01. Az’

“Az” means “the beginning of all beginnings.”

02. Arkaim

Arkaim is the city of ancient Aryans, the ancestors of Slavs, it existed and was destroyed many thousands of years ago.
This song is the symbol of the return of the lost, but not forgotten, native things.
“Arkaim, the city of our grandfathers and heritage,
As if the smoke of thousands of years
Striving like flames into the skies,
Rouse yourself to reappear!”

03. Bol’no mne (It Hurts Me)

A song about the dying nature, about the suffering that the tormented souls of trees experience…
This song conveys the idea that in the future humankind, after destroying all living things on this planet, will destroy itself this way.
What do I see, through the veil covering our eyes,
And through the silent feeling, that lurks in deep discord?
I see the speechless countryside’s burning souls
Suffering at people’s hands or smothered to death
Through the pain, inhaling poisoned air from the burn
Without tears, moaning wordlessly, they were dying
Through pools of dreams, what do I see all around?
The birches’ scream of suffering from the heartless people
It hurts me…
It hurts, from the sting of the cold blade
I was softly dying, with hands trembling
Wounds, blood falling on the soil in spring
Bitterly and greatly, greatly it hurts me!
Sweetly my roots slept in the earth
Limbs swaddled by fog at dawn
Warming, soul scorching, is my pain
Softly and speechlessly I’m dying.
Cold…
The trees’ lifeless figures…
Their hand scorches me through the piercing light
Through centuries of wounds, we’ll howl from the pain
That we are no more.
Only the cold…
…And the pain
Inhaling poisoned air from the burn
Without tears, moaning speechlessly, they were dying
Through pools of dreams, what do I see all around
The speechless birches’ wailing unknown to the people
…And the pain

04. Leshiy

The Leshiy is a forest spirit in the Slavic mythology. The spirit of the dark “Nav” underworld, who guards his dwelling-place and can make a person never find a way out of the forest…
“Under an old pine-tree there is the Leshiy, squint-eyed and evil!
The Leshiy, squint-eyed, is guarding his forest citadel!”

05. Zakliatie (Incantation)

The song is an incantation, a pagan prayer to the chief Slavic god Rod, the forebear of all living things.
“Goi, the Great, the Manyfaced!
See the rite, the flames in the skies!
Appear before us, in the “Yav”!
Your eye us in the “Prav”, your hand is in the “Nav”!
Give strength to us standing here!
Goi, the Great, the Manyfaced!
Accept the rite, three times “Slava!”
Those who look into your eyes!”

06. Predok (Ancestor)

An address to a deceased ancestor, a prayer for help during hard times, asking to give advice to follow the course of life that is before us.
Greetings, my ancestor.
Heed my words through the dawn.
My heart is trembling and grieving for our land.
My brothers and sisters will not help me anymore
For I am the only one left standing here on this land.
Why have you gone so early, my ancestor;
Left your life to the Earth?
I send words to you through this Earth,
But the only answer is the crow’s caw.
Hear me, my dear ancestor!
Our land is in golden chains,
Our land’s folk have become greedy;
The black raven is only my guide.
My kin have turned their backs on me,
Obscuring my light…
Saying only one thing to me:
gold is all that matters.
I will wrap my words in a dead leaf,

Forgive me for disturbing your peace.
Please, hear the words
That I send through the Earth.
Rest in peace…

07. Nikogda (Never)

This song conveys the idea that in spite of the imposed, wrong conditions of the modern life, we are still alive and will never leave our land, cherishing in our hearts freedom and the true traditions of our people, we’ll carry it into the future through our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“Never we’ll disappear into nothing,
We’ll survive through years!
The trace of war
Will never make us run into the darkness,
Never we will be kept in captivity on our land!”

08. Tam za tumanami (Behind the mist)

It’s an acoustic ballade that describes a warrior’s death, about the despair of a young woman, who perishes from the frost in a winter snow-covered field, waiting for her beloved.
“If you don’t come back, if you won’t be found,
I’ll whisper to you like the wind in the field.
I’ll shelter tenderly with my snow-covered hand,
I’ll scream a song that would protect you.
Walk your road, walk a wide road,
Swimming with the mist, become the morning dew.
Cover my heart, and under the sister Moon,
In the darkness of night, I will follow you.”

09. Potomok (The Descendant)

The address of a descendant that has just appeared in this world to people. He explains that he has went through many centuries and was born to glorify his land and continue the traditions through the ages.
“I will bow before Rod’s face,
Touch our mother-land with my hand,
I am little, but my heart is big,
And there are Words I have to tell you.”

10. Slovo (The Word)

The Word is something ancient stones, rivers, tumuli keep inside. The Word is what is inside your soul, with its help you can address the gods, talk to nature, people, yourself; The Word is a story about something, about past and future, about the forgotten and the returned; The Word is the voice of nature, the rustle of leaves, grass, the noise of rivers, bird singing, with The Word a person can do many things: to kill and to revive, to lose and to return.
“The crimson sundown I am trying to find in the sky,
Bringing my words to blind people with hope on my palm.
Standing before the dear idol, I’ll fall on my knees again,
Bringing my living words into the deep sky for him.”

