WAERLOGA RELEASES

WAER004
Full length CD, 10 Tracks

Act 2 in the instrumental Legends series. This album is inspired by the legends of two vampires (Jakesh and Rianji). Mystical, dark, fantasy and well played are words to describe the music. The booklet is rich with beautiful artwork and texts. Za Frûmi have really outdone themselves with this masterpiece!

Tracklist
The legends of Jakesh:
1. Through Jakesh Eyes » Listen to MP3
2. The Curse
3. Halls of Madness
4. Celestial Bond
5. Morning Dew
The legends of Rianji:
6. The Cult of Rianji
7. Shadow Twin
8. Blood Slaves
9. Crematoria
10. The Feast

Reviews of Legends Act 2 - Vampires (click highlighted text for full review)

"As ambient projects go, Za Frumi have to be regarded as one of the best purely for the variety of arrangements and styles."
- Golden Lake magasine - Frasier

"Legends act 2 vampires just overflows with intense emotion, incredible power, and indescribable beauty."
- Musical Zone Japan - David Purdie

"I can best set this music accompanying a late night, role playing ‘Vampire:The Dark Ages’ – it really is well suited to that environment. It’s also easy to hear why this sounds like the soundtrack to a film not released."
- Keith Elcombe - Hard Wired

"Haunted house organs, operatic female vocals, classical piano, horns and flutes, swirling strings, galloping horses, chirping crickets, ghostly disembodied voices, minor key melodies, and all sorts of military drums, tablas and various percussion coalesce into one seriously mysterious creepy crawl through the world of the Vampires!"
- Aquarius Records

"Perfect illustrations in the booklet with great artistic touch"
- Folkowa web zine - Taclem

"Again good music on their last production: Legends Act 2"
- Infratunes

"Indeed, Za Frumi has turned us all into total nerds. Za Frumi nerds. But with good cause, as Za Frumi’s take on the dark ambient genre is unmistakable, kind of like going on a RPG expedition through a fantasy swamp, filled with the soundtrack of the bog and the tress and the insects and the voices of the spirits that inhabit the place. Legends Act 2:Vampires is a fine progression for these two guys. May their careers long continue."
- Maelstrom Zine - Roberto Martinelli

"The cd has beautiful melodies from heaven and sound like something between Dead Can Dance and Unto Ashes."
- Monitor Records Hong Kong - Alan

Full Reviews:

Musical Zone Japan Issue 51 - by David Purdie:
This is the second act in the Za Frûmi Legends.
One of the finest Za Frûmi recordings that I have heard. Very distinctive stuff from the Swedes Simon Kolle and Simon Heath that are the core of Za Frûmi. I guess a lot of it is difficult to describe. What it is, is very, very good music. Za Frûmi has wonderful tone and control. The sound is unique.
It´s two legends of vampires with five songs each. The first five songs is about the lonely, slighty mad and powerfull vampire called Jakesh. His story is told very well in text (in the booklet) and with the music (no lyrics). Of the five Jakesh songs "Halls of madness" and "Morning dew" strike me as being the best.
The other five songs is about a female vampire called Rianji. She is the leader of a huge cult in the east (in the world of Za Frûmi) and in my imagination she looks like a very beautiful Egyptian women from the times where pyramids where build by slaves. When listening to songs 6-10 (the Rianji songs) i started to smell something in my house. It was the smell of an ancient world and incenses. No it was not me that had not cleaned the house! It was the music of Za Frûmi that had transported me to another world.
The Rianji songs have Very good tribal drumes and melodies which i find strange and interesting. Almost like good Japanese Jazz. But it´s not jazz! It´s far better than any jazz i have heard! "Shadow Twin" touches me the most and is the best song, but "Blood slaves" and "The cult of Rianji" are very well played too. "Crematoria" is true darkness. Almost like Heath and Kolle gone of to do darkwave, but then as you think you figured out the structure of the song they break it up and a rich and delicate song reveals itself.
The Rianji songs have gentle ethnic instrumentation on flute and strings.
Za Frûmi have taken their music to a completely new dimension as "Legends act 2 vampires" just overflows with intense emotion, incredible power, and indescribable beauty.
If this where the only stile Za Frûmi where playing it had been enough and good, but Za Frûmi also have the "Za Frûmi saga" don´t forget that dear readers! In that series we follow a brave group of orcs with the fearsome leader Uglakh in charge. What happened to them on Tach? We might found out on Za Frûmi´s upcomming cd as i just learned by Waerloga records that they are heading into the studio very soon to record chapter 3 in the "Za Frûmi saga"!
The booklet: pictures and text on Legends act 2 Vampires are very good. I had only one remark on Legends act 1 and that was the thin booklet. On Legends act 1 the texts felt like something i could have lived without and the pictures where not something you remember.
On Legends act 2 Vampires though the booklet is filled with interesting art and the texts make the cd more deep.
On this grand CD Za Frûmi layers strings, orchestra, solo ethnic instruments, and solo vocals (no lyrics) over one another to the point where they can each be heard, but none is dominant. Za Frûmi are able to do that. Mix the good of many stiles and not end up with a postmodern soap which no one really understand and not end up with some modern version of historical music like Enya and Clannad are good (bad) examples of.
This is the best CD that I've listened to in a long time!

