Обійми Дощу – Елегія

Obiymy Doschu (Rain’s Embrace) is a six-person Ukrainian band plus guests, with male vocals in Ukrainian. Obiymy Doschu blend the gloomy and melancholy Anathema/Katatonia/Riverside aesthetic with the lush strings sound of the Nordic and post-rock bands. The saturated strings are probably part Mellotron but also real violin and viola, lending a neo-classical feel. There is some metal guitar, a complete mismatch for the rest of the instrumentation of course. (A sympathetic, progressive-style guitarist would have fit much better, but they’re apparently hard to find now.) However, the violin plays some of the soaring melodies that the electric guitar might have covered. Piano, acoustic guitar, female backing vocals, bass and drums fill out the sound palette, which varies little from track to track, one reason the album flows uninterrupted, with a single mood. It is atmospheric and quite beautiful and elegant (apart from the metal guitar), if compositionally unvarying; this music is all about the bittersweet mood and the sad-but-majestic orchestral textures.