Kismet -- Wake Up Gods -- Tone Casualties Records

Track Listing

1 Wake Up Gods
2. Assassination
3. Submarine
4. Ortoma
5. Venus In Furs
6. Polen
7. Post Communism
8. Nothing
9. Voden 2048
10. Leison

"Billed as post-darkwave, neo-futuristic, Kismet is an Australian-based group of (Slavic) Macedonian origin who combine gothic-rock with traditional Balkan folk music. The traditional element isn't just ethnic flavouring but contributes at least half of the synthesis, thus producing a very interesting, unusual and perhaps unique, sound. Band leader, composer and guitarist, Gorazd Capovski, comes from the ex-Yugoslav province, where his former band, Mizar, enjoyed massive popularity, selling over 30,000 records"
--Flux (10 Sept 1996).

Kismet is
Gorazo Capovski: Vocals, Guitars,
Tambura, Zurla, Keyboards and Programs
Ilija Stojanovski: Bass, Tambura and Gajda
Special Appearance by
Kiril: Keyboards and Programs
Mastered by
Joseph Carra at Crystal Mastering

          If you have never heard Kismet, you are really missing a great sound. Founded in a blend of traditional "Balkan ethno, experimental, darkwave industrial and electronic sounds", Gorazd's deep enticing and at times, reverberated vocals, and his mastery of guitar takes the listener off to distant ancient lands and foreboding soundscapes which at times is fused with a dash of techno-edge and gothic undertones.
         The use of traditional instruments appears on several tracks, rendering a more "ethnic" feel to them in Until The Next War and Voden 2048. Kismet has also recreated a version of Velvet Underground's Venus in Furs, in which Gorzad's flowing sensuous voice will hypnotize you while the music will transport you into drum and bass twisted with synthscapes -- an excellent and very original track. Polen is yet another more traditional piece of work of drum and bass, soft hydraulic synths and the traditional sound verse of ethnicity heard throughout the CD and void of vocals. Post Communism brings out the traditional Balkan sounds of guitar, the deep droning vocals of Gorazd's singing and exotic (male) spoken word layed over the gentle ticking of drums and the [Macendonian] harmony that seems to have escaped the past, bringing to mind an unsettling [industrial-edge] celebration of sorts. Single notes on the guitar plucked and echoed with drums used to a minimal effect with a winding synth expanding itself becomes Nothing. The final track exemplifies the ability by which Kismet mixes industrial, ethnic and electronica into a masterpiece of darkwave traditional composition unlike anything I have heard in the past.
          The production and mastering on this release is excellent. The sound is intense and powerful, yet soft, flowing, and often eccentric. It is simply beautiful, and bound to capture your high regard and respect with its original creativity. I recommend this CD to anyone daring to venture out of the mainstream underground sounds so often reiterated in the American and Western European scene. This is CD won't collect dust on your shelf.