11. Odna (Alone)

A song about loneliness in this strange world that is trying to impose its life laws, rules and moral, and all of them wear lying masks on their faces. There’s an impetuous desire to run away to people like you, but unfortunately the reality is harsh, and there is no one left like you. You have to live on, closing your eyes, hoping that in centuries people like you will come back to this land, together with you.
“Alone among pale faces,
In the world of strange shadows.
Again I’m roaming about this world,
Hiding from people,
I’ll tell you my secret.
I keep the precept of the ancestors,
Maybe in centuries
My kin will find me”

12. Vo moiom sadochke… (In my garden)

An acoustic ballade that describes a young widowed woman, who tells about her suffering to a river, how she saw her son off to war and lost him forever.
“River-sister, let me tell you about my pain,
Oi-da-ri-di-da, oi-da-ri-da, I can’t sleep at night.
I let my son go to war, to fight the enemy,
Told him, gods speed him on his way!
Saw him off, and now I’m alone.
Oi-da-ri-di-da, oi-da-ri-da,
Now I’m alone.”

13. Stenka na Stenku (Wall on wall)

Wall on wall is an ancient Slavic entertainment for men, that was basically a fist fight. Such a thing was conducted quite often on July 24, the Perun (the war god) festival. Two rows of men stood facing each other like two walls and at run they started the fight in the middle of the ground. Such an entertainment was believed to be good for strengthening the fighting spirit.
“Wall on wall – knee-deep grass,
Wall on wall – fear, disappear!
The lightning rune in this Perun day
Will guide us into the fist fight.”

14. Zimushka (Winter)

The cover of an ancient Siberian native song, the motives are according to Tatiana Naryshkina (‘Vedan Kolod’ band). The song is about the unhappy life of a family couple, the wife kills her husband in the end.
Winter, my winter
Frosty winter
Oh, not the winter was cold
Was it the young lad?
Not the winter was cold
But the young lad

Oh, husband and wife
Didn’t they get along?
Husband and wife
They didn’t get along
Oh, they didn’t get along
Did she undo her husband?

They didn’t get along
She undid her husband
Oh, she undid her husband
Did she bring him in the green garden?
She undid her husband
She brought him in the green garden
Oh, in the green garden
She hung her husband
She hung her husband
And went home alone
Oh, she came in the yard
Did she sit on a bench?
Oh, she came in the yard
She sat on a bench
Oh, she sat on a bench
Did she weep?
She sat on a bench
She wept
Oh, she cursed her life
Was her true life only with her husband?
She cursed her life
Her true life was only with her husband
Oh, when a woman had a husband
Was she a mistress in her home?
When a woman has a husband
She is a mistress in her home
Oh, when a woman has no husband
She is lonely like an orphan
I’ll go in the green garden
And begin to call my husband
Oh, my husband, my dear husband
Are you my darling?
My husband, my dear husband
You are my darling
Oh, my darling
Let us go home

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Slovo (2011)

Title : Slovo
Release Date : August 26, 2011

Masha “Scream” – vocals, screaming, growling, keyboards, tambourine, khomuz, shaman drums, shaker, choirs, acoustic guitar (Bol’no mne)
Sergey “Lazar” – guitars, acoustic guitars, balalaika, monologue (“Arkaim”, “Nikogda”)
Ruslan “Kniaz” – bass
Vlad “Artist” – drums
Vladimir “Volk” – Gaita Gallega, tin whistle, low whistle, sopilka, zhaleyka, blockflute, hurdy-gurdy
Mari Tadic (from Eluveitie) – violin
Anna Kalinovskaya (from Rodogost) – tsymbali
Pavel Lukoyanov – gusli (“Vo moiom sadochke…”)
Tatiana Narishkina (from Vedan’ Kolod’) – vocals (“Zimushka”)
Dariana Antipova (from Vedan’ Kolod’) – vocals (“Zimushka”)
Ilya “Wolfenhirt” (from Svarga) – choir (“Stenka na Stenku”)
Aleksandr “Shmel” (from Rarog) – choir (“Stenka na Stenku”)
Aleksandr Oleynikov (from Kalevala) – accordeon (“Stenka na Stenku”)
Ilya “Hurry” (from Svarga) – accordeon (“Leshiy”)
Radimir – monologue (“Potomok”)

Also participated:
The chamber orchestra of the Kazan State Conservatory named after N. Zhiganov (under the direction of Darya Ivanova)
The choir of Moscow State Conservatory students (under the direction of Alexandra Sidorova)

Music and lyrics by Masha “Scream” except “Zimushka” (music is folk).
Album recorded at CDM Records studio (Moscow sound) at November 2010 – April 2011.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Sergey “Lazar” and Masha “Scream”. Mastered by Sergey “Lazar”.