In All Poems There Are Wolves
CD-R released by the Brazos Valley Meat Authority and DarkBlack MusikProduktion. Both editions are out of print. Rerecordings of various older dead raven, Taint Meat and traditional material.

Flood
The Gallows
The Song Of The Gallows Brotherhood
O Mój Rozmarynie
Werwolf
Terrible
The Jumblies
The Brownie

Reviews

Sonomu
Author: Michael Woodring
June 2001
Dead Raven Choir started life as a duo: a death-metal musician named digger Smolken and a stripper who supposedly left the band before one song was completed. Several years and a few albums later, plus a move away from blitzkrieg guitar noise, has led to 'In All Poems There Are Wolves' - a CD-R drenched in Eastern European folk music and infected with the plague. The eight tracks on the disc play out like dark gypsy requiems. Their pace is slow and lugubrious, though each strum of acoustic guitar and shrieking, six-string, electric whine, such as on 'The Song of the Gallows Brotherhood', has a kind of defiant power behind it, as if each chord was spitting out an "I was here" epitaph. The chromatic harmonies in the chords accentuate this feeling of finality, making the music at times off-kilter and edging it to the brink of collapse.
digger Smolken's vocals are in the same drained vein. The inspiration for most of the lyrics comes from literary works, such as the absurdist poetry of German writer Christian Morgenstern in 'Flood' and the work of 'Winnie the Pooh' creator A.A. Milne in 'The Brownie'. However, Smolken's delivery is barely coherent, Polish-accented singsong. Instead of conveying meaning through content, his singing - or rather, melodic moaning - is an instrument unto itself. The mournful warbles and cries in his voice add to the sickness of the music as a whole.
'In All Poems There Are Wolves' is steeped in a foreboding that never breaks into full-fledged terror. This is music to be played outside a quarantined hospital ward to warn away the healthy or listened to within cemetery walls to give utterance to the dead's troubled sleep.

Funeral Procession
Author: Hans D.
June 2001
This self-produced cd, that reached me recently from the USA, has a not so everyday title. The same could be said of the music, which I can't easily compare to other bands. The music can be described as avantgarde folk, but not really of the World Serpent type. The man behind this project is called the digger Smolken, who takes care of all instruments and voices. Some lyrics are taken from traditional or literary sources, like A.A. Milne (mostly known for Winnie the Pooh). Unfortunately they're weren't printed lyrics included in the demo I received, and I can't decypher them too well, but they have a grim atmosphere. The singing is rather peculiar, a bit theatrical and grave, in fact it is more declamating than singing. The singing is accompanied by an interesting background of mainly acoustic and electric guitars. Although the music is very minimal, it isn't just accompanying the singing, it adds to the solemn, tormented atmosphere. The music also is not very melodic and dissonant at times, to make sure you don't lose your attention. Perhaps the album could use a bit more variation, but overall this act is interesting and original. Music for quiet introspective moments. Visit the Dead Raven Choir page on mp3.com to hear some tracks... You can also hear some music there that differs completely from the sound on this release, namely black metal...