a r t i s t : Za Frumi
t i t l e : Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh
d a t e : 2000
l a b e l : Tarki Music Publishing
g e n r e : Tribal
r l s. d a t e : 2011-02-20
t r a c k s : 11
b i t r a t e : VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo
s i z e : 70.27MB
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This album caused me to have a bit of a roller coaster ride of feelings
and opinions about it. Curiosity, disbelief, ridicule, interest, more
ridicule, more interest, appreciation, and finally respect and admiration.
This, folks, is, whether you like it or not, an undeniably unique album.
Ok, ok, so what is it? Well, I guess you could classify Za Frumi as a dark
ambient project. However, Za Frumi avoid using any keyboards, those
instruments that greatly ruin most of the dark ambient compositions that
feature them. Instead, this Swedish group concentrates on a rich variety
of acoustic instruments: woodwinds, flutes, lots of percussion (a great
deal of it metallic), strings, and some stunning male and female choir
work. As an instrumental piece of work, Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh stands as
an outstanding effort. However, we are still just scratching the surface
of what this album is about.
Za Shum Ushatar Uglakh is a concept album, one that tells the tale of a
band of Orcs. The band, led by its leader Uglakh, goes on a journey and
has various adventures and experiences. The story culminates in the band
battling against the vampire Ismael. The whole plot is carefully
documented and explained in the booklet. Some of the plot can seem to be
structured rather peculiarly, as the Orcs spend time doing some pretty
corny things, like arguing over a toadstool, for example. But the kicker
is this: the whole album is in Orc. Yes. What this ends up sounding like
is a bunch of seemingly random guttural noises. According to the interview
with Za Frumi in this issue, someone invented a 5,000-word vocabulary Orc
language. A look at the transcripted dialogue between the seven characters
seems to validate that Orc is indeed a tool that could be developed for
international espionage, for example. Luckily for the rest of us, a
translation is also available, allowing us to read into passages such as
this:
"Uglakh: Stay calm. We are in Ismael's castle now.
Knish: Oh me oh my.
Golug: Quiet! Listen to Uglakh!
Kapul: There is a stairway over there.
Uglakh: We are coming.
Knish: Sneak and creep.
Kapul: I will run over there.
Knish: Is there a wolf over there?
Kapul: Yes, many.
Uglakh: Charge!à.."
Whether you think it's really cheesy or brilliant (perhaps also cheesily
brilliant or brilliantly cheesy?), this album is a must have on its
uniqueness value alone. Oh, by the way, from what I've learned of the Orc
language, Za Frumi means "the spirits". An interesting 50 minutes of
listening guaranteed.
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1. Intro 2:22
2. Dushatar 7:09
3. Za Kala 3:34
4. Za Shulg 3:03
5. Nudertogat 4:41
6. Albai 5:08
7. Vrapogat 7:15
8. Interludium 7:08
9. Za Ismael Kala (Act 1) 8:25
10. Za Ismael Kala (Act 2) 5:41
11. Knish Requiem (Outro) 1:00