ALBUM REVIEW: Молчат Дома — Монумент
You may think that a Belarusian rock band whose only brush with the Spotify Viral 50 came as a consequence of a TikTok trend is an unusual first review for this page. However, in thinking that, you certainly haven’t heard the music of Молчат Дома (Anglicised and henceforth referred to as ‘Molchat Doma’), in all of its New Order and Depeche Mode-flavoured beauty.
To avoid all confusion: that summary does not mean that Molchat Doma are a wholly easy listen. Yes, the lyrics are entirely in Russian, and the band definitely take their cues from the darker side of the aforementioned bands’ discographies (think “Elegia” rather than “Just Can’t Get Enough”). But take cues they definitely do, and one suspects Bernard Sumner and co. would certainly take an interest in any music described as, by “Дискотека” (“Discotheque”) music video director Alexey Terehoff, ‘totalitarian disco’.
A fitting description, seeing as most of the tracks on Монумент (Monument) sound like what I’d imagine was on the DJ decks for the last foxtrot at the Overlook Hotel; dancing in the face of the impending apocalypse. This is predictably evident on “Discoteque”, but also on “Не Смешно” (“Not Funny”), which sounds like Depeche’s “See You” if it had been left out in the tundra for 38 years. Despite the majority of the Western world being unable to decipher frontman Egor Shkutko’s lyrics, they may recognise his baritone as inescapably similar to that of the late Ian Curtis, and recall the emotions he best projected.
The listener may at this point be wondering if this aesthetic is a reflection of the pandemic-tinted turmoil which was and is taking place throughout the entire recording and release of the album. True as that may be, it is also impossible to divorce Molchat Doma from the political state-of-play in Belarus — a situation which this writer knows little of, and thus will not attempt to Brit-splain. Though the band are not overtly wallowing in self-pity about it (at least, from what can be discerned through a translation of their lyrics), the songs’ titles, particularly Утонуть (“Drown”) and Обречен (“Doomed”), offer a Freudian slip.
While they can be forgiven for wanting to discuss the climate around them, the trio is seemingly less adept at consolidating their musical ideas in this context. “Doomed”’s guitars whine more than they drone, while the attempt at spareness in Ленинградский Блюз (“Leningrad Blues”) has conceded to emptiness by the track’s conclusion. Monument’s nine tracks clock in sveltely around the 40-minute mark, which is welcome — one fears that a lengthier project would have further exposed these shortcomings.
One also fears that a lengthier project would have also come at the expense of Monument’s gorgeous concluding piece, “Любить и Выполнять” (“To Love and Fulfill”): a sentimental, understanding and, dare I say, optimistic vision of their home country. The interplay between guitar and bass in front of the ethereal synths resembles a conversation between lovers, played out in front of a juxtaposing cityscape of equal parts Art Deco and Brutalism.
It is like watching a beautiful sunrise come over the Western City Gate. And truthfully, I wouldn’t be surprised if that was exactly what Molchat Doma were going for.
★★★☆☆
