Zeni Geva ‎- "Alive And Rising" [2010]

Artist: Zeni Geva

Title: Alive And Rising

Genre: Noise Rock

Country: Japan

Release date: 2010

Track List:

1. Alienation
2. Disorganization
3. Hate Trader
4. Interzona
5. 10,000 Light Years
6. Implosion
7. Blastsphere
8. Last Nanosecond
9. Dead Sun Rising
10. Desire For Agony
11. Slam King
12. Hazchem
13. Autopsy Love

Started in mid-1980s as a Japanese version of Godflesh, Zeni Geva have achieved a cult status among the fans of avant-garde music from Japan over the next 15 years or so. Although they haven't released any new material since 2001, there's a re-recording of their best earlier stuff released in 2010, which I present to you. (The solo discography of their core member KK Null is considerably larger, but that's beside the point). The band members describe their music as "progressive hardcore", but in fact it's a mix of everything, from doom metal to japanoise. One thing can be said for sure: any of their albums isn't an easy listen, but it's quite impressive.

In one of KK Null's interviews, he explains that "Zeni" is an old Japanese term for money, and "Geva" comes from German "Gewalt". So, "Money Violence". In responce to the interviewer saying that it sounds like an anti-capitalist statement, he answered: "No, it comes from a cartoon which I watched in my childhood. It's a very serious, dark cartoon". I wonder which cartoon he was talking about? I'd like to watch it too, even if I haven't watched any sort of anime in ages. There apparently is a dorama under that name, and it indeed looks like a dark and serious one, but I couldn't find anything named "Zeni Geva" in any of the anime databases...

Doom (JPN) - "Complicated Mind" [1988]

Artist: Doom

Title: Complicated Mind

Genre: Technical Thrash Metal

Country: Japan

Release date: 1988

Track List:

1. Complicated Mind
2. Fall, Rise and...
3. The Boys Dog
4. Bright Light
5. Slave of Heaven
6. Kingdom of Silkroad
7. Can't Break My... Without You
8. Painted Face
9. Poor Boy Condition
10. Nervous Break Down

The Japanese band Doom might be not as known as the other pioneers of avant-garde thrash metal like Voivod, Mekong Delta, Toxik or Watchtower, but they're as crazy as only a Japanese band could be. Like in case with many other obscure 80's metal albums I've posted here before, I discovered "Complicated Mind" via the Vibrations of Doom collection of classic albums, and was completely amazed by it. Sure it's not the music I'd want to listen to on a daily basis (just like in case with Voivod), but as an example of a very interesting release from a band who decided to break the rules of a rather hidebound genre, it shouldn't be missed.

Later on, they have moved father away from thrash, especially on their 1992 release "Illegal Soul" which is a kind of weird indusrial/noise rock, but their trademarks always remained the same: dissonant chords and solos, weird time signatures, and repetitive lyrics in clumsy English. And yes, I agree with those reviewes a that one of the best assets of Doom is the guy on fretless bass. Their albums are surprisingly hard to find on the net, but at least the links on dark-world.ru are working.

End Zone - "Eclectica" [1998]

Artist: End Zone

Title: Eclectica

Genre: Progressive Metal

Country: Russia

Release date: 1998

Track List:

1. Alpha
2. The Vortex Of Reality
3. Hovanchina (Final)
4. Dual Infinity
5. The Remedy
6. Refuse/Resist (Sepultura Cover)
7. Afterwards

EndZone was an early band of Igor Lobanov, a former athlete and the current guitarist/vocalist of the nu-metal band Slot, which I honestly can't stant. Fortunately all three albums released by End Zone are nothing alike what he's playing now, and rightfully considered to be the classics of early Russian metal scene. Unfortunately, the 90s weren't the best time for Russian metal (and for the country in general), so EZ broke up by the end of that decade, being nowhere near as popular as Slot currently are.

