prelude (russian: прелюдия) to upcoming full length album

"It is difficult these days to create something truly new, but there is still the possibility to combine diametrically opposed genres that you wouldn’t have dreamt of that they could work together. Moscow three-piece Rudolf see their music within the triangle defined by sludge, powerviolence and… hip hop! The musicians play bass guitar, drums and… a turntable! One can’t blame the band for being unoriginal, because turntablism is usually heard in the context of soulful hip hop beats and not together with chaotic drums and bass antics.

Rudolf have been around at lease since 2014, which is when they were featured on a split album. Another split release followed two years later, and now they are back with their first EP where they don’t have to share the space with other artists. The modus operandi is still the same: mostly sludgy drum and bass parts, with occasional fierce outbursts, and the turntable scratching along as if we were still in the glorious Eighties.

But is it actually listenable? There are some really good moments, like on the second track Horse Racing which starts with a groovy hip hop sample, before the drum and bass join in, and then suddenly the bass guitar is playing some higher notes which make for a suspenseful break. Other songs also surprise with fun samples, like Nerudolf shamelessly sampling an old song from Russian rock musician Vladimir Presnyakov before falling back into their chaotic sludgy hip hop powerviolence. But what I do miss is more structure. It seems as if the musicians can all play nicely by themselves, but it’s getting the parts together where I would wish a more focused effort. While the recording of the EP is actually quite good – the turntable could maybe be a little louder in the mix – the songs still need that certain discipline which would ultimately give them an even more brutal – and less clownish – sound. Prelude is a six-track / twenty-minute EP, an appetizer for the upcoming longplayer." Pascal Thiel
www.disagreement.net/reviews2020/rudolf_prelude.html




Russian vk.com/tawpot ТОПОТ label kind words:
"Госсспаде!
Наконец-то этот день настал — самая несерьёзная и, вместе с тем, самая брутальная российская группа Рудольф выпустила свой дебютный официальный релиз — ипишку «Прелюдия». Мы этого ждали почти десять лет — с момента создания бэнда.

Степень пиздеца можно оценить по пресс-релизу, который группа однажды накатала сама на себя:

«Музыкальный замес, слагаемый из обаятельного дурачества и угарного вандализма. Смесь хип-хопа, сладжа и пауер-вайоленса с читкой и кричащими вокалами на придуманном языке. Барабанщик жестоко ломает ритм, диджей крутит пласты с диско и грузинским хором, басист плюется качающими нервными риффами. Идеальная импровизация для предапокалипсического концертного угара».

Внутри — слэм для самых нелепых весельчаков, удары которых вызывают щекотку. Скрэтчи, паурвайленс, полураспады, frogressive punk."
vk.com/wall-73739817_655




mangorave.blogspot.com review:
"Insanity and genius can be very close to each other. I am pretty sure that Moscow-based band Рудольф (in Latin letters: Rudolf) are trying to explore the very line between those two states. Their newest work Прелюдия (Russian: Prelude) is a freaky mix of powerful Hardcore, freaky Jazz and rough Rap.

The six tracks are defined by breathtaking breaks in rhythm and tempo. These are accompanied by raw and powerful riffs that interchange with heavy scratching on the turntables and tough rap lyrics. In the opening track 'Нападая на акулу' (Russian: to attack a shark) Рудольф announce their "Crazy Hardcore".
"Прелюдия" is an artistic, funny, crazy and loud freakshow. I am highly entertained by this musical presentation without any boundaries. To describe it with one word: weird!"
mangorave.blogspot.com/2020/06/album-review-2020.html




German vanbauseneick.de/krautnick/ review by Matze:
"So richtig durchgeknallt ist dann aber doch erst „Прелюдия“, das Mini-Album, das Рудольф aus Moskau ihrem nächsten Vollzeit-Album vorausschicken. Rudolf, wie die Band international geschrieben wird, ist ein Trio, das seine Musik als „Powerviolence-Sludge-Hiphop“ bezeichnet, und treffender geht es auch nicht: Da steckt Punkrock drin, der aus den Fugen gerät, unter anderem den Weg in Richtung Jazz einschlägt, durchsetzt von Vinyl-Scratches, Geschrei und luftigem Lärm. Und dann ist die Band auch noch kurios besetzt: Schlagzeug, Bass und Plattenspieler, keine Gitarren; die Künstler dahinter nennen sich Vanish Fuck Off, Роман Карандаев und Дима Кузовлев. Das Kunststück an diesem Krach ist, dass die drei Musiker darin Elemente unterbringen, die man dann doch zu erkennen versucht; sind das etwa Orchester-Samples, Blasinstrumente, digitale Piepser?

Wie auch immer, so zerschossen die Musik auf diesen fünf Tracks auch sein mag, Amateure sind die drei Moskauer nicht. So ein Inferno kann man nur auslösen, wenn man weiß, was man tut. Sie meinen das offenkundig ernst, was sie da treiben, und haben dabei trotzdem und gerade deshalb unüberhörbar Spaß. Man muss zunächst in Deckung gehen, wenn man die EP auflegt, und aus der sicheren Entfernung damit beginnen, sich an das zu gewöhnen, was dann ertönt. Nicht für alle Tage geeignet, aber an allen anderen wertvoll. Live muss das zünden wie Bombe!"
vanbauseneick.de/krautnick/spezial-addicted-noname-label-aus-moskau-teil-6/




Russian vk.com/jazzcoremusic jazzcore premiere:
vk.com/wall-34858528_3260