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 KISMET
Damjan's War
1995
CD
Paritor
Billed as post-darkwave, neo-futuristic, Kismet is an Australian-based
group of Macedonian origin who combine gothic-rock with traditional Balkan
folk music. The traditional element isn't just ethnic flavouring but contributes
at least half of the synthesis, thus producing a very interesting, unusual
and perhaps unique, sound. Band leader, composer and guitarist, Gorazd
Capovski, comes from the ex-Yugoslav province, where his former band,
Mizar, enjoyed massive popularity, selling over 30,000 records.
This is not the first gothic group with Balkan influences as Lisa
Gerrard of Dead Can Dance comes from
Australia and was influenced by the music of the ex-patriate Balkan communities
there. This music, however, comes from ethnic insiders, and goes a lot
further.
Kismet's first release was a five-track EP, Dormant Dire (Paritor
1994), and this has been followed by Damjan's War (Paritor 1995).
The album has eight tracks and features instrumental music utilising traditional
instruments such as tamboura, sas, oud, bazouki, zurla and gaida together
with bass, drums, electric guitar, synth, cello and vocals.
(Here I was going to demonstrate remarkable explanatory knowledge
of such instruments by reference to a booklet accompanying an old vinyl
record in my possession, 17 Macedonian Folk Dances (G.B. 1978),
by the Zivko Firfov folkdance group, but it has, alas, seemingly
parted company with the record sleeve, so that will have to wait).
Damjan's War is at once menacingly gothic, reassuringly folky,
and modernistically electro, and these qualities all weld together into
a convincing, trancey, whole.
The lyrics to the first track, 'Nostalgia', seem to reflect a winsome
patriotism. Other lyrics are obscure and/or in the Macedonian dialect.
Noteworthy to many will be the inclusion of a cover version of Joy
Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' which has a Celtic-sounding intro
with Balkan riffs, a sort of Chieftains go electro in an oriental bazaar.
They obviously have a sense of fun and I'd love to see them live if they
ever come to Europe. (They also cover JD's 'Decades'.)
On the technical front, Kismet are good musicians and this album has
professional sound quality. Some comparison with Laibach is inevitable:
isn't it always? But they have a style of their own, and I particularly
like the wandering and wavering melodies. I used to sing like that too,
but people just thought I was out of tune so I gave up...
As a fan of Balkan (and Hungarian) folk music (and of English folk groups
like Blowzabella), this album naturally appealed to me, but I'd
recommend it as a worthwhile if brave addition to any CD collection.
Rik - 13 February 1997
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