kluseba "Weird" is the only Senmuth record to date that has known a semi-professional release that is physically available all around the world. I don't know why this album was chosen out of almost one hundred releases but I'm happy with this choice.

In my humble opinion, "Weird" is amongst Senmuth's ultimate masterpieces with Oracle Octave I: Orion Mystery and Great Oppositions Of Mars and convinces with nine detailed and well worked out little masterpieces. The instrumental parts may seem minimal at first contact and this album is one of his most calm and spiritual ones but every single song has progressive changes in style, gripping atmospheric passages and the certain kind of magic that not every album in his collection has. As this album is easy to purchase, I would consider it as an absolute must have and highlight in any collection of a fan of progressive ambient music.

To go further into details, I might as well point out my favourite songs for the moment on this consistent record. There is the really haunting "Raido" that finishes with an amazingly eerie piano melody that sends shivers down my spine and reminds me of the darker moments of some gothic metal bands such as The Vision Bleak minus the heaviness of those bands. I also adore the mechanical industrial sounds that open and close the gripping "Isa" which is maybe the best song on here. I also admire the majestic male choirs in the stunning "Uruz". Concerning the diversity I would though point out the track "Perth" which is practically as profound and amazing as "Isa" that has many progressive changes and mixes natural folk sounds, minimalistic tribal drum rhythms and a floating spiritual atmosphere in one single song and unites many key elements of previous essential Senmuth records which means that this album even gives you a great overview.

In the end, there really is no reason to not purchase this record. Go on his homepage, download his record free and legally and get convinced by this underrated atmospheric masterpiece and then go and support this unique musician by purchasing his record. I really hope that there will be more Senmuth albums available in this form in the near future as the idea kicked off in a nearly perfect way with "Weird" that is not as strange as the title suggests but simply another peak of brilliantly executed diversity signed by our culturally inspired multi-instrumentalist Senmuth.

kluseba Senmuth offers us what seems to be one of his most progressive, experimental and diversified albums. Let's just take a look at the inspiring and epic cover artwork, the length of the six songs and the topic about the creation of the world. Well, Senmuth got us by surprise again and instead of delivering a splendid album with many changes in style to recreate the images of the creation of our universe; our Russian mastermind delivers his calmest release ever to date. This album is entirely atmospheric and focuses on soft enchanting electronic melodies with a few folk snippets and some minimalistic metal riffs every tenth minute or so. I wouldn't even call this album progressive, it's simply relaxing.

If the dating with the Indian girl that I suggested you in my last review didn't work and she left your candlelight supper in shame and anger, this record here is the perfect soundtrack to drown your sadness, get torn away into a different world and falling asleep with a peaceful smile on your lips. The first time I listened to this soporific album with a friend late at night it truly worked better than a couple of sleeping pills and was much healthier, too. You can analyze this in a positive and a negative way and you may be right in both cases depending on your personality.

Of course, this here isn't Senmuth's most exciting release but the album presents a new style he has never explored before. If his goal was to create a peaceful, natural and tranquilizing atmosphere, we should consider this record as a creative and intellectual success. I know a lot of quite albums no matter if I take some old multi-instrumental records such as "Tubular Bells" from Mike Oldfield, some New Age music from Enya such as "A Year Without Rain", some intriguing ambient stuff such as Empyrium's "A Wintersunset" or even progressive rock in the vein of King Crimson's "In The Court Of The Crimson King" or progressive metal like Dream Theater's "Octavarium" but Senmuth's "Evolution: Exodus" has its unique brand and is probably the most minimalistic work in this list. The lazy and repetitive mood makes me actually think of Iron Maiden's "Virtual XI" to which I accorded quite the same rating. I only added a few points in here for the consequent radicalism of this release even if this last term is rather not appropriated for this smooth gem. If you know or like any of those albums I have just listed in this review, this one is a definite must have for you. It's all about the atmosphere and that's why I don't want to point any particular song out. The album is great for what it is and wants to be but surely not always easy to digest and an appropriate record for any traditional metal music maniac.

Even though I personally prefer any of the mentioned records, I must underline Senmuth's talent, sensibility and courage here. This meditative album is a great gem for very special occasions and it may not often find its way in my stereo system but the next time I will get upset and want to calm down, relax and think, this album is definitely my new first choice. That's why I begin to like this record not only from an objective but also from a subjective point of view. If you feel that you need some time for yourself and an introspective break, this record here may help you to focus.

kluseba "Rajas" is one of Senmuth's most important and profound albums about philosophy and spiritualism. It seems that especially Hindu and Bouddhism play an important role within this record. The Russian multi-instrumentalist mixes inspiring folk vibes with inoffensive and relaxing guitar riffs. For the first time, he also introduces some jazz influences to his music which makes this album stand out.

The great thing about this album is that even though it's once again a conceptual record, every song has its own style, attitude and atmosphere. This may even be one of Senmuth's most diversified records from the early years. On the negative side, there is only the fact that the album lacks a little bit of coherence at some points and is maybe too diversified against its own good. This doesn't mean that this isn't a great album as there is no bad song or filler on here which makes this record easily the best one coming from Senmuth out of the year 2006. This one merits your time, attention and money and if you are one of those part time fans that simply don't always have the chance to follow the large discography of Senmuth, this here is one of those albums you must check out and can't skip.

Every single song has a great mixture between a spiritual and almost hypnotizing atmosphere and some diversified vivid elements that make the single songs very particular.

