Blue, Yellow, & Bleeding: Блек-метал як духовна війна в українському андеграунді

Затхлий запах смерті
Приніс з собою вітер
Лише холод і туга безкрая
У небі роїться круків зграя
Вся земля вагітна мерцями
– svrm, “Земля вагітна мерцями”

The musty smell of death
Wind brought with him
Only cold and endless longing
A flock of crows is swarming the sky
The whole earth is pregnant with the dead
– svrm, “The Earth Is Pregnant With The Dead”

Grim salutations, Trav’lers. As the new moon once again brings the darkest night of the month upon us, its black mirror demands reflection. For this edition of Black, Raw, & Bleeding, the black light of the new moon turns its gaze to Ukraine.

When considering Ukranian black metal, the first thing that comes to mind is almost the polar opposite of “war metal” bands hailing from a country like Canada. Don’t get me wrong, I love the unhinged, bloodthirsty nature of Blasphemy (and I’m sure Ukraine has plenty of equivalents), but in comparison to a country that has been in conflict for sovereign identity since the Mongolian conquests in the 13th century, war seems to take one a much different meaning. Even in the most inhuman, animalistic moments of desperation, humanity finds beauty–a testament to the human spirit in the darkness. No matter how the “powers that be” may move and sacrifice the lives of thousands of people like the pieces of a chessboard, life is not a chess game. Pawns don’t think, pawns don’t feel, pawns don’t create. Art is the act of seizing power from the self and unleashing it upon the world. It’s a beautiful defiance: We aren’t driven to slaughter, we exist to create. What’s more, we do create. It’s an instinct that goes back to our most primitive days of smearing berries on wood or carving etchings into stone: May whomever find it know you were there, hope they hear your story. In that, we find the comforts of immortality. In that, we find strength. And in strength, hope.

This month, Black, Raw, & Bleeding takes a look at the underground black metal of Ukraine. Perhaps it’s the hopeless romantic buried deep beneath the nihilism, but I can’t help but finding both glimmering hope and admirable defiance in their art.

While supporting the artists is undoubtedly important, many of these albums are Name Your Price on Bandcamp, so a little will go a long way on Bandcamp Friday (March 4). Bandcamp waives their usual fees and 100% goes to the artist.
However, please also consider donating a portion of your budget to the Voices campaign to support victims of the Ukrainian conflict. Donations go directly to women and children facing hardship from the war.

Слава блек-металу!
Слава мистецтву!
Слава Україні!
Хай буде почутий твій голос

svrm – Червів майбутня здобич

Release Date: February 21st, 2022
Label: Self-released

If there has been a singular Ukranian black metal artist to watch over the past seven years, it’s most certainly svrm. Defying conventional album techniques, every release of the band sits in an odd place between EP and mini-album, never exceeding the 30-minute mark. Every collective piece of the band’s self-proclaimed gloomscapes plays out like a poem transcribed into music, dissected into movements of blistering emotions ranging from desperation, rage, hopelessness, loss, and defiance.

The latest work of the Kharkiv one-man project, Червів майбутня здобич (translation: Worms Future Prey) is no different in that regard. Yet the raw emotion of the music still holds in it a power to sweep the listener off their feet with its textured layers. The guitars whoosh in like the winds of the steppes over the grounding pulse of the percussion, blasting in steady time. The two move with the force and harmony of nature until the vocals break through, crying out with a hoarse call from the chest. It’s as though the voice is the only thing standing up to this magnificent natural barrage of sorrowful melody, and it’s not hard to imagine the tears of rage and solitude and misery streaming vertically from the eyes as the eternal winds continue to blow.

