As for the material itself, both the story and the music are quite good. Despite the obvious similarities with King Diamond in the album-long supernatural horror story with sung dialogue between the characters, the final product is remarkably unique. The story is a quite beautiful and passionate one, concerning a band of gypsies that come to a small town offering its inhabitants licentious pleasures. One of the townsfolk accepts their offer, but after having done the deeds discovers to his dismay the purity of the girl whom he made a whore, and agonizes over the sin that brings him untold sorrow and a mysterious gypsy curse that is yet unfulfilled by the end of the album (the band’s website mentions that this is only part one of the story and that it will be completed on the subsequent release). The music is fairly relaxed mid-tempo prog-doomish with the a few interesting touches (particularly on “Vestinie”). There is little innovation here, but still a distinct character that fits the lyrical concept very well. Overall, the album’s greatest strength is its coherence and unity of purpose, the tactfully mysterious narrative, the challenging emotional content and the just so obeisance of the music all contributing to the sense of obscure terror.

written by Andrew Zawislanski

Playing time: 23.00