DEAD RAVEN CHOIR - ...But Inside They Are Ravening Wolves
CD-R released by the Last Visible Dog in the USA and Cat Sun Release (with an additional track) in Poland. Both editions are out of print. New versions of various older dead raven settings of poems by W.B. Yeats, Hilaire Belloc and A.A. Milne.

Hound-Voice ~ because we love bare hills and stunted trees and were the last to choose the settled ground
The Hosting Of The Sidhe ~ Niamh calling
The Black Tower ~ stand we on guard oath-bound
The Withering Of The Boughs ~ because the roads are unending, and there is no place to my mind
Oil And Blood ~ in tombs
Water-Lilies ~ to the ripples of the water
Ballade Of Unsuccessful Men ~ what was terrible and free
Ha'nacker Mill ~ Wind and Thistle for pipe and dancers
Epitaph On The Politician Himself ~ I wept
The Prophet Lost In The Hills At Evening ~ the Voids of Hell expand enormous all around
The Rebel ~ high Justice in her armoury

Extra track on Polish edition:
Comforting Of Elijah

Reviews

Dead Angel
Author: RKF
July 2002
Talk about enigmatic -- Dead Raven Choir is a one-man pagan-goth-something band based in College Station, Tejas, not exactly a hotbed of such activity to my knowledge... and he was booted out of Poland for political reasons and somehow wound up in Tejas. Apparently he was originally into death metal, not that you'd guess it here -- this is more like the pagan folk-worship of Current 93 and likeminded World Serpent bands, a folksy but sinister sound indeed. Smolken (he that is DRC) refers to what he does as "an intense and barbaric form of psych-folk," and who am i to disagree? It's certainly compelling enough in its otherworldliness, like music calling back to the medieval age. The pace is generally funereal, the mood one of melancholy, and it sounds nothing like anything "modern." These are pagan hymns for a lost time. Titles like "Hound-Voice," "The Black Tower," "The Withering of the Boughs," and "The Prophet Lost in the Hills At Evening" give an indication of where his head is -- off in the distance, in solitary contemplation of nature. I could imagine this being made by some fiendish black-metal warrior in a more contemplative mood as a side-project. This would probably hold great appeal for the followers of World Serpent bands and paganism in general....

Blastitude
winter 2002/2003
Dead Raven Choir is something of a find for the Last Visible Dog label, a guy from Poland known only as "Smolken" who lives in the States and writes and performs really involved cabaret-style horror-folk in various duos with an ever-changing cast of "mysterious women" (according to the Dead Raven Choir website). His voice could be compared to Nick Cave, of course, or the Bryan Ferry of "In Every Dream Home A Heartache," but Smolken's accent is stranger, and the songs are more windingly and obtusely complex, possibly coming somehow from that Eastern European cabaret tradition.
Anyway, DRC has got the spook, sounding quite appropriate during this Halloween time of year. I don't follow what he's going on about with the lyrics, but it turns out they're adapted from texts by W.B Yeats, A.A. Milne, and Hillaire Belloc. The singing and overall sound is quite striking and not really like anything else in the LVD catalog or in any catalog. Is this what Coil or Current 93 sound like? I've never heard 'em.

Maelstrom
Author: Roberto
October 2002
This album is very much in the same vein as The Blood of Two Wolves, except Smolken, the main lunatic behind this project, is performing everything. However, the pieces on this recording are not improvised. As a result, there is much more to listen to musically within each track. Added variety is supplied by including cello and electric guitars on top of the acoustic guitar, which provides the bulk of the music.
…But Inside They Are Ravening Wolves suffers inexplicably from the same problems that plague The Blood of Two Wolves, namely the vocals are way too low. The vocals themselves are more or less identical to the ones on The Blood…: goofily exaggerated Eastern European accented voice with random, roller coaster drama. Smolken is in fact a Polish national who came to the US in 1986, but I still can't help but think that the vocals are somehow put on.
And while moments of each song sound good in themselves, the redundancy and total lack of separation from song to song, added with the difficulty in hearing what Smolken is trying to say make things get old really fast. Come to think of it, this incarnation of Dead Raven Choir is in every conceivable way the poor man's version of Finnish folk/psychedelic group Kemialliset Ystävät (check out the reviews below). So if you either love Kemialliset even more than I do, then maybe spending a few bucks on the quiet version of Dead Raven Choir may give you some enjoyment as well, but tread carefully.