While none of the tricks used on Червів майбутня здобич are new for svrm, they are no less effective. The songwriting feels done from the gut rather than any conscious thought, the acoustic passages (with additional guitar provided by occasional collaborator Cronin) and the rare pause of the swirling winds of mayhem provide only the slightest of reprieve from the storm before the music returns with even greater vigor and matched defiance. And just when it seems the crescendos are maxing out, the drums throw in some ride work, or a matched guitar doubles down on the force of the music, stretching the heartstrings just a little past the point of comfort. Repeat listens reveal the hidden layers: For example, the first few listens through, the low “oooooh’s” on the second track, “Поклик могил,” or the triple-guitar attack on album closer, “Смерть” are most certainly felt, but it takes a while to really hone in on just how brilliantly layered the music really is.

svrm’s music is special, and the band remains a gem of Ukraine. Even after gathering some well-deserved notice over the past few years, svrm never compromises, remaining a steadfastly independent artist. There’s no packing on extra fluff to fill albums, they shoot to write these atmospheric poems of black metal; poems that compact an impressive menagerie of emotions into a concise package. If you’re new to the band and enjoy Червів майбутня здобич, a front-to-back listen of the discography is highly recommended. Pure, bared heart: the essence of raw.

Sidus Atrum – Spiral Of Life

Release Date: Marchr 11th, 2022
Label:Self-Release (digital), Kult und Kaos Productions (CD/Cassette)

The one-woman project under the name Sidus Atrum has made a hell of a leap in the last three years. While her 2019 debut, Cold Silence, showed bits of promise, the absolute step-up in quality to Spiral Of Life is undeniably incredible. Zero fucks are spared in the name of genre convention; nay, this is a work born of inspiration.

The heavy dynamics explode from the soft, glimmering ambience of album opener “Fading Light.” Sidus Atrum make the most of modern production: The layered guitars add essential weight to the driving mid-pace of the opening barrage. It makes the breeze of the whispers that follow over the heavily reverberated minimalist picking feel all the more potent. From the first song in, it’s clear project mastermind Yulia Lykhotvor finally has the resources to bring her vision justice.

As the Spiral Of Life unfurls, its clear Yulia has no qualms about fitting into a specific style or sound, rather, she takes artistic liberty with the tools at her disposal to craft an undeniably powerful coloring of the soundscape, drawing from black metal, doom metal, modern metal, ambient, post-rock, and post-metal. The project walks the line between violent and serene, like fists thrown in violent passion with velvet gloves. Even at its most heavy and violent it’s somehow soothing to see the world through the eyes of Sidus Atrum.

Вампырь – Hypnagogia

Release Date: December 31st, 2021
Label: Self-released

For whatever reason, the majority of the vampyric elements of black metal tend to gravitate most to its rawer side these days, and what better time for Nosferatic fans to live in. It does perpetuate the “limited to fifty copies to be shown off exclusively on Instagram and never actually played” trope. The lazy fan will (perhaps rightfully) see it as a trend, the true fan will suffer the bullshit and find the stuff that really counts. Only wimps whine about trends.

Case in point: Вампырь Old Slavic for, well, “Vampyr,” the band’s debut album, Hypnagogia (the term for that half-dreamlike state between wakefulness and sleep), genuinely feels like the state of undeath; alive but not alive, the half-conscious state of undeath. The almost overwhelming emphasis on atmosphere begs to be felt rather than heard. Absolute occult power reverberates on the incantation of the vocal performance, particularly on tracks like “Infernal Gash.” For fans of those taking the Transilvanian Hunger ideal into the next level: It finds a home between the harsh transcendentalism of Black Cilice, the tortured gothic melancholy of Midnight Betrothed, the raw, conflicted honesty of Revenant Marquis, and the esotericism of Aldebaran Black Circle bands such as Occelensbrigg and Voëmmr. The album broods without conceding a bit of its ferocious bite. If you seek atmosphere, run to Hypnagogia. If you seek dark vampirism, run to Hypnagogia. If you seek to feel the riffs, run to Hypnagogia. If you seek only to perceive the riffs, run to Hypnagogia. If you love every bit of raw black metal you can get your hands on, run to Hypnagogia. If you are hesitant due to trends, rest your fears and run to Hypnagogia.

Domovyna – Домовина

Release Date: January 14th, 2021
Label: Self-released (digital), Depressive Illusions Records (CD-R/Cassette)

Emerging from static, an eerie, gentle strumming pattern lulls its haunted nocturnal lullaby. A muted hiss of overdriven distortion mutes its way along the same melody line. The two sound out of sync, both in tune and time, clashing with one another haphazardly. It’s enough to catch the ear of any fan of the rawer styles of black metal. It’s that uncertain first experience with an album where just enough is teased, and it remains to be seen if it will transform into something good or an outright disaster.

