Originally written by Chris Redar
“I am Russian. I am soldier. I am ready.”
This, the final line of “First Narration,” which opens the new album from Athens road warriors Jucifer, sets the stage for what is on the way: sonic warfare. Some eardrums won’t survive. Those that do simply won’t be the same. War changes a person. Once the damage is done, there’s no going back, maaan.
“The Russian Album”, recorded in four cities across the world, is arguably the most abrasive work the duo has ever turned in. It’s also possibly the most complete album in the band’s nearly two decades of existence. “Song of the Waking City” follows the opener with a slow burn that builds in both momentum and anticipation over the course of nearly 10 minutes. As the song shifts direction and gives way to another bit of spoken word…BAM: “White Lies–Winter Is Coming” begins the skull-crushing in earnest. Amber Valentine’s vocals sit somewhere towards the back of the mix here (and throughout most of the album, actually), which gives off a strange, ghostly sensation. For an album that deals in history such as this, it’s just perfect.
And this is an album. For better or worse, this is best viewed as a 78-minute audio-only film. From the machine-gun firing action sequence (“Pavlov’s House”) to the young heroines standing their ground against insurmountable odds (“Shame”), this is a story being told through the filter of disgustingly heavy riffs and pounded yet precise percussion (courtesy of sticksman Edgar Livengood). And do yourself a favor and get the liner notes. The way things are fleshed out and explained takes this beast to a completely different level. That’s not to say these songs don’t work individually, however. The former track rides in, empties a couple of clips, and is gone in less than a minute. The latter, the tale of the 1077th Anti-Aircraft Regiment (an almost all-female anti-tank unit—thanks again, liner notes!) should be Russia’s new national anthem. There is also a genuinely unnerving moment with “Wolf (Grieving Mother).” The way the vocals are shrieked, the slight step up in tempo as the song shifts into high gear…it sounds so disparaging, and at the same time, it sounds fucking dangerous.
Sequencing is something that comes up quite often around these parts, and “The Russian Album” pretty much nails it. This is a journey that clearly starts in one place and finishes in another. “Queen of Antlers,” the last song in the structured sense of a ‘song’, ends like some of the most emotionally stirring films end: not happily. Sometimes loose ends don’t get tied up. Sometimes they don’t get back together. Sometimes your favorite character doesn’t live to see another day. And with this record being centered around WWII, some people didn’t make it home. As “Patriotic Song” takes you out of 1942 and “End Narration” brings you back to 2013, you’ll be rightfully exhausted.
And this might be one of the only downfalls here. 78 minutes is a lot of time to ask of someone nowadays. If you’re anything like me (full-time-plus job, wife, kid, cat, constantly in a state of home renovation- what I’m getting at is fucking busy as shit all the goddamn time), you are limited in your musical digestion options. Per example: it takes me on average 28 minutes to get to work, and somewhere in the 40 minute neighborhood to get home. Since my whip is my primary mode of tune-blasting, that would make my entire commute a Jucifer affair, and I’d still miss 10 minutes. Which means my commute the next day begins again with Jucifer, locking me in a Groundhog Day style endless loop of constant Jucifer listening, without end.
That being said, this still needs to be heard, and the well-researched and detailed liner notes need to be read. There isn’t a dull moment to speak of on the entirety of this one. Just make sure you bring some snacks and a couple of tissues to dry your tears at the end. Don’t worry. No one will know.
