Орендъ: Maksul

I recently received a boxed lot of albums to review (thanks, Pete!), and after shuffling through them, there was one album amongst them that immediately drew my curiosity. The album cover featured what appeared to be a man dressed as a buffalo or similarly hairy beast gazing menacingly across a somber plain. The band's logo was incomprehensible to me, as was the album title and the tracklist on the reverse side. Not because of a ludicrously illegible font a la modern deathcore bands, but because it was in a foreign language complete with its own alphabet. The whole aesthetic combined with the foreignness of it all gave off serious folk metal vibes (which is one of my favorite metallic subgenres), so I dove into the mystery disc with cautious optimism.

So, with a little help from this new marvel called the internet (as well as the google translate app), I learned that the mystery language was in fact, Bulgarian. Pretty cool! This is a band called Orenda (Орендъ in their native text), and the album is called Maksul. My rudimentary researching skills brought to light that the beast man on the cover is something called a "Kukeri"; a costumed man that performs rituals to scare away evil spirits. My folk metal senses were positively tingling after this revelation, but it turns out that I was only about half-right with my assertion.

Orenda is a project started by Petar Stoyanov to recreate traditional Bulgarian folk music into metal arrangements. With the help of a crack team of musicians, Petar has done a fantastic job. Sounding like a heaping helping of modern progressive metal with folksy melodies and some middle-eastern flair, this is a truly unique experience from start to finish. The riffs are chunky and thick, with nifty twists and turns all over the place, the keys and pianos add a decisively proggy element, and the drums are incredibly skillfully performed and musical in and of themselves. The vocals are what I would assume to be the most traditional and true to the original folk songs that the guys here have worked to make their own. Sounding not unlike Oprhaned Land's Kobi Farhi during his more subdued moments, the vocals are clean, callm, and almost religious in their delivery. Makes all the more sense why the Kukeri on the front of the album is there. The entire album sounds not unlike a ritual to keep the evil spirits at bay.

Prior to listening to this album, I had no idea that Bulgaria's culture and identity included so many influences from the middle-east. Bulgaria was actually under Ottoman rule for some time in the past, and it really shows on this album. The melodies you'll find on this album sound much more at home on an Orphaned Land album than a Korpiklaani album, and that was something I wasn't expecting at all, but it turned out to be a very pleasant surprise. These melodies make up the backbone of Maksul, and while very traditional sounding the musicianship and arrangements make sure the album is incredibly modern to the ears. Musically the album sounds not unlike a folkified new-ish Dream Theater album (think Train of Thought) without the constant noodling and showmanship. That's not to say the musicianship isn't top notch, because all the performances here are excellent. Even the saxophone solo that comes out of nowhere!

The album flows nicely, and truly there isn't a weak moment to be found provided you are into the traditional melodies and can get over the language barrier. Foreign languages have yet to scare me away when it comes to my lust for metal, and for that I'm thankful as albums as good as Maksul are a treat to these ears. My personal standout track is "Kapitan Petko Voyvoda", with it's thumpy bass intro and emotive and excellent piano throughout. The riffs are folksy and disjointed and just excellent all around. Throw in some sweet guitar solos and harmony bits and you have a great representation of what to expect here. Certainly a track to check out if you are at all curious about what Orenda brings to the table with this release.

Maksul is one of the most interesting albums i've had the pleasure of reviewing since joining the team at Sea of Tranquility. The mystery and vibe of the album sleeve alone got me interested, and for once the music found inside was not only worthy of what was on the outside, but easily outclassed it in spades. If the idea of classic Bulgarian folk songs in all their eastern European/Middle Eastern mishmash glory played in modernized prog metal arrangements with excellent production and musicianship sounds good to you (and it should), then you absolutely owe it to yourself to check out Maksul. It will surprise you.

Tracklist:
1. '78
2. Nazad, Nazad, Mome Kalino
3. Dragieva Cheshma
4. Kapitan Petko Voyvoda
5. Yovano, Yovanke
6. Devoyko, Mari, Hubava
7. More, Sokol Pie
8. Katerino Mome
9. Maksul

Added: May 16th 2021
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
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Language: english

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