Music : One Hundred Beacons

Rating: - Widely unknown, but great album
Fortress Maddona is somewhat of a mystery. They have a listed 14 members playing all headed by the cello playing Paul Serikov. Serikov is maybe even more of a mystery than the band. Russian born, he competed in the Olympics with Russian gymnastics team and then became a member of the KGB. He later fled to the Congo to escape money problems with the "New Russians", and he passed away a few years ago (prior to recording their EP "Estonian Female Snipers") while descending Mt. Kilamonjaro. But none of this got in the way of his creating an awsome pure rock album.
The album opens quickly with "Serikov" which sets the tone for the rest of the album. Soon after comes "Volga" the highlight of the album, focusing on the world and the evil of politics. "Shine" is a raw rocker that gets your blood pumping. "The 'D' Connection" is a strange song about the mysterious death of a person, and Serikov seems to be hinting at how to solve the murder (possibly a crime committed during his KGB days that he wants the world to know about, but thats highly doubtiful, cool as it would be...). The album ends on a highnote with the anthem "Swerve to Collapse", which talks about a woman with a seemingly perfect life ("Love and marriage, hand in hand, two fat children, that's the plan") and how it collapses into rubble after her husband commits adultery ("Silence greets you at the door, hyour husband struggles to find words, your fragile lifestyle has collapsed...").
With a total album time under forty minutes, One Hundred Beacons is all about catchy, melodic rock. This is definitely an album worth owning and it won't let you down. 4.5/5