Album Notes

Founded in 1996 by Andrey "Efenstor" Pivovarov in Krasnoyarsk, Central Siberia the one-man band "Efenstor" moved through different styles, from pop to grindcore, until in 2002 reached a strange combination of Siberian shamanic folk, symphonic music and metal. Before 2004 Efenstor was writing nearly all his music using computers, but later decided to move on to the real intruments and so develop his musical style further. In 2007 Efenstor officially closed the project "Efesntor" and started a new project instead, called "Lesnoy Tanets" (Russian for "Forest Dance"), moving all the newly written material under the new name. The project "Efenstor" had released five official albums (there also were several "friends-only" releases), each of which shows a new side of Efenstor's creativity as well as his progression as a composer. All his music is purely instrumental, but the lack of words is compensated by the original folkish melodies and arrangements, ranging from new age to heavy metal. Each album is like a fantasy journey through moods and atmospheres, and whatever the style of each particular song is its atmosphere remains equally enthralling.

"The Beginning" is the anthology of the best of Efenstor's early works (1998-2001). Styles vary from gothic metal to dance music.