Потьма - "Dubrawlag" [2021]

Artist: Потьма

Title: Dubrawlag

Genre: Black Metal

Country: Russia (Mordovia)

Release date: 2021

Track List: 

1. Yavas // Явас
2. Thong // Плеть
3. Windrey // Виндрей
4. Dubravlag // Дубравлаг
5. Inewed // Иневедь
6. Partsa // Парца

I've already written a lot about music from Mordovia, but not much about metal, let alone black metal. This band is a very interesting discovery coming from that very non-metal region, and plays straightforward black metal with a healthy dose of punk (as they have described their sound: "an amalgam of classic black metal riffs and crust punk rhythms in epic compositions with a shifted center of gravity", whatever it supposed to mean). The lyrics draw inspiration from both the local mythology (and I can't think of any other metal band who does so) and the history of the prison system in the foresty northwestern parts of Mordovia which is still operational today:

"Potma was born inspired by the wealth of opposites in the forests of the Mordovian Gulag. After spending several weeks among prisons, impassable forests and swamps, the engineer for the maintenance of distance education systems for prisoners returned home spirited beyond belief. It is hard to say whether it was a conspiracy of Mordovian pagans, stories of prison officials, or the age-old repressive apparatus that had influenced so much on the young man's mind, but he devoted the next few years of his life to giving shape to those visions that had appeared to him on the spur-track of Dubravlag.

So the black-metal spirit is already born, it embodies the metaphysical abyss in the Russian consciousness, filled with the echo of the repressive apparatus in the forest of Zubova-Polyana. We all contribute to this. We will all go through it, going beyond the Edge"

The vocals are surprisingly intelligible (for the standards of black metal at least), and there are some backing female vocals as well. Overall, this EP is easily one of the best black metal releases I've heard recently, and a breath of fresh air in a genre that's currently overcrowded by low-effort bedroom projects. Potma also are reported to be a great live band, so I hope to enjoy seeing them live at some point in the future.

Kirpiklass / Eschato-Logic - "Чудские были" [2021]

Artist: Kirpiklass / Eschato-Logic

Title: Чудские были

Genre: Ritual Ambient / Folk / Spoken Word

Country: Russia

Release date: 2021

Track List: 

1. Kirpiklass - Консыг-Ойка
2. Eschato Logic - Вакуль-Эква у водяной мельницы
3. Eschato Logic - Камлание Ёмы
4. Kirpiklass - Логово Яг-Морта 

Kirpiklass is another rather well-known project that mixes dark ambient, ritual industrial and traditional folk which has escaped my attention until recently. This split w/ Eschato-Logic is probably not the best release to start getting into their discography but, conceptually, it's pretty close to that album by Saraf I've posted recently. It's based on Permic (Komi) and Ugric folklore and folk horror, and the alphabet on the cover seems to be anbur (first time I see it being used in modern times). As a whole, it's best described as "shamanic ambient", with Eschato-Logic tracks being mostly spoken word (probably not everyone's cup of tea, I admit).

Saraf - "Marla Murash" [2021]

Artist: Saraf

Title: Marla Murash

Genre: Ritual Ambient / Noise

Country: Russia

Release date: 2021

Saraf is an experimental solo project of Serafima Okuneva, the bassist of St. Petersburg doom metal band Prophecy of Sheva. Surprisingly, I haven't heard about her until very recently (thanks to this interview), even if she's called the "first lady of ritual black noise" and the idea behind Saraf is relevant to my interest. Although Serafima grew up in Komi, her father is Northwestern Mari, and most of her solo works are based on Mari culture or folklore in one way or another. 

