01. Dirty, 02. Voices, 03. The Fall, 04. No God, 05. Sleep Forever
Evestus is an Estonian band founded in 2004 by Ott Evestus. Initially a solo project, Evestus has turned into a four-piece band featuring Latvian drummer girl Tanya, guitarist Jan and HK playing bass and keyboards. No God is the fifth studio release from Evestus and includes five brand new songs.
The opening track titled "Dirty" begins with a synth usually heard in Electro music styles. Slightly distorted bass, drums and lead guitars follow. Additional layers of noise make Evestus sound more Industrial. The vocals, when performed in the same heavy-duty manner, match the arrangements well. The lyrics are dark and sound very imaginative: "To see the smiles on your dirty little mouths while you're crawling all over me - an army of bugs" and thus, they bring up an idea of an artistic video as well.
"Voices" could be bracketed in the Electro-Rock genre as a result of the synth, which accents throughout the entire composition. The band smuggled guitars into the track as well, giving it an edgy tone. These however, are covered with a dense and jumping layer of electronic beats. The song has been illustrated with a high quality video production, which includes various different camera perspectives cut together in a fast paced and interesting montage. To give you a little glimpse - the plot begins with a group of young yuppies, along with some desirable goth/EBM women partying together. A mysterious man sprays gas into their room in order to break in and steal a suitcase. Be sure to visit the Evestus YouTube channel to discover more about this video.
The third song on the album, "The Fall" brings in a Breakbeat-Electronica sound in the vein of The Prodigy, The Crystal Method and Propellerheads. If you listen closely, you will hear symphonic sounds that conjure up violins. On the other hand, there's Big-Beat spiced up with a lot noisy FX that may make this song pleasant for less rock-orientated listeners. There are many instrumental movements in "The Fall" but Ott left room for the vocals, which come in shouted and distorted. It seems also that a soundtrack compilation CD would be a good idea for a better exposure of this track.
"No God" is reminiscent of Marilyn Manson’s music and is presented with psychedelic synth, grooving bass, dirty guitar riffs and haunting vocals. Yet, the song’s mood is mixed. Initially there's melancholy, created by the sound of the piano that opens the song, but you'll also experience many dynamics performed on bass and punk-esque drums. Anger strikes within the choruses as the vocalist contests the existence of a deity, arguing that no god has protected the human race against tragedies: "There is no god. For every miracle you witness my friend there's a disaster and there will never be an end to our fears and our dreams and the hope that they feed so you believe someone else will pick you up from your knees" and "I'm lost but my madness will lead me to the answers I need to know, not to believe in".
The final song on the album could be a perfect soundtrack for a big budget movie, however Evestus have already illustrated this track with a meaningful video in a black & white production style. "Sleep Forever" begins with a subtle piano joined by cold background samples, synth and broken drum beats. This quite innocent mood continues for almost 3 minutes until it dramatically changes. Nostalgic atmosphere turns into a fast ride with rhythmic drumbeats, pitched up synth and yelled vocals.
On a side note, the lyrics of "Sleep Forever" may refer to Escapism, a behavior resulting from avoiding problems and the reality of living a struggled day-to-day existence. An individual who becomes frustrated with too many overwhelming issues, locks himself in an alternative world built upon either activity or the opposite, passivity. In this case, the lyrics dwell on escaping into sleep - either into an everlasting dream world or more presumably, a suicide: "I don't want to wake up ever, I just want to sleep forever, let me leave this cold and clever world - don't want to be here".
Any day can be a good day to launch a new music release. Nonetheless, Evestus did it on 12/21/2012 - the fearful date on the Mayan Calendar supposed to mark 'the end of the world', and frequently brought up by the media last year. Happily, not only have we survived but we’ve also received an interesting new EP.
No God is available from most of major digital distributors and also as a digi-pack CD, limited to only 300 numbered copies. It's also worth mentioning that Evestus is going to release a new album in 2013 which may be followed by a series of music video singles next.
(Katarzyna 'NINa' Górnisiewicz, Fabryka Music Magazine, February 4th, 2013. Proofreading: SanDeE)
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Reviewed by Fabryka Music Magazine