So begins the first forty-five seconds of Домовина, the debut album of Zhytomyr’s Domovyna (“Coffin”). With the first offering (at least on Metal Archives) of any of its members aside from Lord Nurgel’s recent handling of bass duties for death/thrash band Hellfound, it’s a reasonable assumption that Domovyna are a relatively young group of musicians getting their feet wet and cutting a DIY album.

That being said, just how does it go after those curious first forty-five seconds? The harrowing yell of the vocals rip into gear, bringing with it energy into the track as the full band kicks in. The music continuing on this harsh, degenerating clashing of riffs as the percussion switches between inhuman blasting (literally, it’s a drum machine) and an aggressive groove. The drum machine doesn’t pull from the sound though, the band smother its cold delivery with the undead breath of the reanimated. The full sound of the guitar is harsh, torn, and punishing, yet full-bodied; it brings a lot of depth and weight to the riffs. That initial curiosity grows…

…and then Morozna starts to sing. The dark spirit that took possession of Liv Kristine in the self-titled and Velvet Darkness They Fear has taken residence in the soul of the guitarist/clean vocalist of Domovyna. The way her operatic delivery coats the rough aggression of the music with dark angelic tones sends shivers of nostalgia down the spine every time they pop up on Домовина (luckily with satisfying consistency), it adds a blissful reprieve from the darkness. As the album progresses to “Храм,” these vocals meet with harrowing synth plucking that speckles a melody between the grimy riffcraft at the song’s conclusion for on of several highlights of the album.

The band continue to find creative variation of these elements, showing remarkable promise in the songwriting department with twists and surprises at every turn, tapping hard into black metal’s more gothic romantic veins without sacrificing raw, brutal tonality or overcooking their sound. The seemingly amateurish production both serves the imagination of the listener and betrays the true talent of the band: it is the eternal paradox of raw black metal. Domovyna’s debut is the sort of thing you’d pick up on CD-R from a local show after watching them blow the touring headliner out of the water on a second or third billing.

Funeral Candies – Месу Розпочато

Release Date: October 5th, 2021
Label: Sound Fortress

Man, talk about a delightful find! While I do recall stumbling across løn’s ambient demo back when it first came out, I shamefully did not keep up with the collective around the Sound Fortress label until recently, and have been making up lost time with their other two releases since. (The other band, ЛЬОН, will be discussed shortly).

Месу розпочато, the debut album from the curiously named Funeral Candies, was the latest of the pair. Released in early October of last year, this flew completely under the radar despite how well it aligns spiritually with Labyrinth Tower and Grime Stone releases. The base sounds pull from 60’s psychedelia and surf rock to the realms of 70’s and 80’s synth punk (a la The Screamers and The Mummies), as well as the proto-metal of Blue Öyster Cult, all covered in the filth and grave dirt that come with black metal’s knack for necromancing the past.

It takes more than the act of necromancy itself, however, to craft a compelling album, and Funeral Candies use their power over the resurrected to spin a yarn of an ancient cult that itself rises from the ashes of the past to terrorize a small town. “Меса Коло Дуба” opens the album with a notable nod to Candlemass that instantly grabs the ear before the band sink into their rockin’ groove. The harsh vocals, occasional blasting section, and somewhat rough (though by no means stereotypically “lo-fi”) recording keep the black metal spirit on the fringes as the rhythm boogies its way to a solid foundation for the guitar and synth melodies to coat the affair with sweet saccharine. Heavy organ use, thick reverb, and a lively drum performance breathe an extra life into highlights like “Культ Відьомської Ями” or “Шабаш На Базилевській Горі” with sublime results.