This particular album is dedicated to the summer solstice, as well as to "Mari people,their deep culture and their strong faith" (release notes). It consists of one long track that mixes up experimental noise, folk and some elements of black metal, and I'd say it's more accessible than her debut album "Azyren" that was released two years before and has the same themes. She has also made several collaborations with various metal and experimental musicians, and started another solo project called Ovda mostly focused on dungeon synth. Anyway it's nice to find out about another industrial, experimental, or metal project with Finno-Ugric themes, as there isn't much music in minority FU languages apart from pop and traditional folk, and hopefully I'd be able to travel to Mari El and hear some Mari music live this summer.

 

Воргашор - "Прощание с Печорой" [2025]

Artist: Воргашор

Title: Прощание с Печорой

Genre: Dark Ambient / Atmospheric Black Metal

Country: Russia (Komi)

Release date: 2025

Track List: 

1. Чужан му
2. Туй вылын
3. Ме некор ог лок бöр
4. Мунöм
5. Кулӧм и помтӧмлун
6. Прощайте

Another interesting discovery from the north of Komi Republic, this time it's mostly dark ambient with a healthy dose of atmospheric black metal influence (well, that's exactly what I expected of a project inspired by the nature of that region anyway). Surely recommended if you like the aesthetics of "Russian doomer music" but wan't something based less in post-punk and more in BM/dark ambient.

Named after one of suburbs of Vorkuta, Vorgashor actually comes from Pechora (which isn't as far to the north as Vorkuta), and have released 4 albums to this day. This album contains "6 songs of unrequited love for the motherland", as described by the project, and it's the first one with all track names (except for the last one) in Komi language. All tracks are instrumental but contain samples of a Komi folk song, an old Soviet song by Mark Bernes, and a lecture by an occult writer and philosopher Evgeny Golovin. Along with the rest of Vorgashor discography, it was released on cassettes by a St. Peterburg-based post-industrial label Aphotic Gaze.

P.S. There apparently was a problem with the contact form on my blog, due to which I haven't received any messages during the time I wasn't posting on here. It's fixed now.

Севериада - "Миян туй" [2024]

Artist: Севериада

Title: Миян туй

Genre: Folk Rock/Metal

Country: Russia (Komi)

Release date: 2024

Track List: 

1. Инасьтӧм лов
2. Тундра
3. Енэж улын
4. Гортӧ
5. Кӧсъя бӧр
6. Кад
7. Лӧз ю
8. Варыш
9. Гым-чард
10. Гажтӧм рыт
11. Ыджыд тыш
12. Ёма 

The long-awaited full length album titled "Miyan Tui" ("Our Way") from the Komi folk-rock band Severiada is finally out a month ago! They're the only folk rock band with lyrics in Komi that I know of, and they have a pretty long history of performing live, but haven't released any recordings until recently. Don't know if it was released physically or on any major digital platforms apart from VK, but anyway it's a very good album that definitely make it into my personal top of Finno-Ugric folk-rock albums (or maybe even folk metal? I think it's heavy enough for the most part):

Анж Ёлганя - "Тон ды мон" (Erzyan pop/rock)

As you know, I'm constantly looking for any obscure music in the languages of Finno-Ugric minorities of Russia - even it's just pop, it often feels much more "underground" than many metal releases. You also know that I have a specific interest in the music of Mordovia, as I live not so far from there, and almost certainly have at least some Erzyan ancestry.

So, not long ago I found this nice pop/rock with lyrics in Erzyan language (the title means "You & Me") by a singer whose stage name I never heard before. After some research, I found out that it was performed by no one else than Ezhevika, who's one of the few musicians I still have a close contact with, yet I don't remember her ever mentioning this project. Apparently she has recorded a whole album of Erzyan songs sometime in the 2000s, but it's extremely hard to find any info about it. Some of her early songs were posted here, but they were uploaded to an audio hosting service that's dead for at least 5 years, and I coudn't find those songs anywhere else (apart from one song called "Kargon' Ki" / "Milky Way") - so that album definitely takes the cake for being one of the hardest to find releases on my wishlist.