Golden Lake Magasine - by Frasier:
Some of you may have heard this ambient project before as they are quite prolific in their releases. If you are into acts such as Arcana and Elend then this will appeal. Za Frumi however, are more complex and multidimensional than Arcana but not as dramatic and operatic as Elend. The moods range from somber melancholy to more upbeat film sound track style sections, with many instruments being utilized across woodwind, brass, strings and percussion. As ambient projects go, Za Frumi have to be regarded as one of the best purely for the variety of arrangements and styles.

Hard Wired Alternative Music Mayhem - by Keith Elcombe:
It’s good to have another offering from Za Frumi, fairly soon after the 1st one.
Given that the style of music has not changed much, it’s best to think of this as an extension of the previous album.
Once again, the music is of medieval vein, but a little darker this time.
I can best set this music accompanying a late night, role playing ‘Vampire:The Dark Ages’ – it really is well suited to that environment. It’s also easy to hear why this sounds like the soundtrack to a film not released.
Each track stands out in it’s own right, and is meticulously crafted. The addition of ambient sound effects gives even more body to the music – horses galloping, wood burning, voices, footsteps on stone, howling wind – these add so much to the sound you could quite easily find yourself transported to another time and world.
I would say the instruments used in this release are traditional – harpsichord, voices (creating a choral effect), flute, pan pipes, medieval drumming, string instruments etc, give emphasis to the quality of delivery here. Don’t go looking for any modern instruments on this album.
Each of the 10 tracks is accompanied by a description in the CD inlay as to what the track is about – tracks such as ‘Through Jakesh eyes’ tells us of Jakesh’s view on the world, ‘Halls of Madness’ describes the scene within the halls of Jakesh’s palace, while ‘Blood slaves’ tells us of the blood slaves joining in with the dance of the dead, played out on ‘blasphemous flutes’. All strong stuff, and great if you want to completely submerge yourself in the world described within the inlay. Me, I’m happy to just listen to the music.
If this style of music is your thing, then go out and get this - you’ll love it.
It’s another good release from Za Frumi.

Infratunes:
Original article in French.

ZA FRÛMI are composed by two persons: the Swedes Simon Kölle and Simon Heath (also known for his solo project Atrium Carceri). The major inspirations are taken from dark fantasy literature, as well as the legends and nordic beliefs. Their first album, Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh, had the characteristic that it completely was written in uruk-hai, the language of the orcs. The Duet, wanted more than inspiration from Norwegian forests. So they got inspired by vampirism, more precisely the worship of Jakesh and Rianji, two vampire lords.
This cd is homages to those two. Again good music on their last production: Legends Act 2: Vampires in 2004.

Maelstrom Zine - by Roberto Martinelli:
7/10
With each passing album that is released, Maelstrom’s fondness grows for Za Frumi, the Dungeons and Dragons loving Swedish duo and their many organic and electronic friends. Za Frumi made its indelible mark four years ago when it released the never to be equaled Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh, a concept record that told the tale of orcs, and all in orc. The albums got worse and then better, but Legends Act 2: Vampires is clearly their best sounding album yet. The trademark flutes and particular percussive elements let you know that this is a Za Frumi album, but the sound has become much richer with violins and greatly improved keyboard tones. The ambient vocals seem to be a mix of actual choral singing and keyboard washes.
Za Frumi and Waerloga Records seem to be turning into the Spawn comic book franchise (put out by Image Comics) in that some popularity has resulted in spinoffs under the same name. The case here with Legends Act 2 is that the story does not concern orcs in the least, and thus gives us no chance to feed our closet hobby of learning new orc vocabulary by reading along with the album’s liner notes. Rather, this concept album, as the title suggests, is entirely about vampires. By merely listening to the music, you would have no idea. Rather, the signature Za Frumi style is to be listened to as you read along with the album booklet, which promises further development of the orc saga in a future Za Frumi album.
Indeed, Za Frumi has turned us all into total nerds. Za Frumi nerds. But with good cause, as Za Frumi’s take on the dark ambient genre is unmistakable, kind of like going on a RPG expedition through a fantasy swamp, filled with the soundtrack of the bog and the tress and the insects and the voices of the spirits that inhabit the place. Legends Act 2:Vampires is a fine progression for these two guys. May their careers long continue.

