Штиль

This record is probably the most interesting compilation album the Russian metal legend has ever released. First of all, this record includes many bonus tracks from previous singles or special releases that are mostly hard to find. There are new recordings and alternative versions of older songs from the bands, cover songs with new Russian lyrics from pieces by bands like "Manowar", "White Lion" and even "Golden Earring" and finally two new and exclusive songs in the end of the record. Second, this was the last studio release in the traditional line up of the band that broke together in the same year and only released another last live record together. This album is something the final highlight of a legend that completely changed afterwards to split up in the bands "Kipelov" and "Aria" that both released great albums in the future.

From the older songs, I especially appreciated the recent single "Lost paradise" that convinces with a symphonic version and orchestral elegance. This track is an unusual epic and romantic ballad that should have made it on a regular album. From the alternative versions I especially liked one of the very rare English songs of the band called "You'd better believe me" that is in fact a cover version of the Aria song "Don't want - don't believe me" from the enjoyable "Blood for blood" album. It's interesting to hear the band once performing in another language but the way it is sung it's still quite difficult to understand the lyrics as the singer has a strong and charismatic Russian accent. The mood of the original version in maintained and only polished up a little bit to get it straighter and fresher. From the new recordings of the band's classics, I liked the dynamic version of "Hero of asphalt". I really appreciated the original version but always found that the album had a rather weak sound and production quality. Now, they release a dynamical new version of the old classic that allows you to raise the volume and get heavily into this song without being disturbed by an inconsistent and rather silent sound. Concerning the three cover songs, I liked all of them and especially "The time has come", a cover version of Manowar's "Return of the warlord", a quite catchy and traditional heavy metal song that perfectly fits on a Harley Davidson Tribute EP on which this song was originally released. I prefer this vision to the rather silly lyrics and video of the original track that also had a very bad production quality.

Now, let's talk about the two new songs in the end of the record that really rate this album up. "Machine of death" is a melodic and traditional heavy metal song that is quite straight and catchy and could have been done by a band like Manowar that has been covered in the beginning of the record. This song would have been a popular single choice and should have made it on a studio album. "Give me a hand" is almost as strong and starts as a hard rock song with a strong touch of the eighties before it turns into a melodic, diversified and epic metal track that is less catchy but very interesting from an artistically point of view. It is needless to say that this second new song would have also been good enough to be included on a regular album.

The only thing I didn't really liked on this record from a personal point of view is the title track, an alternative version of a very good ballad from the latest studio album. This version features the vocals of the well known German metal singer Udo Dirkschneider from U.D.O. and formerly from Accept. I know that he is very interested in Russian culture and language and he performs very well in Russian but I feel that his voice doesn't fit to this silent and yet powerful song. The chemistry between Kipelov and Dirkschneider that have two very different kind of voices doesn't work very well and the German sounds like an angry raven that shrieks over the epic grace of the original song. It's surely an interesting experiment and I would encourage the Russian band to do something in that key again to gain further attention in the Western metal world where they could easily get well known if they wanted to release their albums internationally and do a couple of live shows outside of the ancient Russian empire.

To keep it short, there are many interesting songs on this record that presents us many different ideas and addicting gimmicks from the last past years. This is album is far more original than an ordinary compilation record. I wouldn't probably call this album essential but any true fan should try to purchase it and would add something very special to its collection.