Olhava – Ladoga
Band: Olhava
Title: Ladoga
Label: Independent (CD) / Slowsnow Records (MC)
Release Date: 20 March 2020
Country: Russia
Format Reviewed: Digital Promo
First thing, just a curiosity or a fun fact. One or too days after I heard the album on the Bandcamp, I was contacted by the band and I was … Happy.
So, when I got this promo, as I said I was happy and started to listen to as many as possible. I have to admit that was many times.
Moving inside the Atmospheric Back Metal and Blackgaze style this band managed to stand out compared with many bands that I already heard inside this music style.
This album is divided into 9 songs with a total of 01:11:10 time length. And I can assure you that you don’t “feel” time passing by and even if is more than 1 hour playing, it looks that it was just a few songs you heard.
The album starts with “Ageless River I”, an atmospheric song that looks at the same time a intro… “Smoldering Woodland” the second song but the first will all instruments is a fast one track with plenty of atmospheric in air that can transport the listener to another place, at least if you start to feel the music and managed to get inside the music. Everytime I heard this album I was in that need, to forget a bit everything and be “out” this world… So I did transport myself to another place…
And we are back to “Ageless River I”, no wait, to “Ageless River II” and this is the third song. Another instrumental song, as the name says is the continuation of the first track…
In this album you will find one instrumental song, related to more atmospheric/ambient, one, let me say, a kind of “traditional song”. Just saying this way in order for you to understand how this album is divided.
“Ageless River I”, “Ageless River II”, “Ageless River III”, “Ageless River IV” and “Ageless River V” the odd numbers, if they were followed, could be, like a story or a tell, cause they are bond but in this case, they are a kind of “return” to home, a need to return to the roots cause in the middle of them they are the songs “Smoldering Woodland”, “Trembling Night”, “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” and “Ladoga”.
These songs (“Smoldering Woodland”, “Trembling Night”, “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter” and “Ladoga”) are the travels that I made outside here…
Even if I felt so good while listening to this album, the sensations of travelling, back home, travel again, back home again, and so on, while listening to this album, are very hard to put them on words and the thing that I can advise is to listen to this wonderful album and try to understand/feel what this Russian band made… 8.5/10 The Key Keeper 666
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8.5/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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