Year of release: 2020
Label: Primitive Reaction
Rating: 8,5 / 10
The project of the brilliant Ukrainians turns 6 this year, but I, being a great fan of the work of Roman Saenko and the company, listened to PRECAMBRIAN for the first time just now. The project was not particularly prolific, having released only two small EPs, and in general it seemed superfluous against the background of other, more active, initiatives of the musicians.
However, "Tectonics" turns the whole situation upside down. Of all the albums that Saenko has released in recent years, this one is the most convincing. It makes no sense to beat around the bush - this is pure HATE FOREST, the ideological and musical continuation of the legendary brainchild of Ukrainians. Do not be confused by the thematic palette of PRECAMBRIAN: back in the days of HATE FOREST, these people sometimes sang about large stones and volcanic rocks, and now they decided to devote an entire album to the most ancient period of the Earth's existence.
Curious to speculate about the nature and character of the PRECAMBRIAN. The atmosphere of the music coincides with the theme: it is cold and monumental, like the boundless landscapes of the young Earth. It is dark and gray; in the world of the Precambrian period, the sky is always covered with lead-heavy clouds. It is fierce, like those merciless winds that turned entire tectonic plates into sand. But, surprisingly, not lifeless, although the only life form that is present here is the very archaebacterium to which the first track is dedicated. The vocals vibrate with powerful negative emotions, and the familiar melancholy wakes up in the guitars every now and then. Sometimes it happens completely unforgettable. If you listened to HATE FOREST for the first time on the “Scythia” demo in the CD version with the bonus track “To Those Who Came Before Us”, you must remember the amazing impression the melancholic riff on the bonus track made after half an hour of merciless blasting. "Tectonics" also has a couple of such priceless moments.
I highly recommend the album for purchase. It is not inferior to the best records of HATE FOREST in musical terms, and in sound it surpasses almost everything, because they have real drums here!