Well, let's appreciate what we have, and this song is quite good. While it's not as original in terms of sound as Ezhevika's later folk recordings, she surely can sing well, and judging from her photo I used for the cover (it was taken around the same time this song was recorded), she always had an awesome figure. That ethnic-themed miniskirt looks nice on her, and she always was saying that she loves her long Erzyan legs :) Some people compare her to Natalia Vodianova (who's from my city and also has some Erzyan roots), and she definitely could do a model/actress career, but preferred music and culture/language activism (which, of course, is a noble choice). She's still doing quite beautiful amateur photo shoots in varied styles (including ethno style):

I'd post much more, but let's stop here. And if you're interested what she's doing now - well, this year she, like many other musicians, has lost a lot of her income from live performances due to the coronavirus lockdowns, but things got better by now. There were plans to release an acoustic album under the name "quarantine", but it isn't out yet. Earlier this year, she released a collaborative single "Adai-Adai" with some Malaysian musician, which is quite different from the rest of her works, with its sound based in oriental folk music (interestingly, it reminds me of "Hizbollah" by Ministry, and some tracks off "Erotic Terrorism" by Fun-Da-Mental).

Oyme - "Vaya" [2017 single]

First off: I'm finished with posting everything I planned, so I can lay this blog to rest until the end of this summer. If there will be any new posts in the next couple of months, there will be very few. I have a lot of travel plans for this summer, and I don't want to turn this place into a travel blog (I already use my Instagram account for it). The first destination on my list is Mordovia, to where I hopefully will go tomorrow. This time I plan on visiting some rural areas where the Erzyan culture (to which my ancestors almost certainly have belonged) is still alive and well, and right now there will be a few words about a band who did a great work to preserve that culture.

The regular readers of my blog might be already familiar with Oyme (which means"Soul" in Erzya), a Moscow-based all-female group with Mordovian roots who performs mostly authentic folk songs in Mordvinic and other Finno-Ugric languages. This song, however, while being based on a traditional Erzyan wedding song, has a modern electronic sound arrangement, and it's described by the band as "industrial folk", which I find to be very accurate. It's also their first song to get a proper music video, which touches on the subjects such as ecology and the fate of the minority ethnic cultures in the era of globalization. It was shot on a very cold day near Moscow and took a lot of effort from the band, but the result was worth it.

Oyme's frontwoman Ezhevika is a very interesting person who as a professional ethnomusicologist has done a lot to collect the obscure folk music of various (mostly Finno-Ugric and Nakh-Dagestani) minorities in Russia, which otherwise might vanish into oblivion in the near future. While I don't agree with some of her depictions of the traditional Finno-Ugric cultures (which more resemble the idealized view of "Old Europe" by Marija Gimbutas), her dedication to her work is remarkable. I was very happy to see Oyme live last summer, and I still maintain contact with Ezhevika via social media.

By the way, Ezhevika is also an amateur model, and her main point of pride is her long legs. Interestingly, the beauty of female legs is a major theme in Erzyan folklore, which was already noticed in the XIX century by ethnographers such as Pavel Melnikov-Pechersky (and I also find it far more attractive than the current mainstream beauty standards promoted by the likes of Kim Kardashian). The musical instrument in first two photos is called "gaitjamo", in case if anyone's wondering:

 

 

The last photo was made in my city BTW, and now it's time for me to pay a visit to Mordovia too. Wish me luck in my travels!

Schiz - "Voj Pyr" [2016]

Artist: Schiz

Title: Voj Pyr

Genre: Death Metal

Country: Russia (Komi)
Year: 2010

Track List:

1. Pemdöm
2. Kor loktöny najö
3. Antus
4. Us'ködchöm
5. Kulöm gizhöd
6. S'öd pytshkös
7. Jöktöm bipur doryn
8. Sin'töm yaj
9. Yuköm
10. Kyk dzhyn
11. Enlön chuzhöm
12. Yugdöm
13. Me tehnö lyja (bonus)

Schiz are a death metal trio formed in 2012 in a small village in the far north of Komi Republic, near Izhma (one of the few places where the Komi language is still spoken daily). Other than being probably the only metal band with lyrics in Komi (Vör's lyrics are in Russian), they're not partucularly original when it comes to music, but good to know that people from such a remote area are trying. "Voj Pyr" (which means "Through the forest" if I'm not mistaken) is their 5th album, so they're quite productive as well.