Fans of the weirdo side of black metal (very much including yours truly) will find so much to love in Funeral Candies. Месу Розпочато is the kind of special work that could only be stumbled upon outside the typical parameters of the artistic hotbeds of big cities. There’s a rural and isolationist mythology to both the interpretation, the mood, and the tale that should instantly sink its hooks into fans of contemporary oddball black metal like Malokarpatan, Baazlvaat, and Old Nick. The band effortlessly tap into the infinite possibilities, the infinite worlds of black metal, and emerge from the flames with a unique identity, and I do so hope our world can be blessed with more material from Funeral Candies.

Eskapism – Reminiscence

Release Date: August 24th, 2020
Label: Archaic Sound (digital), Todesritter Production (Vinyl/CD)

“Atmospheric black metal” so often gets a knee-jerk reaction from me. For whatever reason, I tend to think of third-to-fourth rate one-man Transilvanian Hunger clones or riffless washes of noise (I know it’s boiling a much vaster genre down to its worst elements, but one can only be burned so many times without developing such a reflex). Eastern European atmospheric black metal, however, takes on a whole new dynamic. Take, for example, Eskapism. Hailing from Lviv in western Ukraine, the band have been steadily releasing output since 2016, releasing two full-lengths, and, with the arrival of Reminiscence in 2020, two extended plays.

The EP begins with “A Cry Into Oblivion,” a few single note pluckings around the chord changes like the final suggestions of sunlight, lowering the defenses for the ringing of the chimes, signaling a steady, powerful rhythm as the soundscape opens the night. It burst as the energy takes hold, picking up the pace. The aggression is anchored with a subtle, soothing choir and the soft twinkle of of the synths, sparkling across the dark terrestrial meat of the music like stars carelessly shimmering above a dark and violent planet. The band’s collective nom-de-plume makes sense within the first minutes of the record: it yearns for escape to those comforting realms, for escapism from its violent origins.

The dynamics absolutely sell the first two tracks of the recording, every part of the canvas feels used from the steady, driving mid-pace to the tension-addled melodies over the blasts to the slower, almost transcendental moments and back again. The third track, “Whisper of Ancient Times,” showcases the band’s ambient side. It drops the black metal entirely for a wistful, slow building synth soundscape before closing the EP with a fiery cover of Kampfar’s “Mylder” that stays steadfastly faithful to the original, all the while throwing a bit more of Eskapism’s Dolby-worthy synth textures into the mix to add a bit of their own signature to it. Fans of full-bodied, contemporary pagan black metal like the captivating work of Grima or perhaps Finland’s Paara will find plenty to get lost in Reminiscence‘s all-to-brief half-hour runtime.

ЛЬОН – З Живого Джерела

Release Date: June 19th, 2020
Label: Sound Fortress

As mentioned in the Funeral Candies blurb above, the circle around Sound Fortress is curating a hell of a pool of talent in Ukraine in its three releases to date. ЛЬОН, the spiritual continuation /sorta-basically-the-same-band-as-Iøn, finds the musicians expanding their minimalist, ambient ideas into their own interpretation of the intoxicating blend of atmospheric, melodic, and pagan elements that most define what is considered the Ukrainian black metal sound.

Relying heavily on tension and dynamics, ЛЬОН (“LINEN”) eschew the parlor tricks and unfold epic, naturally flowing movements over the 1,263 BPM blasts that pound in synchronicity with both the heart of the mockingbird and the roaring force of water over rocks of the rapids along the Dnieper River. Forgive the otherwise unrelated metal pun, but the melodies roar like an everflowing stream over the rocks that would otherwise break them. From the instantly captivating explosion of melody on “Джерела, що вириваються з глибин (Sources That Break Out Of The Depths)” that instantly finds it groove in the intensity of the percussion, to the folkish synths and soulful guitar soloing at the conclusion of “Своє забирає весна (частина II) [Spring Takes Over (Part II)],” the band finds a surprisingly fluid pathway from beginning to end.

Admittedly, the word “melody” is probably the most-used in this feature, but perhaps there’s a reason for that. Finding that beauty in the chaos, that hope in the fragility of life. That human desire to carve melody from the chaos, to chisel some hope in the face of confrontation, be it with nature, other man, or self. In that regard, no better band than ЛЬОН could close out this feature.

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Posted by Ryan Tysinger

I listen to music, then I write about it. (Outro: The Winds Of Mayhem)

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