Reutoff have definitely been very prolific these last months... The proof again with this brand new album 'Maska' released in co-production by the two Italian labels Eibon Records and Stridulum Recordings. 'Maska' was recorded in 1999 and had to wait a few years and more interest in the Russian post-industrial scene to see the light...
Another important detail resides in the fact that 'Maska' is also the very first Reutoff LP, and for this reason it can only be something special for vinyl collectors...

Four long tracks feature on this LP. The brilliant first one 'Black Mirror Inside', already known by those who have the 'Prime' compilation CD-R, is in the pure Reutoff style (sampled Russian voices mixed with a multitude of strange, organic sounds/drones, reverbs,... and a particularly melancholic atmosphere). It opens this album in the best manner... and augurs a 'typical Reutoff album', in a musical and atmospheric sense... The first seconds of the second track 'Hexerei' prove it will not be the case at all... The rhythm is much faster and the sonorities are closer to electronic dance floor than ambient/post-industrial... The melancholic atmosphere of 'Black Mirror Inside' is definitely broken and leaves place to some unusual (dance-like) sonorities by Reutoff; the exception being the final eponymous track.

People who are expecting to listen to a new 'Unseen Rituals' or 'Gute Nacht, Berlin!' will certainly be disappointed or at least surprised by this new release. Just keep in mind the date of the recording... and expect to listen to a rather different facet of Reutoff's music...

The 'regular' edition of this LP is limited to 555 copies and comes on heavy black vinyl presented in a very nice coloured cover.
The collectors have not been forgotten since there is also a limited edition of 111 copies in a hand-painted wooden box... a very nice object indeed!