Download

Marja Üldine - "Own My Fears" [2019]

Artist: Marja Üldine

Title: Own My Fears

Genre: Gothic Rock/Metal, Doom Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 2019

Track List:

1. My own fears
2. Dontcryever
3. Live under the bridge
4. Waking up
5. Remember this day
6. Knock-knock
7. Sirens
8. Cosmic weed (bonus track)

Marja Üldine is a Vepsian folk singer, but if you expect her debut album "Own My Fears" to be a typical Finno-Ugric folk album, you're in for a big surprise (if not disappointment). All the lyrics on "Own My Fears" are in English, and the music has little to do with traditional folk or even folk metal. The singer herself described it as "hard rock", but it isn't telling much (because, at least here, "hard rock" is pretty much an old-fashioned term for anything heavier than The Beatles).

As for me, "Own My Fears" sounds more like mid-90s The Gathering and other gothic/doom metal bands of the same era, rather than anything else. The whole album leaves an impression as it was recorded some time during early-mid 2000s, with the appropriate cover artwork (a very stereotypical one for an early 2000s gothic metal album) and quality of production. It certainly evokes a lot of nostalgia for these times, so I wasn't disappointed by this album, but as for future releases from Marja Üldine -I'd like to hear more Vepsian folk (a much rarer thing than gothic/doom metal, that's for sure) with lyrics in her native language.

Second To Sun - "The Black" [2018]

Artist: Second To Sun

Title: The Black

Genre: Black/Groove Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2018

Track List:

1. Ladoga Master
2. The Wall
3. Chokk Kapper
4. Vasilisa
5. Region 13
6. The Fool
7. Mrakobesie pt. 1: Divine
8. Mrakobesie pt. 2: Letter
9. Mrakobesie pt. 3: Hunger
10. Mrakobesie pt. 4: МК-ULTRA RU
11. Heaven Sent (Bonus Track)

Every metal blog I'm reading seems to have reviewed this album by now, so... #MeToo :) This is the re-release of the previous album "Blackbound" by Second to Sun, but with vocals performed by Gleb Sysoev (ex-Deafknife). Deafknife were one of my favourite Russian post-black metal bands, so I had high hopes for this album.

"The Black" is certainly different from "Blackbound", not only because of the vocals, but also because of its more aggressive approach. Looks like the band finally found the right proportions for their mix of (post-)black and groove metal. The lyrical themes remain usual for S2S: both real life horror stories and the mythological ones taken from the folk tales of the Russian North and the minor Finno-Ugric peoples. The lyrics, however, are the weakest point of this album: they generally appear like they were written by an edgy teenager with little to no poetic skills. While this isn't going to be a big problem for the listeners that aren't Russian speakers, I still wonder why the quality of lyrics is so poor while the project's mastermind is talking a lot about how he strives for the world-class production quality of his music. Anyway, the stories behind the music are fairly interesting. Enjoy:

V/A - "Heliophagia 06" [2006]

Artist: (various)

Title: Heliophagia 06

Genre: Dark Ambient, Drone/Doom Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 2006

Track List:

1. Nojda - Lyšt Pudt Olmevudt
2. Panacea Enterpainment - Hymnus Hibernus
3. System Morgue - Reactor #4 / Fenrir Awakening

This 3-way split, released 10 years ago on the day of winter solstice, eventually became the first one in a long series of annual compilations. Initially there was an idea to release 6 compilations named "Heliophagia" dedicated to the winter solstice, numbered in a descending order (from 06 to 01). However, there already are 10 such compilations released so far, and several other similar seriers (Isorropia, Xypnima, Heliolatria etc.) were established later. All of them are released on a net label named after the Heliophagia series (it was initially named Anthropocide Productions, but this name has gone to a recording studio in 2008).

