Rating: 8.8/10
Release: 11 Februari 2012
Label: SoundAge Productions

A reviewer of this fanzine once used the formula “One of the more famous amongst the unknown” to describe a band and now I’ll just mention it again to describe the Russian band Leshak because I believe no tag fits this band better than it. Leshak is an underground folk metal band for one reason or another, but the ones who love folk/death metal or more “swampy” folk or simply got tired of Korpiklaani and took a dive into less-known bands have certainly heard their name at least once.

This is Pustosvyat, which can be translated as “Hollow prayer” or as “Wasteland”, their 2nd album and I believe this one’s very interesting to discuss. I saw many people thinking about Chertovorot and Besogon immediately while talking about Leshak, forgetting this one album that is currently my favorite one of them.

This album’s opened by the Russian “Lord’s Prayer” followed by an accordion intro and by the very beginning you can expect some beautiful folk parts which is in fact the highlight of the album in my opinion. After that the title track explodes with a very fast rhythm and this time a flute joins the folk components of the music. The songs are filled with growls and harsh vocals and the production is excellent, I don’t think there’s any flaw to point out here. If you do not like screams you can still listen to 6th instrumental track Мельница or 10th track Darjane-Marjane featuring the folk parts described before in all their entirety.

As for the songs, a good amount of them is covers or traditional songs, like the last bonus track Ace of Spades (a cover from the more known band Motörhead) or 5th track Ойся, ты Ойся which is one of my favorite tracks of the album.

Most of the lyrics talk about popular Russian characters like Fedor and Maria, or Ivan’s body passing away during a dangerous night travel in the song Rasputie…. yes, nothing related to beer and alcohol, but still with very solid folk components in the background.

In conclusion this is a very well executed album. The melodies will probably not drive everyone crazy, but if you’re looking for an album with powerful accordions and strong folk parts then it’s never too late to check this out.

Tracklist

1. Otche nash 01:45
2. Pustosvyat 02:53
3. Rostov” 04:08
4. Fodor da Mar’ya 03:08
5. Oysya, ty oysya 03:48
6. Mel’nitsa 03:06
7. Rasput’ye 03:49
8. Chortov rog 03:47
9. Yablochko 04:15
10. Darjane-Marjane 01:33
11. Ace of Spades (Motörhead cover) 02:29