Vermilion Deviate • Promotion of 7”

27 years after its creation, this extremely important musical artifact from the autochthonous Skopje underground - released on 7″ vinyl by FUCK YOGA and 5060 (circulation of 40 copies)

This VERMILION DEVIATE 7’’ is a case of more precious pearls coming out of the Macedonian archive, and once again reveals how Macedonia was just as inventive as other better-advertised factories of Ex-Yugoslavia’s subcultural sonic experiments. Both tracks on here are pounding, anthemic, and mix a 1980s baggage of post-punk, goth and angst-rock with a luscious maximalism that pleasantly reveal their early ‘90s origins. “Kriza” is a slow 7-minute manifesto filled with a frozen sense of doom, in which Zlatko Trajkovski’s nihilistic crooning is reminiscent of BORGHESIA circa “Ljubav Je Hladnija Od Smrti”, lifted by Eleonora Stojanovikj’s soulfulness which seems to give the track its corporeality. “Vision is Lost” starts as a BAUHAUS-esque galop, all swirvy bass and screaming guitars, and ends on a totally epic duet of sampled voices and neurotic drums – the last 40 seconds of the track are pure gold. But the most fascinating thing about these tracks is how explicitly political they feel now, both in their lyrics and in their performance, seemingly using their mysticism, intelligence, nervous dismay and even their elegance as some kind of call for change. God knows what VERMILION DEVIATE were actually thinking, but judging from the archival performance videos also dug out in occasion of this release – an intoxicating succession of bare painted chests, dim purple lighting, objects on fire and religious icons projected onto plastic sheeting – they deserve to be taken seriously. ” (Flora Pitrolo, A COLDER CONSCIOUSNESS)
Zlatko Trajkovski/Nora/Aleksandar Krstevski/Slobodan Mladenovikj/Irena Tanceva/Vencislav Smakjoski/Toni Desovski/Irena Kavkalevska
Recorded with Bratislav Zafirovski, RTS 1992 Mastering: Dean Zmejkoski Design and packaging by Ivan Kocev
Released on 7″ vinyl by FUCK YOGA and 5060, 28.03.2019