The concept of the Heliophagia series was conceived by Najnas, the founding member of Nojda and a collaborator in several other projects (a lyricist in Panacea Enterpainment, and a founder of a joke oi! band which I won't name here). If memory serves me right - he, being partially of Eastern Sami ancestry, has named himself "Najnas" after a god of northern lights from the Sami mythology. Nojda is his ritual ambient / "shamanic metal" project inspired by Skepticism, Ajattara, Gods Tower, Lycia, Troum, northern nature and Sami folklore. Unfortunately, Nojda has never released a proper album, only 4 or 5 track in total which appeared on various compilations in the Heliophagia series. That's a shame, because Nojda was undoubtedly one of the best projects to appear on these compilations.

The rest of "Heliophagia 06" isn't as interesting as the opening track by Nojda. "Hymnus Hibernus" by Panacea Enterpainment is rather mediocre doom metal/ambient, and the ambient/PE track by System Morgue is good but nothing special. Those who followed my blog through the last 5 years (if there are such people at all) should already be familiar with this project and its mastermind, who goes under the name "Peter LX". Back in the days when this split was just released, I kept a regular contact with him, Najnas and some other artists that appeared on their compilations (Paracore, Reido etc.). Now, 10 years later, I'm sitting at home alone waiting for my next birthday (which will come in just 3 days) and thinking what to make of all that useless knowledge of underground bands which next to no one listens to...

Second To Sun - "Blackbound" [2016]

Artist: Second To Sun

Title: Blackbound

Genre: Instrumental Black/Groove Metal

Country: Russia
Year: 2016

Track List:

1. Vasilisa
2. Chokk Kapper
3. Region 13
4. The Yoke
5. Ladoga Master
6. The Fool
7. Mrakobesie
8. Idemevs (Bonus Track)
9. Spirituality (Bonus Track)

"Blackbound" is a long-awaited new full-length release from Second To Sun. Over the year that has passed since the release of their previous album ("The First Chapter"), the band has relocated to St.Petersburg and gained the status of one of the best-known instrumental metal projects from Russia (along with Senmuth - but not all albums in his vast discography are purely instrumental, and not all of them are metal). The S2S members themselves explain the motto "Fuck Your Vocals" by their desire to make their music sounding like a horror movie soundtrack, with the detailed backstories for each track being available in the release notes. If I understand them correctly, they think the presence of vocals would ruin the atmosphere of their music, and wouldn't help with conveying the story behind the music (since the vocals in extreme music are mostly unintelligible anyway). Okay, instrumental metal remains a very interesting and quite unexplored field up to this day, so let's see what S2S have to offer on this album.

"Blackbound", as its name suggests, is much darker and black metal-oriented than their previous releases. The album may seem to be too monotonous and too overloaded with tremolos and blast beats at times, yet the atmosphere and melodies make it an interesting listen. Not to mention it's quite well produced (the band's leader owns his professional recording studio by now). Just like in case with their previous album, most (but not all) tracks on "Blackbound" take inspiration from the folklore and history of the minor Finno-Ugric peoples of the Russian North (a subject that's quite interesting for me personally as well, and that's the primary reason why S2S got my attention), which sets Second To Sun apart from numerous metal bands inspired by the Slavic and Scandinavian mythologies. A more detailed info on each track can be found on the album's Bandcamp page under the "lyrics" link.

