An excellent demo from a band that should not remain unnoticed for long...
Ian C.
Contact: borilsvantejski@hotmail.com
Kinovia use acoustic guitars, flutes, violins and piano to create a melancholic neofolk/neoclassic
music that draws largely from traditional Serbian folk music. Amongst the traditional elements are the
long male vocal complaints, similar in sound to the Corsican polyphonies, inspired by the wordless Ison
singing of ancient Byzantine tradition. These songs may be wordless, but these timeless vocal melodies
express more heartrending sadness and melancholy than any words could ever convey...
This singing technique, which represented the absolute of god, is particularly in phase with the
religious inspiration of songs such as 'Otkrivenije arhangelovo' ('Revelation of the Archangel'),
'Znamenija' ('Omens') and 'Dorotea' with its chaotic frenzy finale representing man's inner struggle
against oblivion... This demo also includes superbly rearranged versions of a traditional song 'Lelej'
and a traditional religious chant from the 12th century "Vaskliknite Bogovi".
This is a live recording so expect to hear a gritty unpolished sound that, far from disserving the
music, gives it a sense of urgency and fragility that somehow adds an extra dimension to the music...
It also shows the range of Kinovia's talent and I'm impatient to listen to their first release, the
soon to come 'Snenia' mini cd.
Winter 2003