Year of release: 2016 / 2017 (this release)
Label: Trash Can Dance / Hammer of Damnation (this release)
Rating: 7,5 / 10
Working on the books of Dayal Patterson gave me an interesting acquaintance with Lembetu, the leader of the famous Estonian brigade LOITS who, unlike most of the "ever-busy" musicians never spares time and money to promote and support his band and everything that connected to it somehow. Therefore, it is not surprising that I, as a web-zine editor, got all LOITS albums from Lembetu as soon as possible, as well as the reissue of the rehearsal recording, with a review of which I will begin.
Rehearsal "Tulisilma Sünd" was recorded in 2000, a month after the death of guitarist Alan Kalma. This record, made at the request of the local label, became a fateful event in the history of LOITS, from which the real activity of the band began. Immediately I will say that you should not be afraid of the "rehearsal" status of the tape. In fact, it's much more like a professionally made studio demo because it's performed smoothly, and the sound quality is exactly the way it should be. "Tulisilma Sünd" has much in common with old Polish and Norwegian records. In particular, it reminds me of the first two albums of NORTH and "Grom" from BEHEMOTH, but only half as furious and heaped up. The sound and melody of these releases are quite similar, and they have this common feeling of deep antiquity. The atmosphere is enriched by synth parts which, alas, are really short. Most of them left to the introduction to the first song, which is regrettable, since music requires about 5-6 fragments of this kind. Acoustic pats that also play an important role in such type of metal are much more developed. And still there is a sense of some shortage. Perhaps the fact is that 25 minutes is not enough for such a material. It carries the aura of that key period of the 90's, when outside there was always late autum, and everything was black and white. You always want to listen to such things much longer.
In the lyrical sense, "Tulisilma Sünd" is a classic Heathen Metal. I prefer to use the word "heathen" instead of "pagan" to describe the style that does not refer directly to real traditions and does not call the gods by name, but tells about the story and the nature of the native country of musicians, as well as about some generalized spiritual and ideological matters. Here, everything is exactly like this: blood, battles, warrior's way, nature, moon worship and so on. CD edition from Hammer of Damnation is equipped with a good 8-page booklet, where each song has its own piece of artwork, and in the middle there are photos of musicians and a brief history of the release. Each text is given not only in the original Estonian version, but also in English translation, therefore understanding will not cause any problems. You can see more on a video. . To summarize: "Tulisilma Sünd" is a very good thing, but I would like it to last 2 times more.
English (UK) 
Крыўская