It's tempting to tag "Blackbound" as a progressive metal album, but Vladimir Klimov-Lehtinen (the band's leader) fiercely rejects any attempts to label his music as anything else but "(post-)black metal" or "groove metal. I can see where he's coming from - because, as of now, "progressive metal" is mostly used to describe trendy djent/math metal bands like Periphery or Animals As Leaders, which S2S don't want to associate themselves with. S2S also don't play live shows, don't dress and look like stereotypical metalheads, and don't take too many photos of themselves because of the same desire to dissociate themselves with the current trendy metal scene (successfully or not).

For the most part, their reputation of a "djent" or "progressive deathcore" band comes from their album "Based On A True Story", which they now consider their biggest mistake. They also don't want to be associated with the folk or pagan metal scenes, since they draw their inspiration from living (if moribund), not dead traditions (read more in this interview). This is also understandable, because the majority of modern self-proclaimed neo-pagans indeed are complete clowns, especially the Slavic ones. However, Vladimir's constant rants about the people who tag his albums "prog-metal" or "djent" still sound too ridiculously over the top to me, even if he's just joking. As he himself puts it: "I'm trying to be as much of an arrogant dick as possible to get you guys all worked up for a nice little flame war in the comments". Well, I guess he'd fit right in the so-called "elite black metal" scene with such an attitude, but I don't think it's something to be proud of. As a conclusion: the music, whatever you label it, is interesting and controversial, but I'd appreciate it more if its author would be a little less full of himself.

H-Ural - "Дорога шамана" [2013]

Artist: H-Ural

Title: Дорога шамана

Genre: Industrial Rock, Folk-Rock

Country: Russia
Year: 2013

Track List:

1. Миш ар
2. Салы урнэ ойка эрыг
3. Осхул арые
4. Ханшан лук эвие
5. Ай куль
6. Дорога шамана
7. Акем ар
8. Шануш пох

H-Ural, formed in early 2007 in Ekaterinburg, are probably the only band to play a fusion of industrial rock and the traditional music of the eastern Ugric peoples (Khanty & Mansi). The band members also do a lot of ethnographic work, and have participated in many Uralic/Finno-Ugric culture festivals.

Their early recordings have interesting musical ideas but, unfortunately, a quite "cheap" sound (reminds me of early Nord'N'Commander, but with an "Uralic" touch). This is their second album, released in late 2013 (or, according to other sources, in early 2014), which is significantly more mature. The lyrics are mostly in Khanty, with a couple of songs in Russian. Interestingly enough, the language doesn't sound much alike its western Finnic relatives, or the Hungarian language; reminds me rather of the Tungusic languages. The music ranges from industrial/electro-rock to more traditional folk-rock inspired by the shamanic practices and ritual music of the Yugra people, with a prominent use of instruments like khomus (also known as the mouth harp). It's also influenced by the Amerindian (Sioux & Iroquois) shamanic musical traditions, which were extensively studied by one of the H-Ural's founding members, Sergey Yalunin.

Overall, the album makes for a nice listen, even if the vocal work seem to be weak at times. I'm currently listening to it while reading the works of Vladimir Napolskikh, the most competent Uralic ethnohistorian I know so far. If you liked this album and are interested in their earlier releases, all of them are freely available on the band's official site. Here's a couple of their early tracks, recorded around 2010:

Download

Vocal group "July" (Komi Republic)

To continue with the Komi theme, here's a folk/pop vocal group from Ust-Kulom (Kulomdin) - a small town in remote southeast Komi Republic, which is one of the few places where the original Komi-Zyrian culture is still more or less alive and well. As far as I can understand, they mostly sing about their homeland and its beauty. The female vocals are predominant, yet they two male backing vocalists as well. If you liked the Komi folk I've posted here before (Lydia Loginova, Victoria Pystina), you probably would enjoy this band too.