Initially, during 1993-1995, they were playing technical thrash metal in the vein of Mekong Delta. This album, however, features a "lighter" form of progressive metal influenced by classical music. The quality of production and musicianship is great for its time, even despite the poor cover art and rather weak vocals, making "Eclectica" a very interesting release that definitely doesn't deserve to be forgotten:

Tsarina - "Царица" [2016]

Artist: Tsarina

Title: Царица

Genre: Black Metal/Punk

Country: Russia

Release date: 2016

Track List:

1. Очи чёрные
2. Тоска
3. Чебурашка
4. Я встретил вас
5. Родина

All-female trio from Irkutsk playing cover versions of well-known Soviet/Russian songs in the melodic black metal style with a healthy dose of Siberian punk. All the information about them comes from their Bandcamp page; to my knowledge, they aren't active elsewhere. They apparently are a parody/gimmick band, and they aren't bad for this niche. Maybe they aren't "Russian Peste Noire" (as some reviewers have called them), but it's still something unique and worth giving a listen, especially if you love both underground black metal and vintage aesthetics:

Lycanthropy's Spell - "Misanthropic Visions" [2005]

Artist: Lycanthropy's Spell

Title: Misanthropic Visions

Genre: Depressive Black Metal

Country: Belgium

Release date: 2005

Track List:

1. Misanthropic Visions
2. Cemetery Lights
3. Fullmoon Depression
4. Emptiness of Lonelyness
5. Nocturnal Forest in the Moonlight
6. On the Wings of Sadness
7. Hi Yiste
8. Спокойная Ночь (Kino cover)

"Chechen black metal" was as much of the recurring joke in the Russian metal scene of the mid-2000s as "Eastern Orthodox black metal", but nevertheless both things actually exist. Lycanthropy's Spell, based out of Belgium and active during 2003-2005, consisted of two members: Sarmak, a Chechen refugee, and Inferis, originally from Britain and active in many different underground black metal projects all over Western Europe. The band name was taken from the song "Embraced by Lycanthropy's Spell" by Moonblood (their main source of influence).

While at a first glance this band seems to be the embodiment of all second wave black metal stereotypes, they do have their own distinctive kind of sound (as well as the great atmosphere). Where else would you hear a blackened noise ballad with lyrics in Chechen?

Sarmak died from heart failure at the age of 20 the same year this album was released, leaving behind one solo release which is probably the one and only example of Chechen pagan black metal. Disregarding the poor quality of production (what else could you expect from an one-man underground black metal project 15 years ago?), knowing that it was made someone coming from a culture that still practices many brutal traditions such as blood feuds or honour killings makes it much more impressive than a lot of overproduced pagan metal releases from, i.e., Scandinavian countries:

Bone Awl - "Bog Bodies" [2003]

Artist: Bone Awl

Title: Bog Bodies

Genre: Black Metal

Country: USA

Release date: 2003

Track List:

1. Tollund Man
2. Grauballe Man
3. Lindow Man
4. Virvatulet (outro)

Have you heard about the phenomenon of "bog bodies", where the bodies of people drowned in peat bogs become mummified and preserved intact for millenia? The members of Bone Awl apparently know about it too (not surprising for a band whose name has to do with archaeology), and even have recorded an EP dedicated to the three best known "bog people" (one track for each, plus a long outro with the name meaning "will-o'-the-wisp" in Finnish). The music is pretty suitable for such kind of subject: primitive, ugly, and "primal" (for the lack of better word). If you liked "Hydronymy" by Kastchei, you might enjoy this one too:

Hesychast - "Ageless" [2016]

Artist: Hesychast

Title: Ageless

Genre: Unblack Metal

Country: USA

Release date: 2016

Track List:

1. Волны Смерти
2. Discordant
3. Trace of Breath
4. Eye
5. Moth and Rust
6. Ageless
7. Trisagion

Orthodox black metal (and no, I'm talking not about bands like Deathspell Omega, but about actual Orthodox Christian (un)black metal) had been a recurring joke on Russian metal scene since the mid-2000s at least. Nobody could belive such a thing can unironically exist, although a couple of Ukrainian bands (Holy Blood and Euroclydon) actually tried to play it at that time. This album is, however, a relatively new attempt at playing (un)black metal with Orthodox themes by two Americans who apparently were inspired by 2006 "The Island" movie (judging from the samples in the opening track):

What can I say? The result turned out much better than one might expect it to be. Leaving the album theme aside, it's quite decent atmospheric black metal, definitely no worse than the much more hyped "Litourgiya" by Batushka. And, to be honest, it seems like there isn't that much wrong with the topic of hesychasm in black metal either. After all, the history of Orthodoxy knows definitely no less anti-human & anti-life moments than the history of any black metal band out there. So, if you're looking for something "darker" to listen on Eastern Orthodox Xmas, this album might be exactly what you're looking for:

Eisenwut - "Die Herrschaft der Leere" [2017]

