The avant-garde project known as Divina Enema was formed in February 1998 by Yaroslav A. Burakoff (voices and lyrics) and Tikhon S. Zolotov (bass guitar) who always wished to play heavy metal in a way of theatrical extravaganza. The bands first demo ‘To Wight Shalt Never Shine’ was recorded in late 1988 and the demo tape was produced by the band themselves. Despite a more than modest self-promotion, music magazines like Heavy Oder Was, Thrash 'em All, Metallian, Ablaze, etc. gave the demo high praises. The demo was acclaimed the best debut of 1999 on the Belarusian Metal stage. A considerable part of this success was due to the bands live shows. Divina Enema live is always very picturesque and very theatrical. This theatrical combined with the unusual musical stuff Divina Enema performs are always remarkable and their gigs always draws a lot of metal heads. This 99 demo have now been pressed and released on cd. This cd includes it all angel like choirs, black metal shrieks, progressive tunes and even some grind riffs. This is an experimental and interesting album
This is not the new album, but re-issue of the very first famous demo-tape appeared originally as MC in early 1999. Great progressive metal music with dark and black metal influences!!!/ Belarus
This is probably what it feels like to be inside a court jester. Divina Enema landed on this world in 1999 with this demo, which I consider a legitimate full-length debut, not only because of the length, but the actual care put into the lyrics, instrumentation, compositions, recording etc.
There is this medieval-like atmosphere, hence the "court jester" I mentioned before, not so much in melody or rhythm, but more with... well, whatever the lyrics talk about. Witches scream and demons growl in your ears through the twisted and varied vocals of Yaroslav Burakoff, bringing to you tales of demonic possessions, invocations and ghostly escapades. At least that's what I got off of it; the lyrics are written in this sort of Early Modern English, which, in my opinion, are not a detriment to the album. The songs feel really odd, so the way the lyrics are written complements the whole mystery behind what each song seems to be about. The rest of the instruments also help to set this odd atmosphere, guitars chugging away while keyboards fill the rest of the sound with symphonic arrangements and the drums never stop pounding, skillfully composed, so much so that, while they sound (and might be) programmed, they don't really feel mechanical, and are far away from being monotonous.
With one hour of demo material, it never feels repetitive or dragged out; while they all have the same feel and are thematically connected, they are in constant change and are vastly different from each other. What isn't really present in this album are moments where Yaroslav lets the instruments shine on their own. He's always there, either singing, shrieking or growling, but, while I feel and understand how that can be a real turn-off for anyone who'd listen to this or any other of their releases, I dig them. They do feel distinct from the instrumentations, as he goes on his own tangents and melodies while seemingly changing between characters in a hellish one-man Vaudeville act. It adds another layer and personality to the tracks which is greatly welcome as he sounds completely invested and trustful of the vision he wanted to share with the world.
Pretty much every song except the last is either fast-paced or mid-tempo; drums often enter blastbeats-mode even, as the guitars, tremolo-picked, follow. There are some solos, few and far between, but the guitars are so technical and excellently-played that it doesn't really matter. Much like the vocals, they are doing their own thing as well, and yet never feel as if they don't belong, same with the keyboards. Each instrument complements each other, it's quite beautiful. The whole album sounds amazing for a demo, everything sounds clean and is quite audible.
While with each subsequent release their sound quality improved and they introduced the story element (while still using Ye Olde English), I feel like this is their most concise release. Songs are more tightly composed, there aren't really any "throwaway" riffs you'd ignore, every song feels like it has a beginning, a middle, an end, and all the parts that link segments together in a nice little bright-red-and-green-zigzag-striped bow. Just ignore the Epilogue track (which is just a reversed sample of the first verse of Eaten and Forgotten) and you'll be fine.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VND_h-rIyKM