Don't know if they have released any proper albums (I think they do have a CD, but couldn't find any detailed info about it), so I just have compiled all their songs I could find (which wasn't easy, as their name "Июль" / "July" surely isn't search-friendly). Enjoy:

Download

Vazhes - "Deep Komis" [2010]

Artist: Vazhes

Title: Deep Komis

Genre: Ambient, Dub, Ethno-Industrial

Country: Russia
Year: 2010

Track List:

1. Pu Baraban
2. Chudskoy Otir
3. Chereshlan
4. Deep Komis
5. Pasture Dub
6. Oshkar (ft. Rapoon)
7. Vazh Otir (ft. Fanum)
8. A Dream Within A Dream (ft. Northaunt)

Vazhes is one of the monikers used by Sergey Gabbasov, an ethnologist from Moscow who also makes music. This album is dedicated to the Komi-Permyak people living near the northwestern slope of the Urals. "Vazhes" itself is a traditional Komi name for the "old people" of unknown origins who lived in these places before Komis came there, and the name of the album is apparently a homage to Deep Forest. The other albums released by Vazhes (at least the ones I've listened to) are mostly dedicated to the various Central Asian cultures, and appear to be more influenced by Muslimgauze (with some rhythmic noise elements).

Download

From The Forest - demo [2016]

Artist: From the Forest

Title: demo

Genre: Post-Rock

Country: Russia
Year: 2016

Track List:

1. Road to Sanda-Gora
2. You Are Here!
3. Sharya
4. Three Angels Are Sent To Kologriv

Nothing is known about this band, except they're from Kostroma and they're playing instrumental post-rock inspired by the nature of their home region and its Meryan heritage. The Merya were an ethnic group inhabiting the territory between modern-day Moscow and Kostroma about a millenium ago. Next to nothing is known about them or their language, except for the fact of their existence, yet they're generally assumed to be Volga Finno-Ugric people, probably related to the Mari people.

The area formerly inhabited by the Merya is well known for having a lot of apparently non-Slavic toponyms with no clear meaning and etymology, which most likely come from some unidentified non-Indo-European languages. Quite a lot of these place names (especially those ending with -ma, -ksha, -khta) appear to come from a single language whose word structure and phonetics are surprisingly similar to what's reconstructed for the hypothetical Proto-Uralic language. Some people assume it to be the Meryan language, although it's highly dubious. This demo is fully instrumental anyway, so the knowledge of Meryan isn't required to enjoy it :)

From what I could gather, the band was planning to release a 5-track EP titled "A Morbid Tale", but there were no news from them since May 2016, so I don't even know if they still play together. Anyway, these 4 tracks are good (especially the last two ones), and I'm definitely going to listen them in my future trips to Kostroma, Sharya, or elsewhere in that region :3

Download

Виктория Пыстина / Victoria Pystina

Out of all obscure Finno-Ugric folk(-pop) I've heard so far, Lydia Loginova isone of my biggest favourites. Unfortunately she's retired by now, but she has a worthy successor - Victoria Pystina. Victoria's voice and manner of singing is very similar to Lydia's, but unlike Lydia, she sings not only in Komi. Here are all her songs I could find, mostly with lyrics in Komi, but with addition of a couple of songs in Russian:

Download

Kauan - "Sorni Nai" [2015]

Artist: Kauan

Title: Sorni Nai

Genre: Atmospheric Doom Metal, Post-Rock

Country: Russia

Release date: 2015

Track List:

1. akva
2. kit
3. khurum
4. nila
5. at
6. khot
7. sat

To finish with the topic of Finno-Ugric music, here's a recently released album of a band from Urals (Chelyabinsk) named Kauan (just like one of the best Tenhi albums, right). I don't know if the band members have Finno-Ugric ancestry, but at least I don't know any other Russian metal band whose lyrics are entirely in Finnish. However, this particular album is named after a creature in Mansi mythology, and the track names are just their numbers in Mansi language. The music on "Sorni Nai" is post-rock for the most part, but it's still heavy enough to be counted as metal. Many metal review sites have praised this album as a masterpiece, and while I won't call it as such, I still can say that I enjoyed it a lot and I hope you'll do so too.