Funeral Procession
Author: Hans D.
July 2002
Another cdr full of 'intense and barbaric psych-folk' from Dead Raven Choir. And as usual an albumtitle with wolves in it. Eleven tracks can be found on this 35-minute release, with texts from illustrious poets like Yeats and Milne. This cdr will soon also be released in Poland by Cat Sun Release. Dead Raven Choir brings us again their strange grim and twisted psychedelic folky mix, full of dissonant distorted sounds, a peculiar madman voice and unusual song structures. The deep basses give the music an even more eerie character. Dead Raven Choir creates a sombre and sad atmosphere once more. Their are a few more lighter touches in the music, which sounds a little more sophisticated and accessible than on other releases. Though still not something for a wide audience. I find this their best cdr so far, though it is not something I will play a lot.

Alarming Echo Beats
Author: Rev. Samekh
July 2002
These are new versions of various older dead raven settings of poems by W.B. Yeats, Hillaire Belloc and A.A. Milne. This is very droll and makes a good soundtrack for night time musick.There is not many artists that sound like this.And what is more impressive they are based in Texas. But first a little info on DRC. "The digger Smolken was born and raised in Cracow, Poland, where he absorbed peasant folk music, cabaret music and underground anti-Communist sung poetry. His family was asked to leave the country for political reasons in 1986, and he eventually ended up in Texas. He played death metal in high school, which is perhaps an embarrassing fact he should keep to himself, but that early exposure to chromaticism resulted in an interest in music theory and advanced harmony. He later dabbled in mediocre noise and miserably failed improv, and eventually formed Dead Raven Choir." This release sounds very deep and eclectic.I hear mandolins and acoustic guitar mixed with stand up bass. The sounds of DRC summon images of thunderstorms,wolves,and dark grey Scandanavian winter countrysides. Bands that DRC sounds similar to are: The 1970's Italian pre-gothic prog band Jacula,and German avant garde band Art Zoyd. There is a definite Polish folk/peasant musick influence in his material as well. Look forward for more interesting and dark releases in the future from Dead Raven Choir.

Aural Innovations
Author: Albert Pollard
April 2002
Dead Raven Choir is an incarnation of the digger Smolken and a mysterious woman whose name is not uttered. Smolken was originally brought up in Cracow, Poland before leaving for political reasons. He and his family eventually ended up in Texas, US in 1986. It was here after dabbling in assorted ventures that he later formed the original Dead Raven Choir with a stripper. He informs that only half a song was complete before she vanished… So in 1998 he exhumed the name and was joined by the mysterious woman to record music that he describes as an intense and barbaric form of psyche-folk.
As I listen, I make no sense of it at all; it sounds like an opera to me. I can picture a theatrical nature in the songs, and I could not quite understand the words at first, later I could. I am informed that all the words are poems wrote by the poets W.B Yeats, A.A. Milne and Hillaire Belloc. What I can say is that the whole CD rolls with the same vibe throughout. It is dark and it is twisted in ways indescribable. I cannot think of sound a'likes to give you a better gist of what the music is. All that I can think of is dark opera music with its slow story like patterns, and its dark tales of woe. A lot of it is Piano, Guitar and a bowed Double Bass; together they give that eerie feel as they act out the play.
The songs or movements have titles like 'Hound-Voice', 'The Black Tower' and 'Epitaph to the Politician Himself' to name but a few. All are slow and deathlike, all are passages of a long gone age, and all are spoken by Smolken with qualities of insanity. I like the idea of using poetry to express a plight and Dead Raven Choir certainly do that. I must say that it is a million miles away from space rock, but it has that darkened edge that gives a touch of mystery to the whole project.
Dead Raven Choir produces theatrical style music with a slow shadowy nature, they work their pieces in sombre mood and I would say that it is awash in sadness in certain ways. The sound is dark and spirited as it moves through emotion, the end result being a cross between peasant folk and operatic darkness. An interesting combination if that is your want? I myself found it too similar with no apparent change in mood or style. Dead Raven Choir has 3 more releases available on Last Visible Dog and DarkBlack MuzikProducktion. So if you are intrigued check them out.

