GNOOMES, the Russian outfit who blend a potent mix of psychedelic stargaze, kraut techno and kosmiche pop, they released the album, "MU!" their third for Rocket Recordings.
Since the release of their last album "Tschak!" the three piece has turned into a quartet with synth player Masha Piankova joining the band. And it was the success of their tours in the UK and Europe that subconsciously created a template and tone for where the band would go next with this new album; to capture that surging drive and throbbing assault of their pulverising live shows. “We decided to make this record more live and less electronic,” Sasha, singer and guitarist from GNOOMES said. “We were thinking about how to make it sound more dynamic.” Masha’s introduction was a key one, with her replacing Sasha on synth bass whilst he moved over to second guitar to add a fuller and more impactful sonic crunch.
"MU!" has been part recorded in the same old soviet radio station where the band recorded "Tschak!" part in a professional studio and then part at home. This was to ensure the best capture of GNOOMES live assault. The results brim with a magnitude and sense of coherence that belies some of the environment it was created in. Fuzz-driven guitars shift in engulfing waves, resembling shoegaze giants at their most ferocious, whilst elsewhere layered vocals stack on top of one another, weaving between pristine melody and augmented discordance. Whilst the glacial electronics and coldwave tendencies that soaked much of their previous album may be more absent here, this record pulses with an electronic tinge that bubbles more subtly under the surface of immersive guitars.
The title "MU!" has Japanese origins and comes from Zen Buddhism – something Sasha began to practise during past trying times - meaning both “no” and “nothingness” and the understanding that the acceptance of this concept can lead to enlightenment. “For me personally it’s a spiritual record,” he says. Although any sonic warbles of new age blandness couldn’t be further from the end results here. This is a cleansing record, no doubt, but one that washes over you with both brutal force and deft subtleness.
With the completion of this album, it also wraps up a trio of records all connected via punctuation – "Ngan!", "Tschak!", "MU!" - but with one each distinct in its own tone and sense of evolution. From Bowie to the CURE to MODERAT, musical history is peppered with great musical trilogies and now GNOOMES’ Exclamation Mark Trilogy can be added to that.
Today's tune "Sword In The Stone", taken from the album "MU!", released 2019, enjoy!
Friday and for today we have an instrumental trio from St. Petersburg, Russia. The band ANTETHIC plays atmospheric experimental music since 2012.
Electronic music is nothing that I jump high on usally anymore, but this kinda style of experimental makes me curios and that they are backed up by the record company Holy Roar Records makes me lift the eyebrow a little extra. That the album "Mythographer" is an intressting atmospheric journey through minimalist tones, vacuum-packed sound loops, expansive drones that get very stylistic on the way.
"Mythographer" was released May 29, 2020. All tracks recorded and produced by ANTETHIC and Anton Kiltsov at Lakeform studio, St. Petersburg. Mixed by Anton Kiltsov. Mastered by Peter Ternovoi at Dobrolet studio, St. Petersburg. Artwork and layout by Daria Pikova
ANTETHIC is:
Alexander Lyvov,
Yuri Efremov and
Konstantin Borisov
Today's tune "The Unturnable" is taken from "Mythographer", enjoy!
Czech post-black metal band CHERNAA did release their debut album titled "Empyrean Fire" on June 7th via Noizr Productions.
The album is a result of a joint effort of musicians divided geographically but not mentally. CHERNAA symbolizes the feeling that life is meaningless and that we are utterly insignificant when compared to the size of the universe. Like the beauty of gazing vacantly into the black void and being detached from all other worries in life. As soon as the melancholy becomes the basic disposition of man, it reflects a world that has lost its firm order and human life is at the very edge of an incurable disease. And it is this transient awareness of the nothingness that triggers emotional responses that are too mysterious and profound and which we are trying to capture with our music.
The band comments on the song, "The music is taken from higher planes of consciousness. Raw emotions played through saddened guitar riffs and wistful melodic combinations drag the listener through the forest of thoughts. It was created to enjoy those beautiful and painful melancholic desolations around us.”
CHERNAA is a post-metal/post-black act from Prague, Czech Republic. The band has an international lineup, including musicians from the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Russia. The recording of the album "Empyrean Fire" took place at the Jaro Sound studio in Prague. The artwork for the release was created by Anna Levytska, known for her work with BLUT AUS NORD.
"Three guys from the Czech Republic and a guy from Ukraine currently living in Prague, creating the instrumental base for the band, while the vocalist is from Russia, Krasnoyarsk, recording vocals from afar. We bring the post into your black. We dive into the void and bring the existential dread."
CHERNAA is:
Utsuro the Sabbatic
Solipsist the Undying
Nexus the Wilder
Nihilist the Priceless
Hedonist the Poisoned
Today's tune "Ominous" is taken from "Empyrean Fire", enjoy!