Monitor Records (Hong Kong) - by Alan:
Legends act 2 is built up by multi-orchestral layers. There are many original solo
instruments. No lyrics but some middle age vocals. The cd has beautiful melodies from heaven and sound like something between Dead Can Dance and Unto Ashes.
Or maybe Arcana that meet Elend?
Another great cd by Za Frûmi!
Highly Recomended

Aquarius Records:
Our pals in Za Frumi seem to have said all they need to say about the world of the Orcs. After three discs, it was just time to move on. On to what you ask? Well, Vampires obviously. So utilising the same sonic pallet, soaring strings, flutes, midi orchestration, martial drums, and ambient soundscapes, Za Frumi explore the lives of two legendary vampires, Jakesh and Rianji. This is quite possibly our favorite Za Frumi since the first Orc record. That record, Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh, was split evenly between music and the sounds of the Orcs, battles, arguments, war cries, etc. And we were a more than a little bummed when they shed the 'dialogue' and battle sounds in favor or a pure musical picture. But this first Vampire disc, the music is dark and mysterious, creepy and compelling. A heady mix of renaissance faire minstrel music, horror movie soundtrack, gypsy folk, video game music (not like blips and bleeps but those Silent Hill / House Of The Dead / Resident Evil sort of super suspenseful background soundscapes) and dark ambience. Haunted house organs, operatic female vocals, classical piano, horns and flutes, swirling strings, galloping horses, chirping crickets, ghostly disembodied voices, minor key melodies, and all sorts of military drums, tablas and various percussion coalesce into one seriously mysterious creepy crawl through the world of the Vampires!

Folkowa Web Zine - by Taclem:
Original article in Polish.

What does electronic passion have in common with folk music?
Sometimes they can have something in common. What Za Frûmi present to us is "Dark Folk", that sometimes is called fantasy music.
The cd sounds like a soundtrack to a dark movie. On the other hand is this a seperate complicated story.
Jakesh and Rianji are two stories from a world that´s on it´s way to disappear. About dark cults and vampires. There are not missing any musical solutions that remind us about folk music. If you move over this cd to a "fantasy reallity", should this maybe be known as the elves dark folk music.
The cd is pretty proud and pompous, but in the same time very beautiful and sad. We have electronical elements such as drums (both electronic and not) that are intertwined in the music. Now and then we here flute and strings. These instruments play melodies that have no origin in any known (ethnic) culture.
At the same time you will be able to distinguish a taste for the oriental, mystical sounds with a flavour of Balcan inspired music and ofcourse from the literature homeland of the vampires. Maybe it´s a homage to those homelands.
Aside from the great artistic value here, the cd work just fine as illustration to fantasy books or even horror books. There are also perfect illustrations in the booklet with great artistic touch.

Stillborn Extreme Music Zine - by ~ C.Ð.M.~:
Original article in Italian.

If the first cd in the Legends of Za Frûmi with Simon Kölle and Simon Heath, pleasantly did hit, this cd does too. I remain hooked by this second work of art that discusses the legends of two vampires (Jakesh and Rianji). This new episode is divided in two parts. The legend of the vampire Jakesh and the legend of the vampire Rianji, told in the typical Za Frûmi style: and that is to say with the music. Magical music... Music of atmosphere, no words, only sounds and feelings. Za Frûmi are capable of architect feelings that are like impalpable structures that materialize themselves alone during the listening. And i always feel diffrent things. The music is darkened with a mysterious halo that create worlds lost and charming.
The music is somewhere between glacial resonance, cold penetrating synths and a large tribalismo that you can here during the whole route (especialy in Rianji!).
There is not more to say. If you already know of Za Frûmi and like them you will contiune to appreciate them still and even more. If you don´t know of Za Frûmi yet you will enchanted by this release!
I would lie if i did not tell you that the music is attractive. It is an Attractive disk!!
It´s a feeling of experience you feel after listening to it. You are being guided into splendid places and characters. I advice this experience to all of you!