 |
WAER002
Full length CD, 11 Tracks
Act 1 in the instrumental Legends series. This album filled with medieval and fantasy atmospheres tells music from the majestic dwarven wars to the great cleansing lead by the dark order Vasilievich. With the Legends series Za Frûmi take a step away from the dialogue-driven albums in the "Za Frûmi Saga".
Tracklist
1. Dwarven Wars
2. Azoot oh' Khans Keep
3. The Olog Forest
4. Tea
5. Above and Below
6. Midnight
7. The Inn
8. Za Shulg (remix)
9. The Gathering of the Tribes » Listen to MP3
10. The Cleansing (Act 1)
11. The Cleansing (Act 2)
Note: The numbers of the tracklist on the real album is of orcish intellect, but dont be confused, they are named in the right order.
Reviews of Legends Act 1 (click highlighted text for full review)
"When you think Ring Wraiths and Golem and all that, do you think
'this would go great with some new age music'? Neither do we. So come
on Peter Jackson, here's your chance to add some credibility to the LOTR
soundtrack/score for part three!! COME ON!!!"
- Aquarius Records
"Maelstrom loves Za Frûmi"
- Roberto Martinelli - Maelstrom Magasine
"The whole cd are legends from the world of Za frûmi. The third song is
a masterpiece. It´s called The Olog forest. I have listen to it more then
10 times now and every time i travel (in my mind) to a strange place.
It´s like being a child again! I get so totaly into to that song."
- David Purdie - Musical zone
"Many of the tracks are absolutely excellent in their playful,
picturesque fashion. A grand example is the excellent The Olog
Forest, which name perfectly describes its gloomy and dense atmospheres.
Fairytale tinged melodies play around each other over murky goblin drums.
On random occasions, a swarm of bees is heard, perhaps attacking an unwary
Olog trying to steal their precious honey."
- Ortus obscurum - Ectonaut
"Za Frumi has uniquely composed a series of soundscapes, aligning perfectly with the writings of Tolkien. Their work successfully transports you back to Middle Earth, into a land separate from one's immediate reality. This music is perfect to read by, write by, meditate or fall asleep to."
- DJ Raven - KBGA College Radio Missoula, MT, USA
Full Reviews:
Musical zone - by David Purdie:
From Waerloga records comes this wonderful and dark cd called Legends act 1. The band: Za frûmi is a duo from Sweden. Simon Kölle and Simon Heath are masters in creating a mystical atmosphere. The cd start of with the brilliant Dwarven wars. My first thoughts about it was why these guys not are doing music for huge movies in Hollywood? In one way i am glad they don´t, couse Hollywood are not good enough for them. The second song is as far as i understand inspired by the image of a keep and it´s legendary master called Azoot oh´Khan. It´s really dark.
The whole cd are legends from the world of Za frûmi. The third song is a masterpiece. It´s called The Olog forest. I have listened to it more then 10 times now and every time i travel (in my mind) to a strange place. It´s like being a child again! I get so totaly into to that song.
This cd is really good and it´s hard for me when i try to find at least one negative detail to say about it. After some serious thought i have to give up! The booklet could be with more pages maybe.
Rumors say Za frûmi are doing a cd only inspired with vampires! If that´s true and it´s as good as Legends act 1 i will rank Za frûmi as one of the 10 best bands ever.
Ortus obscurum - Ectonaut:
The first thing which strikes me when listening to this album is that Za Frûmi has really matured since their previous release. Tach had its moments, still my general impression of it was that it was weak and that the dialogues were quite annoying. I'm pleased to say Za Frûmi's sound is much stronger on this album. There are still some small flaws in the production, yet I mostly feel repelled from quibbling over small matters such as these. The atmosphere has certainly been enhanced and many of the tracks are absolutely excellent in their playful, picturesque fashion. A grand example is the excellent The Olog Forest, which name perfectly describes its gloomy and dense atmospheres. Fairytale tinged melodies play around each other over murky goblin drums. On random occasions, a swarm of bees is heard, perhaps attacking an unwary Olog trying to steal their precious honey.
Generally, the music is centred around jolly melodies and hard-hitting percussion, the latter being one of the aspects which Za Frûmi has decide leaven to this album. The music is for the most computermade with few exceptions. It adds a certain atmosphere to the music, a slight nostalgia of the days when everything wasn't crystal-clear. The are some drones and some samples but generally, the music is totally built upon traditional instruments such as piano, trumpet, flute, oboe and bell-clangs, totally instrumental in nature.
