KRYNITZA – “Angel” (2005)

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Back in 2014 we (then still in the format of Lost Reich records) participated in the re-release of the cult album of the beautiful Russian band Krynitsa, with which they started their creative path – “Angel”. And now, after several years of moving around, we got the digipacks of this release in our hands on MILITANT ZONE. About why this edition should be in every Scene Music keepers collection – in our old review:

Sprawling Russian song, flying free to the halls of heavenly Irii, sounding over rivers and valleys shrouded in misty haze, going to the unknown distance of the mysterious Belovodya, to its origins; the atmosphere of deep autumn, sad, pensive, twilight time, in the wind whispering in the branches, in the murmur of waves, in the black gold of leaves, in the icy breath of the first frosts – such feelings arise at the first acquaintance with the debut album called “Angel” by the remarkable Russian neofolk-team Krynitsa, which saw the light in the autumn days of 2005.

The history of the band Krynitsa dates back to 1999 in the Volga city of Rybinsk, Yaroslavl province, when the vocalist of the local pagan folk metal band Oprich Rodoslav created his own project together with the flautist and vocalist of Oprich Maria Ruzhechko, called the duo Revival and later renamed Krynitsa. The first song created in this group was the composition “Like in a wild field”, which has been preserved in live performance since 2000 and later included on the disk “Angel” as a bonus. The composition of Krynica has undergone significant changes over time, new members joined and left, until finally a stable team was formed, but the leading role of Rodoslav, the permanent leader, vocalist, guitarist, flutist, author of lyrics, as well as the unique style, developed by the joint achievements of all band members, remained unchanged.

Work on the first album was carried out from spring 2003 to fall 2004; the disc was released the following year on Sonnenfolk Productions, the folk division of the legendary Stellar Winter. Colorfully designed by Valfosdottir, the disc, with its wood-styled booklet, contained within its musical variety even more feelings and colors. This album can be called groundbreaking without exaggeration, as it goes beyond traditional folklore, as well as dark folk and other genres, has no obvious analogs and represents, rather, a creatively reworked heritage of Russian music of bygone eras, recreated in the most suitable for modern listeners.

The album opens with a melodic instrumental intro “Requiem”, which can rightly be called ambient, where, among other things, the deep mesmerizing soprano of Zhdana, Tatiana Vyugina, the vocalist of the bands Oprich and Krynitsa at the time, can be heard. The introduction is spellbinding from the first seconds and helps to set the mood for a more emotional perception of the rest of the narrative. Then follows the first song, the lyrical composition “Song of the Wind”, telling about tragic love, waiting and hope accompanied by acoustic guitar, percussion, flute, beautiful female vocals of Zhdana, and the sonorous voice of Rodoslav:

On the high shores,
Where the wind dances,
Above the pearly water,
The month is melting, bright.
There over the abyss of time,
In linen robes,
She stood with hope in her eyes
There was hope in her eyes.

Then the sad song “Angel”, which is the title of the album, sounds, which is one of the most mysterious in its content: where does the mention of an angel, typical for Christianity, come from in the work of a band close to the Rodnovery? However, here it is rather about the torment of a troubled soul rejected by society, and if we proceed from the Christian worldview, it is the story of a fallen angel, an exile, excommunicated from the church, despite his positive inner qualities. Here’s what Rodoslav says about the song Angel: “For me it’s an ambiguous, multifaceted song. Initially it was conceived as a song about some spiritual, pure being – a human being in the role of “Angel” (without any religious background), who tries to survive in a cruel world, while trying to preserve these qualities. But he ultimately fails and dies.” This idea is perfectly expressed in the lyrics of the song, set to a sad tragic motif:

An angel has torn the earth with his wings,
Blood flowed down the furrows, the blood rang out,
White fluff swirled in the wind and fell,
The snow of his soul on the bare stones.

In general, Rodoslav’s poetry – mysterious, bright, imaginative, full of expressive colors and shades, brought to life by the deep, epic voice of the vocalist and leader of Krynica, is one of the most obvious advantages of the band, along with the others.

Another intricate composition, “Prince”, is the only one of the songs that lacks female vocals, but features a wargan, ringing guitar, strumming and trumpet.The meaning of the song can not be grasped from the first time, and yet, if you listen to the singing of Rodoslav, it is not difficult to understand which prince the author meant – after all, in the history of the Russian power, especially among the pagan princes, there was one such traitor, mutilator, illegitimate son, murderer, robber and usurper, persecutor of the native faith, later ennobled by Christian apologists to the countenance of saints. It remains to regret only that his name cannot be blotted out from pages of Russian annals and consigned to oblivion, however to name it in a song it is not necessary at all:

His name rattled under the vaults of the temples,
A dread, a curse for the ages to come,
in the lace chains of faded halls,
The gods who fell to the ground, tired and sleeping.
His fury lay black ashes on the earth,
Asleep, dripping from dried veins,
and the dew of yesterday’s rags,
Being, taking today’s captivity captive.

“As in a wild field” is, as already mentioned, Krynica’s earliest work, re-recorded with the voice of Tatiana Vyugina singing along to Rodoslav and exquisitely embellished with flute, wargan and acoustic guitar forming a beautifully intricate melody.The cheerful music smoothes out the dramatic content of the text and makes us remember Nietzsche’s words that Russian songs are all without exception sad, even the most joyful ones. Despite the fact that this song is very short, it is without a doubt a decoration of the album.

The last song of “Angel” called “Leaves of Life” is a calm, philosophical, lyrical composition, with sad notes, taking everyone into a circle of thoughts, in the music of which you can hear intonations so typical for dark folk, and the lyrics are saturated with images of nature. And again, traditional for Krynica combination of percussion, trumpet, acoustic guitar, wargan, creating a musical basis and appropriate atmosphere of the work plus excellent male and female vocals. A very strong ballad, truly folk in its spirit and style, close to every Russian person:

Under the drifts of my dreams are the leaves of life,Beneath the hills of my shores are the rivers of the day,And under the sky above the tall grass – birds in the heights,They’re circling in the sky, they’re flitting over me.The album is rounded off by the instrumental composition “Rusalia”, beautiful and cheerful, which evokes some associations with acoustic compositions of Temnozor and another song “Like in a wild field”, recorded back in 2000 with Maria Ruzhechko, which is included as a bonus.

For the past years, the disk of Rybinsk band Krynitsa “Angel” became a real classic on the Russian non-commercial rock scene, the circulation of the album was completely sold out, only just the other day another edition of Krynitsa’s debut album was released, released by Sonnenfolk Productions with a new design, in digi-pack format.Only the artwork and format of the album has changed, the music has remained in its original form.The release of the updated “Angel” was timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the band, so all fans of this music have the opportunity to support the outstanding musicians, through the purchase of a gift edition.

As it is clear from the name of this Rybinsk collective, creative union, Krynitsa is a precious vessel full of living water from pure springs, inexhaustible springs of Belovodya, a worthy example of life-educating and harmonious art, which unknowingly makes this imperfect world cleaner, brighter, more beautiful, awakening the racial consciousness and memory of the blood flowing through the Russian land through the centuries by winding streams, from ancestors to descendants and bypassing any obstacles on its way.

(c) Dmitry Werwolf for WotanJugend

 

Band

Country

Russia

Date

2005

Format

Full-lenght

Genre

Storage