Demonoid

Great review of Nils Petter Molvaer - A near perfect score here too. I'm DL'ing both these comps now, although I usually let it rot for a few days before giving them a listen.

Zarko

I was probably overly generous, but I tend to give albums a few extra points here and there if they strike a chord with me, even if they aren't the most technically marvelous albums of all time . I was going to try and mix up the good albums with some average ones, but whats the point if I want to share the ones I prefer anyway...

Zarko

Volkssturm – Truart (2008)


GENRES – Martial, Industrial, Folk, Experimental

Sky over the Berlin – 4:04
Le Peuple Ouvrier – 4:03
Volkssturm I – 6:35
Volkssturm II - 4:37
Le Capitalisme – 4:21
Volkssturm III – 7:01
Sondervollmachten (Volkssturm version) – 5:02
Volkssturm IV – 4:45
Epilog – 4:00

The first review of a 2008 album and it’s a doozy… I should have a permanent disclaimer for the odd albums that, in all likelihood, I am the only one who will enjoy them, but whatever. Volkssturm is the third outing of Truart, a Ukrainian industrial folk artist. For those who don’t know, the genre ‘martial’ refers to patriotic national folk. As I mentioned, this won’t be for everyone on first listen, but it is quite interesting. I’ll even share one of the songs with you in a couple of days . However, on the whole it has some interesting depth and layering, and has become probably a favourite from 2008 for me personally. Highly recommended – Also, you should turn it up a bit. It makes the album all the better.

For a new find, ‘Sky Over The Berlin’ grabbed me unexpectedly. It was different than what I expected from the descriptions, of course in this case, it wasn’t a bad thing. The heavily distorted guitar and piano strikes, the drumming, the horns, it was all so intense. Despite the overall industrial aesthetics the martial folk comes shinning through, as the wooden military drums signal the beginning of the core. The layers of sound are marvelous, and the guitar lines are a treat, shrieking through the noise. The intensity partially dies off with the dubbed industrial ending with only the military drumming assisting. It’s a quality song throughout.

‘Le Peuple Ouvrier’ is full of the same intensity; however a fair proportion of the folksy martial sound is made by the lovely old accordion, as well as some whimsical flute work. The undertone driving bass line is also a treat. It has been a while since I have actually enjoyed a song which contained accordion work to a major degree. The combination of instruments makes it ‘lighter’ and less foreboding than the opening track, but it’s still brilliant in its own regard. Also throughout are various samples of talking, which are used to break things up a bit. The blast of sounds in the last 20 seconds is a top way to finish off the song. ‘Volkssturm I’ begins with the accordion delivering very circus-like or festival sound and structure. It just reminds me of old French movies walking down a festival street with people and clowns playing the accordion and whatnot. This carries through the song quite nicely, which introduces some electronic dulled and distorted ‘umph’ beats. It is constructed extremely well, and it carries its mood almost too well, as it turns it into a fun track to listen to, even when it isn’t meant to be at times. At about 3:25, the distorted accordion work is an absolutely ****ing amazing treat for the ears, which doesn’t last long enough in my opinion.

‘Volkssturm II’ takes a turn with its dark and aggressive tone and pitch. It is a hostile attack on the ears, as everything is turned up and made as fast as possible, without the calming instruments in between. The alarm sample should be warning enough. It does still have accordion and guitar aspects, but they are made as harsh as possible in comparison to the previous songs. It really does get the heart pumping. Here is another quality song, simply because it once again offers something different.

‘Le Capitalisme’ calms everything down again, as it is carries a happier and calmer disposition. The guitar feels lighter, a lot of the sounds are warmer than their counterparts, and it is a quality contrast to Volkssturm II. It’s the sort of song that just makes you feel like you could be lying happy in an open field. It still has the raw industrial sound, but it’s just the perfect ‘coming down’ period, and it has some excellent guitar lines in the second half the song. ‘Volkssturm III’ is the longest track on the album, and has an peculiar ‘freak show’ feeling to it. It’s not happy but it isn’t particularly dark either. It’s just a bit silly sounding overall. It’s a difficult track to describe. It also has the most vocals out of any track on the album, and old folk song from Eastern Europe, with some obscure vocalist.

‘Sondervollmachten’ is another feature song because of its different and ‘wild, jungle-y’ feeling… The deep wooden and metal drumming, the earthy bass, all build up into some untamed beast. Yet another song that defies explanation, it’s probably better to experience to dark yet un-harmful creature. I have no idea what is being used to make the driving electronic sounds, probably a keyboard or electric organ, but it’s a treat. ‘Volkssturm IV’ borrows the crowded carnival feeling again, with a sample of a crowd and what I construe as a comedic fight, however, it quickly evolves into a down tempo trip hop industrial sound, with bassy beats, with some interesting layers on top. It has the most ‘electronic’ elements of the album so far, in regards to what is used to make the core of it. However, at times, it also feels the most stripped song of the album. It doesn’t carry the intensity of the rest of the album, and many sounds are minimalist and carried in isolation in comparison to previous songs on the album.

The album ends with the aptly named ‘Epilog’ which is the most folksy in its fundamentals, carrying a nice ambient sound and beat without very many intense industrial moments at all. The accordion and instrument sounds are clean, and it’s quite the eye opening in regards to seeing just how much Truart layered the sounds. Until of course, it hits a point where he simply has to interfere, but it still does carry that hard edged industrial sound, rather a down tempo electronic distortion that comes into the song and leaves again at leisure.

Truart was my favourite discovery of 2008. Depending on the day it will fight for favourite album of 2008 as well, simply because it is an interesting album that takes many listens to digest. The rhythms, the construct, the electronics, all add up to an amazing album that should definitely be listened to. There are some clearly better tracks, and some get weighed down in themselves, but it doesn’t really diminish from the album overall. Now we just need to see if it can stand the test of time.

TOTAL SCORE

8.9/10

– Sky Over The Berlin
– Volkssturm II (No matter how many times I listen to it, it’s still awesome, and great entertainment as well)
– Le Capitalisme

I had two review choices to chuck up before my Easter weekend bender, thought I would go with this one... Always tomorrow.

4ZZZ

Heck. This is a fantastic album. The blend of Industrial Dark Ambient and folk ideas make it very different from the norm. I love the accordion. Adds a certain melodic texture. Love the non English found sounds as well. I have played this all weekend. Great stuff Zarko. You have excelled your always great taste

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Zarko

Haha glad you liked it He has a few other albums (Drumfolk Attack! and Der Arsch Der Welt!) But Volkssturm is the best. Still worth checking out.

Of course you should give most of the credit to the artist

Janszoon

Earlier today I listened to this on a nice long drive. I can't even believe how good this was! It's one of those rare albums that really sounds like nothing else, or at least nothing that I'm familiar with.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Zarko

Well at least some people have benefited from my journal

I wasn't much into the martial industrial stuff before trying Truart out... Now I am disappointed I can't find anything else quite as good

jackhammer

From your first comp Rubberoom, Nils Petter Molvær and Sylvain Chauveau are big standouts for me.

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Zarko

Yeah I wasn't THAT happy with the alternate song list in the end, probably because I had to pick them from another album I didn't like as much (In most cases I reviewed my favourite album from the group), ergo I decided to chuck up the best of the current albums.

Also, you want anything, you know the deal

jackhammer

All three yes please

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