Stinking Lizaveta — Hopelessness And Shame
Originally released in 1996, Hopelessness and Shame was the debut album from this Philadelphia instrumental trio. They have been classified as ‘doom jazz’, though I’d say you’d have to add taut rock/ metal to that description. Here from SRA Records- as either a CD or vinyl(either red or yellow varieties)- is a recent(ish) reissue of the album, which was recorded by Steve Albini, with a new remastering.
I’m reviewing the CD version of the reissue- this comes in an old school jewel case, with a fold-out inlay- featuring no linear notes/ info, just a black and white picture of the trio in full live flow. So, rather bare bones/lacklustre for a reissue.
Stinking Lizaveta consists of Cheshire Agusta – Drums, Yanni Papadopoulos – Guitars, and Alexi Papadopoulos – Bass. With its discography taking in seventeen releases, eleven of which are albums, including 1994’s self-titled demo, 1996’s Hopelessness and Shame, 1997’s Slaughterhouse, 2001’s III, 2004’s Caught Between Worlds, 2007’s Scream Of The Iron Iconoclast, 2009’s Sacrifice And Bliss, 2012’s 7th Direction, 2017’s Journey To The Underworld, 2023’s Anthems And Phantoms, and Live 2023.
The original album had thirteen tracks, and this reissue claims it has thirteen tracks, though when you put it in, the CD player says it has eighteen tracks- so I’m not sure what the five bonus tracks are, though they sound in a similar mode/ tone to the rest of the tracks- which is very tight riff based.
The tracks have runtimes between one and six minutes. We open with the bass upfront in the mix, bounding, baying, and chugging of “Some Go Hell” which feels like a less fun/ sort of flat version of Primus. There’s squalling, strutting, to galloping of “Father’s Song”. And we have the tolling baying guitar, glumly bounding bass, and smashing/ crashing percussion of “Schuylkill”.
In its second half, we go from taut/ rapid bass runs meets scrawling guitar tones of “Schute Lube”. And there's “Vent” with its moments of darting/slamming oil drums, squawling guitar sear, and tight bass climbing.
I’d say if you enjoy taut riff-based jazz rock with some metal touches to it, then you may enjoy Hopelessness and Shame, though I did find it a little flat/ samey in places.