Just to give you a couple of examples, there is the opener "Ethnic Whole Dynamics" that has a truly catchy flow and mixes folk influences with addicting metal riffs. This track would be one of the first tracks I would chose to present the music of Senmuth to somebody who doesn,t know anything about it and would like to get a brief introduction. The next track "Sattwa" convinces with some great folk drums, interesting shrieking guitar riffs that almost sound like flutes and some well hidden didgeridoo sounds. "Bemini Roads" has some electronic influences and sounds pretty modern. It reminds me of the dark wave and gothic metal sounds of the project's earliest records. It is almost danceable, but still diversified and touched by a mysterious atmosphere. "Saraswaty" is another great track one must mention. It's generally more metal orientated and employs a passage with atmospheric male and female chants that probably come from India. Some acoustic guitars and mandolins add a special flavour to this diversified track and one must also point out the amazing diversified drum patterns even if they may only be samples. Everything sounds authentic and addicting on this album highlight. Every song has in fact something different to offer and I could describe each one of them but I prefer to give you the occasion to discover the great universe of Rajas on your own.

I just want to point out "Threshold Of Great Transition" particularly as it really offers something completely new and outstanding. It is the first track to feature some jazz saxophones or at least samples of this or something similar. Nevertheless, the song keeps its gracious and calm folk vibes alive and doesn't develop the stereotype of a cacophonic experimental big band sound that bores me in most modern jazz music. This song here is just great and something completely new in the universe of Senmuth.

In the end, this album is excellent and only one or two points below the thin line between excellence and perfection. "Rajas" is undeniably Senmuth's best album from 2006 and underrated as so many other records from his discography that got some severe and strange ratings that go even below the sixty percent mark. Make up your own mind and give this a fair try after all.

kluseba NewOldLive sounds indeed somewhat old and seems to present some filler material from the early days of the ambitious Senmuth project. Some tracks are reworked versions from previous records, others are mediocre bonus tracks and we don't get the high quality level we got used to by Senmuth over the last great outputs. Even compared to the entire discography, this album is one of the weakest releases by Senmuth but surprisingly still not a failure which speaks volumes for the unique quality of the music of Valery Av.

Musically, we basically have a return to the Industrial Gothic sounds of the first two records on this compilation record. This can be seen as a step back, especially as the instrumental parts and the vocal skills didn't improve on this album compared to what Senmuth has delivered before. I would add to this that the album is too long with fifteen tracks and lacks of focus as there is not a single truly outstanding song to find on this record even though the entire material sounds quite coherent and entertaining. Once again, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. On the other side, this record could find its positive value as a good introduction to Senmuth's roots and early days for someone that hasn't the time, money and patience to listen to all of Senmuth's records.

We still have a couple of good piano melodies, danceable tracks and even a few atmospheric darkwave tracks on the entire album that could easily please to the fans of the genre and even get some airplay in the underground radios or discotheuqes. As highlights, I might maybe point out the collaboration with Annie Red Hat on "Cutting The Last Threads", the title track "NewOldLive" and "A Short Song About The Eternity (Apocalyptic Farewell)". Any fan of the more progressive and ethnic sounds of Senmuth might though easily skip this record and discover the great Oracle Ocatve double pack right now.

kluseba Our culturally skilled Russian multi-instrumentalist Senmuth heads for a new topic on this release and creates a quite diversified album about Japanese culture, history and modern life. A part of a few Japanese vocal samples, there are no vocals on this short record that rather concentrates on the music itself.

The record can easily be divided into two parts. In the beginning, Senmuth uses for the first time a pumping bass guitar with many gripping passages like in the brilliant opener "Tsukiyosi". The first songs generally concentrate on electronic instruments and remind of the early industrial metal sounds of the project. A positive exception is maybe the diversified album highlight "Amaterasu".

Towards the end of the record, Senmuth leaves the metal territory more and more. He focuses on folk sounds and adds more atmosphere and passion than before into his songs. The guitar solos are no more similar to the gothic or industrial scene but remind me more of the works of another famous multi-instrumental genius which is Mike Oldfield. Senmuth really proves here that he can not only play many instruments but play them actually very well. The mysterious guitar sounds are way more interesting than the standard industrial riffs that he usually uses.

Nevertheless, this division into two quite distinctive parts is a disadvantage and slows the coherent flow of this album down. It would have been better to write more songs and separate the two genres on two different records. I must also admit that the album employs some Japanese sound and vocal samples but not as much as I expected. They even don't always sound very Japanese to me and could also describe the sound and culture of other Asian countries. I feel slightly disappointed that Senmuth only scratches the surface of the culture of this impressive country and isn't able to create an addicting atmosphere all over this record even if he improves towards the end of the album with tracks such as the dreamy "Shakjamuni". This might sound a little severe as this is the first time he musically gets in touch with the Japanese culture but I think he did a better job for the Indian sounds on "Swadhistanha" or the Chinese concept on "Vdol' Puti K Podnebesnoy". Still, this is a humble beginning and respective first essay.

In the end, this album has still two interesting sides and styles to offer. It entertains actually very well and has a strong beginning and great finale. I'm looking forward for more works about the Japanese topic coming from Senmuth and will continue to follow the works of this gifted genius even though this one in here is one of his offerings that are only somewhere in between the ladder of mediocre and quite good works but not among his most brilliant or outstanding offerings.