When it comes to Za Frûmi incorporating dialogues in their music, their previous album Tach was a much better example of this. Legends - act 1 is the first album in series of Za Frûmi albums that deals with different themes than on their usual releases. There's not as much dialogue as before, hardly any as far as I can hear and instead the music has got a bigger role. Still, there are written texts that comes with some of the tracks, yet they aren't spoken out loud in the music.
Za Frûmi's continues displaying their polyphonic rhapsodies throughout this entire album. Their music has originality and I find it hard to sort into one particular folder. It can best be described as a mutation between (old-school) Computer Role-playing/Fantasy Strategy Game music, Industrial/Neo-classical music and Neomedieval music. My guess is that fans of projects like Summoning, old Mortiis or fantasy influenced music in general will find this album appreciable. Some of the best tracks if you ask me is the majestic Dwarven Wars, the devious Azoot oh' Khans Keep, Midnight with its nocturnal mood and of course, Za Shulg with its wolven reveille and gracefully descending atmosphere.
In conclusion, this release was a positive experience. I already sensed potential on their previous release so it wasn't really a surprise however. It is nice to see that there is music emerging from the Fantasy movement. This culture has proved to be very rich in bringing life to old themes and aesthetics and enhancing them to almost saturated extents. Yet I sense that there has been little activity on the music side in this culture and I hope this is going to change. Za Frûmi certainly shows that it can be done.
Aquarius Records:
Why get Enya for the Lord Of The Rings movies when there is a perfectly good, dwarf/orc obsessed combo, composing dark, vaguely rennaissance faire-ish dark ambient soundscapes that would work PERECTLY. And I'm sure they're cheaper than Enya. And come on. When you think Ring Wraiths and Golem and all that, do you think 'this would go great with some new age music'? Neither do we. So come on Peter Jackson, here's your chance to add some credibility to the LOTR soundtrack/score for part three!! COME ON!!! Anyway Za Frumi are a Swedish group who create fantastical worlds with orcs and dwarves and battles and journeys and all the D&D stuff we love. Their classic remains their debut record Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh where dark and ominous soundscapes were peppered with dialogue (IN ORCISH!!!) as well as battles and celebrations. Really strange and totally appealing. Their second disc didn't move us as much as the first, and while Legends is not necessarily a "return to form" we do like it a lot more than the last one. The focus is still on the music, having apparently discarded the dialogue and sound effects completely, which is fine, but unfortunately it moves Za Frumi from that niche where they were basically the ONLY band doing what they were doing, to the more populated field of Cold Meat / dark ambient. Fans of Dead Can Dance, Summoning Moon Lay Hidden Beneath A Cloud, Empyrium and other dark ambient will dig this a lot!! Very dark and cinematic and quite pretty, in an ominous sort of way. Rumour has it that they're working on a new record about vampires! Here's hoping it's as weird a record as we know they're capable of making!
Maelstrom Magasine - by Roberto Martinelli:
Maelstrom loves Za Frûmi. The mere fact that this dark ambient project is all about orcs and in Orc (the language. Yeah, it exists) makes it a lock to appeal to our bizarre curiosities, whether the albums are good or bad. And the last album, Tach, was bad. Regardless, we still awaited more from this wacky, D&D nerd duo from Sweden.
Legends Act 1 is an instrumental album, and it’s much better than Tach, but doesn’t approach the cult appeal of the first album, Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh. Certainly Legends Act 1 is in the same style as its two predecessors, being goofy, unique dark ambient with “medieval” sounding percussion that would be at home on Summoning albums, and synthesized silliness that inspires images of traipsing through fantasy, moss covered landscapes replete with sprites and nymphs. Watch out for the orc with the spiked club waiting for you behind the big weeping willow tree.
This image of wandering through swamps and encountering shamans with bone necklaces is especially present on Legends Act 1. Also making a welcome comeback are the choral arrangements that were so great in the first album. There should be more of them on this record and in the future. There are a few passages with brutish grunting, but sadly, no lyric sheet to broaden our steadily growing Orc vocabulary.
As one who has been following Za Frûmi’s tale of a band of orcs, I have to say I’m a little disappointed in there being no dialogue or explicit continuation of the story that came to an abrupt, “tune in next time” end on the last story. Don’t leave me hanging!
|
