Zura Makharadze - Tale Of The Bastard Child (V54)

Tblisi-based experimental composer, improviser and percussionist Zura Makharadze graciously returns to Venalism, following up his incredible solo debut ‘Dionysus’ Blood And Sperm In Our Mouths’ with ‘The Tale Of The Bastard Child’.

In terms of composition and intention, ‘…Bastard Child’ not only builds upon the foundations of Zura’s previous work but vaults ecstatically into new realms of rage, delirium, passion and dread. Thunderous, ritualistic percussion is utilised like a cudgel, erupting and clattering in abstract successions, whilst fearsome, bilious drones and raw, untethered vocal invocations are confidently foregrounded, offering an abundance of eclectic and affecting components that integrate into a truly staggering, intoxicating miasma of both gruesome trepidation and fetid elegance.

At its most unbridled, ‘…Bastard Child’ screeches and bellows with a ferocity rarely matched, but it’s Zura’s deft use of space, restraint and melancholy that gives this work its sense of totality, masterfully reigning in the volume and exposing the naked emotional wounds beneath. These moments of delicate, exquisitely lugubrious lamentation serve to make the inevitable eruptions into rapturous cacophony feel all the more paralysingly sublime. Created through sheer compulsion by an artist that wields their talents like a blunt and sullied instrument, ‘Tale Of The Bastard Child’ is nothing short of a defiant, delirious statement of intent and a merciless, voracious catharsis for the senses.

“This cycle of improvisations is an auditory experiment exploring the theme of violence. It is a way of describing the experiences of the perpetrator himself at the moment when he commits the act of violence. The album explores not the romanticisation of cruelty, but its natural raw state. Such stages of consciousness as ecstasy, pleasure, despair, loss, and guilt. It is an autobiographical work in which violence is understood as a part of necessity. It cannot be eradicated. It cannot be escaped. It is an integral part of the universal structure” - Zura Makharadze

Zura Makharadze: vocals, bass rebec, ģiga, kemenche, saz, didgeridoo, trumpet, toy trumpets, percussions, bass drum, daf, tambourine, ride cymbal, salamuri, death flute, darbuka, kazoo, lira, reeds, changi.

Darja Kazimira: tuba, dungchen, bass rebec, vocals, reeds, changi.

Visual artist: Darja-Kazimira Zimina

Mastering: Darja-Kazimira Zimina

Additional production by Darja-Kazimira Zimina

Released May 9th 2026. Venalism V54