Review Summary: Incredible journey into Slavic soul!
Sve sto vidim ,
everything i see , everything i knowÂ*! Is the third lp from Gornji Mladenovacs band Bjesovi. Gornji Mladenovac Its a serbian equivalent of some dusty town in the middle of nowhere. Like Morez in France or , Kiskunfelegyhaza in Hungary.What is important is that nothing happens in it , nothing ever happened , and probably nothing will ever happened there. So to live in it push one to create inner world , metaphysical universe of his own. Specially in the country where all hope is disintegrated, all dreams transformed in nightmares. This is what happened to Bjesovi they woke up one morning and decided to create soundscape profoundly melancholic and heavy as the weight of demons on ours backs. Serbian word for demons are bjesi or in plural Bjesovi. Just like in Dostoevsky -Possessed , this bunch is fighting with Balkans Slavic urge to drown in metaphysical questions by the means of sonic and poetic journey into heaven and hell.
Sve sto mislim is succeding the second album full of darkness and terrible depression called just Bjesovi. Album violent and honestly auto destructive imposed Bjesovi as the Serbian Soundgarden but withouth beautifull now late Chriss Cornel and without catchy tunes .It was more like Soundgarden “Badmoterfinger” period but more dark and desperate.
Bjesovi than have had two singers Zoran Marinković and Goran Marić like two voice one stronger than other an supeposition of force and vocal might. Their third album was some kind of musical and lyrical catharsis . Everything on this lp is inspired by craving to a higher purpose , some ideal , some celestial objective. Kad mi stane dah , is apotheosis of love . Wake me up(Probudi me) calling for awekining from everyday slumber and mediocrity. Sve sto vidim , sve sto znam (Everything i see , everything i know ) invoke god , with the verses of Luke from bible . Very strange invocation , invoking god with sabbath like riffs and Orthodox christian chants in background .
This whole album is christian search for peace , love , forgiveness but in the same time a glimpse into the despair of everyday life in Serbia of 90 ies .Like in Dar (Gift) they are crying:I see love melting into the thin air , I hear cry of those left alone transforming into scream … but ending with «Â*I see the sun that lead us from the path of darkness, to eternal love and perfect happiness .
Like in all Dostoevsky novel there is eternal battle between good & evil , eternal antagonism of human spirit , capable for worst and best.
After this album , Bjesovi have lost one of their singers , and changed. They still play and pretty good. But this two LP was like the glimpse into Slavic soul full of mystical emotions , eternal questions and inner war. This two pillars , two voices of Bjesovi were the inner schizophrenia of Serbian desperate youth. On this album sometimes they sings as one voice but sometimes we have dissonant echo of screaming Marinkovic voice like demon from the eternal darkness.
I will remember until the end of my life their live gig in one central Serbia spa town in a public park , an open air gig . Even a worst commie atheist (like me) felt presence of god in guitar strings of Bjesovi and devil breath in Goran & Zoran voices. We raised our young heads to the sky and watched immensity of universe over our heads and we were possessed by the sound.
The last song “My choice” is marching song “Please correct my step , I am ready to go...” but where ? We do not know , anyway when you listen to Bjesovi like it or not you go into the depths .
My path is love , my choice is pain… So we were pain and love ...
