Kariti Streams Dheghom in Full; Album Out Friday
Posted in audiObelisk, Reviews on February 1st, 2024 by JJ Koczan
The second Kariti full-length, Dheghom, releases tomorrow, Feb. 2, through Lay Bare Recordings. The 11-song LP is the Russian-born-Italy-residing polylingual dark atmospheric folk singer-songwriter’s first for the Dutch imprint, and it brings 43 minutes of new material that greatly expand the context wrought for Kariti — née Katerina, also stylized all-lowercase: kariti — by her 2020 debut, Covered Mirrors (review here). While still able to offer the voice-on-tape minimalism of some of the first album’s loneliest fare, Dheghom broadens the reach of Kariti‘s arrangements, such that the quiet electric guitar on the harmonized highlight “Vilomah” that brings a duet with Dorthia Cottrell of Windhand (and her own solo work) and the keyboard-driven “A Mare Called Night” that gets its instrumental answer at the end of the proceedings in closer “So Without, ” the title of which bookends with in-Russian spoken intro “As Within,” as Kariti translates that spoken poem to English, switching languages throughout no less fluidly than she leads “Reckoning” with piano and the subsequent “Metastasis” with electric guitar.
“Emerald Death” touches on Irish folk traditions and pairs its melody with harsh distorted strums of guitar in true doom-folk style, which picks up from the surprisingly-full-band-sounding “River of Red,” with drums and a darkly progressive exploration that feels consistent with the rest of Dheghom, even if its sad metallurgy is coming from somewhere else than the initially-largely-empty “Son,” which Katerina‘s voice easily carries in layers before it shifts into its more distorted second half drone. Goth plays a big role as “Reckoning” follows “Vilomah,” with flourish of strings to coincide with its steady piano line, less foreboding than “Metastasis” still to come, but consistent in its downerist melodic spirit. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony gets referenced at the outset of “Sanctuary,” but the song itself is moved elsewhere by its vocals, harmonized in a kind of American folkishness far removed from any sense of twang. The point is underscored with a plains-rumble of piano near the finish, from which “River of Red” picks up and transitions smoothly to its fuller arrangement before giving over to “Toll,” which is 41 seconds of bells — because what else — before the keyboard of “So Without” brings Dheghom full circle with ethereal operatics backing the lead vocal line and a sense of warning that’s
almost cultish as presented.
Certainly Covered Mirrors had its sense of adventurousness, but it was also the launch point for Kariti as a project and the fact that it existed was part of the adventure. Dheghom is a genuine branching out of intent and composition, a different way of constructing songs around ideas for what they need and/or want to express. And because the backdrop she’s working with is still largely minimal — to wit, only “River of Red” has drums — each tweak in arrangement throughout has an impact on the material and the scope of the whole outing, even as they cast her voice in the role of unifying the songs, which it does without trouble. Affecting emotionally and striking in its reach, it’s Kariti‘s vocals and sometimes bleak melodicism that give Dheghom such a sense of personality amid its complexities, and whether it’s a flourish of keys, the strings on “Reckoning” or Cottrell showing up on “Vilomah,” there’s never a pivot made that removes the album from what feels like its intended course. That that would coincide with such a significant uptick in attention to detail makes Dheghom all the more of a triumph, even if it’s too morose to outwardly enjoy its own accomplishments.
The expansion of the collaboration with guitarist Marco Matta (also Grime) and engineer Lorenzo Della Rovere likewise feels organic and purposeful, helping to build Dheghom up as a showcase of Wovenhand-style go-anywhereism that nonetheless retains its crafted feel. And while it seems safe to imagine Katerina would keep that collaborative thread going on a third Kariti LP when and if she gets there — note she put out an EP with the experimentalist Néant last year; some of that attitude seems to have bled into Kariti — I find I’m less comfortable predicting where she might go sound-wise than I was coming off of Covered Mirrors. This, despite a style that’s almost entirely balanced toward the subdued, is one of the most exciting reasons to be a fan of an artist, and Dheghom is sure to pull more of those into Kariti‘s sphere as well. I think I might be one too.
Dheghom, accompanied by PR wire info, streams in full below.
Please enjoy:
kariti (карити) – ‘to mourn the dead’ in church Slavonic – is a Russian-born artist based in Italy. Her debut ‘Covered Mirrors’ was released in September 2020 by the cult Italian label Aural Music (Negură Bunget, Imperial Triumphant, Messa) and represents a ‘cathartic peregrination through bereavement’. Marco, the leader of the heavy sludge outfit Grime contributes to some of the songs and often joins kariti for live performances.
In September 2023, an industrial/trip-hop/shoegaze s/t EP was released under the moniker Néant – a collaboration between kariti and Void of the anonymous Parisian industrial sludge collective Non Serviam.
kariti’s next record will see the light on February 2, 2024 courtesy of the independent forward-thinking Dutch label Lay Bare Recordings (Frayle, Thief (ex-Botanist), Yawning Man), focussed on high-quality vinyl releases, and sees a notable development in sound, songwriting and instrumentation used: apart from electric guitars it features various synthesizers, analogue piano, strings by Jon K (live Cough, Dorthia Cottrell), a song with drums and bass, multiple contributions of Marco (Grime, Simian Steel) on guitar/noise, and a haunting duet with Dorthia Cottrell (Windhand, solo).
kariti’s atmosferic mournful ‘ambient folk’ is recommended to those who enjoy ‘dark explorations accompanied by the smell of burning wood and the moonlight reflecting off snow’ delivered through profound lyrical content. kariti toured Europe several times, shared the stage with Messa, Grift, Conny Ochs, Plum Green among others, and recently was invited by Brutus to open the Italian leg of their tour. her intense live shows have been described as liturgy-like and cathartic and the touring schedule for 2024 is in the works upon the release of Dheghom.
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