Antena Krzyku
Autor: Artur Mieczkowski
styczeń 2002
Przesyłka z USA, dokładnie z Teksasu była o tyle dla mnie miłym zaskoczeniem, iż okazało się, że mam do czynienia z "Krakowiakiem, który spędził drugą połowę życia w Teksasie"- jak sam pisze. Gdzie to naszych rodaków nie poniesie... Miłe jest, że i na teksanskich ziemiach niosą się, prócz country, monumentalne, zadumane pieśni. DRCH. to rejony bliskie apokaliptycznej muzyce, pełnej grozy i zadumy. To dźwięki z półki dark folku, poetyckiej onirii, uśpionych wizji. To muzyka rozpościerająca się gdzieś pomiędzy world serpentowską ziemią a post metalowym (aczkolwiek żadnego metalowego dźwięku tu nie uświadczymy) wytworem. Są to pieśni pełne mrocznego dźwięku- uspokojona, ułagodzona Diamada Galas, i eksperymentujący Nick Cave się przemieszali tu i ówdzie. Wszystko to ze wskazaniem na raczej pompatyczną linię czarnych, budzących dreszcze pieśni. Spójny, koncepcyjny CDR. Myślę, że dla miłośników dark neofolku może to byc niezła uczta. Plusem jest bardzo dobra realizacja i czyste nawiązania etniczne. Problemem jest niewyraźne pismo "Karkowiaka" i nieaktualny e-mail podany we wkładce, przez co nie udaje mi się uzyskac z nim żadnego kontaktu. Wiem natomiast, że inne materiały zostały wydane przez Simona Williamsa: hatemail@dark-black.com. Krótka przejażdżka po bardzo emocjonalnych, mrocznych dróżkach.

Cold
Autor: Maniak
wiosna 2002
Oto jak dźwiękowa sielanka łatwo przeradza się w horror. Mr. Smolken używa zestawu instrumentów złożonego z kontrabasu, mandoliny, akustycznej gitary i banjo. Powinno być więc nastrojowo, pastelowo i ogólnie pięknie. Nic z tego. Smolken lubi dysonanse, fałszywie brzmiące akordy, dziwne powiązania melodyczne. Muzyka, jaka wychodzi spod jego palców, ma w sobie coś pociągającego, ale jednocześnie zdrowo straszy. Moim zdaniem idealnie nadawałaby się do nowych odcinków kultowych bajek: "Gucia i Cezara", oraz najbardziej psychodelicznej spośród wszystkich dobranocek: "Opowieści z mchu i paproci". Ma rację Smolken, mówiąc, że jeśli to, co robi, to neofolk, to zdecydowanie awangardowej i barbarzynskiej odmiany. Na pewno nie jest to muzyka, która niezauważenie rozpływa się w powietrzu. Przede wszystkim, pomijając samą warstwę instrumentalną, nie pozwala na to głos Smolkena. Ten facet, szczególnie ostro akcentując głoskę "r", tworzy z języka angielskiego jego zbarbaryzowaną parodię. Słowa artykułowane przez artystę aż drażnią uszy. Zaglądając na stronę Dead Raven Choir na mp3.com, mogłem przekonać się również, jak Smolken śpiewa po polsku. "O mój rozmarynie" w jego wykonaniu powoduje zapewne więdnięcie kwiatów. Zresztą przekonajcie się sami i zajrzyjcie na jego stroniczkę. Swoją drogą to ciężkie życie mają w tym Teksasie: z jednej strony country and western, z drugiej Dead Raven Choir...