Once closer to the morning, after a long night full of various sounds, I was listening to a performance by Kotra. A whole squall of noise with veins of rhythm, reckless onslaught of liberation energy that wiped off trash of carelessness, shreds of impressions on its way – it captured, immersed in experiencing of speed without limitations, without questions, without fluctuations. That was real catharsis, unforgettable experience... Thus, in their new work Kotra looks – different. First it even seems that – radically different. Almost – radically moderate. However... When one already immerses deeper into the album, another angle of view appears, and let me explain why. The tracks, predominantly, have such a dense, clear structure – and transformations, actions take place, it would seem, only within its scopes – that up to a certain instant this structure seems to be a cage for creativity. And all that seems to interfere with actions, attribute them with some formal aftertaste. But suddenly you understand clearly that exactly this external formality can become an alternative way to liberation. That is, the monotonous repetition of the structure of formal motions results in that you stop taking this structure into account, noticing it – from now on you see quite different things here. This, if you wish, can be compared with Buddhists' reading of mantras: first you set a structure, and then you go beyond its scopes. So, Kotra has not abandoned the quest – and again tries to fit the listener into a situation of liberation. So, the name of the album, "Reset", can be interpreted ambiguously, and this is good. So, it is not by chance – and not in vain – that the envelope of this album is white. In the end, everything dissolves in white except for freedom...
Anton Jozhik Leyba (Hedgehog)