Artist: Eisenwut

Title: Die Herrschaft der Leere

Genre: Industrial Metal, NDH

Country: Russia

Release date: 2017

Track List:

1. Auf der anderen Seite der Verzweiflung
2. Freiheit
3. Gib mir Kraft
4. Tod tritt zurück
5. Die Herrschaft der Leere
6. Eisenwut
7. Der ewige Krieg
8. Стальные крылья
9. Warum
10. Weltordnung (feat. Nachtmahr)
11. Магнолия
12. Wo blumen entarten

Just like any other attempt by a Russian band to play NDH, this album is a total Rammstein worship. What else it could be, seriously? However, Eisenwut are far better than a lot of other Rammstein clones (including their vocalist's earlier band, Hackmesser, which I recall as being completely horrible). Of course the fans of Rammstein and Neue Deutsche Härte in general most likely won't hear anything new on this album, but taking in account that Rammstein haven't released anything good in ages, it's nice to have a new decently produced work in the same style. Sure, this kind of music is past its peak of popularity by now, yet this album still brings back the memories of me as a teenage Rammstein fan. My personal favourites are "Gib mir Kraft", "Eisenwut", and "Магнолия":

Happy New Year 2018!

As you know, I don't do compilations like "Best of 2017" etc. which other blogs seem to be so fond of, but I always wish my readers the best in the coming year. 2017 wasn't an easy year for me, but at least now I have a feeling that my life is finally going in the right direction, and that's what is truly important. Hopefully you feel the same about your life too. Special thanks for the "HELLYEAH!" bar for being the only true rock bar in my city! I go to bars on very rare occasions, but the New Year eve is certainly a good one :)

And now, it's time for Yulia Crow to greet you! While her music is going in the mainstream alternative rock direction as of late (or maybe towards something like "dubstep-metal" in the vein of Rave The Reqviem), I still love her early works, and of course she looks more awesome than ever:

Majdanek Waltz / Denis Tretyakov / The Noktulians - "Pentagram" [2017]

Artist: Majdanek Waltz / Denis Tretyakov / The Noktulians

Title: Pentagram

Genre: Neofolk, Sludge, Noise Rock, Dark Jazz

Country: Russia

Release date: 2017

Track List: 

Side A: Majdanek Waltz & The Noktulians

1. Pentagram
2. Sombre Splendour
3. Under the Waning Moon
4. The Palace of the World
5. Corona Astralis
6. Ut

Side B: Denis Tretyakov & The Noktulians

1. Hell Hath No Queen
2. To Suffer So, and So Rejoice
3. Augur XI
4. Initiation IX
5. Black Mass
6. Initiation X 

This rather lengthy release (over 70 minutes long) with a wonderfully minimalistic cover art was produced by the veterans of the Russian (post-)industrial, neofolk and post-punk scene: Majdanek Waltz, Denis Tretyakov, Myrrman of Reutoff and Otzepentevshiye, and some others, including Raymond Krumgold, whose cultural and political activites had a lot of influence on me about a decade ago. He also wrote a very detailed review of this album and its concept here (unfortunately, no English version is available so far).

In short: "Pentagram" was released 70 years after the death of Aleister Crowley, and is primarily based on his literary works. For the most part, it's an instrumental album, with some spoken word declamation of Crowley's poetry (by the way, another band who used Crowley's verses as lyrics was Romowe Rikoito). While Majdanek Waltz are known mostly as a neofolk band, this release is rather far from neofolk, being quite heavy, noisy, and "sludge-y" at times (much like "Aleph at Hallucinatory Mountain" by Current 93). Overall, the result is quite impressive. As R. Krumgold correctly pointed out, such and idea could easily result in a failure, but fortunately it didn't.

Line-up:

Pavel Blyumkin, Denis Tretyakov, Dasha Popova, Larisa Arkhipetskaya, Oleg Karavaychuk, Vasiliy & Alexandra – voices
Ilya Matzevich – guitars
Pyotr Starov – bass guitar, synthesizer
Mariam Khatlamadzhiyan – viola
Igor Kuzmenko – cello
Sergey Vostrov – flute, clarinet, saxophone
Ivan Tsiporkov – flute, saxophone
Roman Kazakov – trumpet

The Noktulians are:
Fr I Am – guitar
Fr Dis – guitar
Fr Pest – bass
Fr Hans – drums
Fr Ephes – programming
Fr IV – saxophone
Fr A.T. – saxophone