rik - 13 February 1997
1995
CD
Paritor
Billed as post-darkwave, neo-futuristic, Kismet is an Australian-based group of Macedonian origin who combine gothic-rock with traditional Balkan folk music. The traditional element isn't just ethnic flavouring but contributes at least half of the synthesis, thus producing a very interesting, unusual and perhaps unique, sound. Band leader, composer and guitarist, Gorazd Capovski, comes from the ex-Yugoslav province, where his former band, Mizar, enjoyed massive popularity, selling over 30,000 records.
This is not the first gothic group with Balkan influences as Lisa Gerrard of Dead Can Dance comes from Australia and was influenced by the music of the ex-patriate Balkan communities there. This music, however, comes from ethnic insiders, and goes a lot further.
Kismet's first release was a five-track EP, Dormant Dire (Paritor 1994), and this has been followed by Damjan's War (Paritor 1995). The album has eight tracks and features instrumental music utilising traditional instruments such as tamboura, sas, oud, bazouki, zurla and gaida together with bass, drums, electric guitar, synth, cello and vocals.
(Here I was going to demonstrate remarkable explanatory knowledge of such instruments by reference to a booklet accompanying an old vinyl record in my possession, 17 Macedonian Folk Dances (G.B. 1978), by the Zivko Firfov folkdance group, but it has, alas, seemingly parted company with the record sleeve, so that will have to wait).
Damjan's War is at once menacingly gothic, reassuringly folky, and modernistically electro, and these qualities all weld together into a convincing, trancey, whole.
The lyrics to the first track, 'Nostalgia', seem to reflect a winsome patriotism. Other lyrics are obscure and/or in the Macedonian dialect. Noteworthy to many will be the inclusion of a cover version of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' which has a Celtic-sounding intro with Balkan riffs, a sort of Chieftains go electro in an oriental bazaar. They obviously have a sense of fun and I'd love to see them live if they ever come to Europe. (They also cover JD's 'Decades'.)
On the technical front, Kismet are good musicians and this album has professional sound quality. Some comparison with Laibach is inevitable: isn't it always? But they have a style of their own, and I particularly like the wandering and wavering melodies. I used to sing like that too, but people just thought I was out of tune so I gave up...
As a fan of Balkan (and Hungarian) folk music (and of English folk groups like Blowzabella), this album naturally appealed to me, but I'd recommend it as a worthwhile if brave addition to any CD collection.
Rik - 13 February 1997
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Damjan's War
Kismet Lyrics
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