"I'm not afraid to die" sings Shino (Aliaksandr Kavaliou) in the first track (XXX) of this epic 21 compilation of old and new songs.
If Kavaliou's pseudonym makes you think of something luminous then you'd better think again. He is not concerned with 'shiny, happy people' but positively revels in the exact opposite - darkness, sadness and death.
His music is described as 'Acoustic Gothic' and Johnny Cash is cited as an influence although he doesn't seem much in thrall to a folk tradition as such. The atmosphere of Bauhaus' classic 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' is a little closer to the mark . If he had repeated Peter Murphy's cry of 'undead, undead, undead' on any one of these songs it wouldn't have sounded out of place.
Shino's heavily accented baritone voice, he is a Russian based in Germany, brings to mind one of those James Bond villains who revel in their own vindictive immorality.
The slow, deliberate menace is almost a parody of itself as he savours details like the taste of vampire's blood or reflects on the inevitability of dying.
There is no respite from the total immersion in this bleak void since in Shino's universe every cloud has a darker lining.
In lugubrious tones he dwells with morbid fascination on life as a kind of curse.
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With self explanatory titles like titles like A Song For Pain, Suicide and Melancholia he covers a check list of subjects familiar to any self respecting Goth including: winter, decay, tears, self hatred , faded dreams, recurring nightmares, emptiness and loneliness.
Most of the songs are in English although a couple are in German and one, Moliva, is in Russian.
The minimalist backing on just an acoustic guitar is well suited to bleak subject matter.
It's all a bit heavy for my taste but the huge success of the Twilight franchise together with a continuing fascination with demons and vampires suggests that there are many tempted to follow Shino's journey into this private hell with vague promises of a bloody salvation or awakened consciousness.
Don't forget to pack the garlic!
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