This week we turn our heads to vast Russian province Siberia where we find the third full-length album "Will Of The Primordial" with the atmospheric black metal duo GRIMA. A band that was formed in 2014 as a project to create music, they have only performed in the studio but hopefully, after this release, they will seek out and perform for us deadly human beings.
The album contains eight icy tunes, that have a terrain spanning tundra, coniferous forest and mountain ranges with gloomy atmosphere, the world’s deepest lake, circled by a network of hiking paths gives us the beauty of this Siberian duo. Pagan influences metal where the mythology is based on the worship of the elder forest, its power, and magic, where the GRIMA is a supreme god. It is a powerful spirit, who protects only those who live in a forest, and punishes everyone who does not respect nature.
Great songwriting and instrumentation that have a good variation to keep my ears busy and interested true the whole trip of 47 mins. The lyrics illustrate the harsh and cold nature of the Russian province of Siberia. Rasping and screamy vocals, melodic and tremolo-picked melodies and great variation of instruments in a classic black metal style that is well executed by the twin brothers Morbius and Wilhelm. It's a powerful album where the could be comparable with WINTERFYLLETH.
The album opens up with a pagan intro in "Siberian Sorrow", the accordion softly lays its musical layer until the guitars sneak in from the behind and the drums join the force and suddenly it burst out. A perfect ground has been made for the second tune "The Shrouded In Darkness" to play its ball. "Leshiy" is an emotional tune with beautiful passages and bestial aggression followed by "Spiritual Emptiness", the first of two instrumental pieces on the album. The peaceful tune "Enisey" with the ambient keyboard in the background that frames this tune with a golden light. Excellent vocal screams in "Blizzard". "Howl at Night" is a true masterpiece, clocking in just over nine minutes, beautiful instrumental parts that are woven in a tasteful way, the instrumental choice suits the tune like a glove. The album closes up with the second and last instrumental piece "Rest In The Snow", a beauty with horns. An excellent album and a definite recommendation for fans of atmospheric black metal, check this up. The album was mixed and mastered by Vladimir Lekhtinen. Released August 3, 2019 on Naturmacht Productions.
Sum: A must-have album.
Today's tune "Enisey" taken from "Will Of The Primordial", enjoy!
Saint-Petersburg's post-black mastodons TRNA and SHOW ME A DINOSAUR join forces once again in the big European tour in April 2019.
TRNA are the pioneers of celestial blackgaze. This incredible blackened post-rock 3-piece from Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation formed after the breakup of post-black band PRINC PERSII. Andrey Novozhilov (guitar) and Sergey Tikhomirov (drums) were joined by Anton Gataullin (bass) shortly after forming the band and had their first rehearsal as a trio in November, 2013. The band played the first live show in February 2014 supporting SHOW ME A DINOSAUR.
Their debut album "Pattern Of Infinity" was recorded at BST studio in Saint Petersburg from September 2014 till January 2015 by Mikhail Skurikhin. It was released digitally and on CD on February 23, 2015 and met with a few wildly enthusiastic reviews which greatly motivated the band.
The trio continued to evolve their sound and "Lose Yourself To Find Peace" was recorded between June and July of 2016 with Mikhail “just add some echo” Kurochkin. The album was released digitally and on CD on September 23, 2016 and met with rave reviews.
After recording, Sergey Tikhomirov officially left the band and was replaced by Austen‘s Timur “the pummeler” Yusupov. The band signed to Elusive Sound on October 19, 2016. The album was included in Arctic Drones’ 50 Favourite Releases of 2016 and featured at number 3 in Post-Rock Essentials Top 30 Releases of 2016. “Lose Yourself To Find Peace” was released on vinyl on August 25, 2017 and became Elusive Sound’s fastest selling album.
TRNA released their third album "Earthcult" digitally on 5 March, 2018. Recorded and mastered by the brilliant Mikhail Kurochkin and featuring new drummer Timur Yusupov, "Earthcult" offers 65 minutes of pure catharsis inducing celestial blackened post-split over 4 epic tracks fueled with raw emotions.
“This album represents the sentiment of the unity of man and nature. The realization that our roots are entwined, that our everyday concerns feel insignificant before the vastness of the universe, nature and life itself. Living in a metropolis and endlessly socializing, we forget who we are. We lose sight of the sacred bond we have with nature, how it nourishes us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We should desperately try to restore that bond”.
Elusive Sound will soon release "Earthcult" on vinyl, guess who is going to buy it :)
"Earthcult" was recorded during February 2018. On this recording TRNA are: Andrey Novozhilov - guitar,
Anton Gataullin - bass and Timur Yusupov - drums. Recording, mixing and mastering by Mikhail Kurochkin. Cover art by Polina Washington.
Today's tune "Earthcult" is the title song from the bands latest release. The clip is filmed live @ Rockstar's, Tallinn, Estonia, 15.09.2018, enjoy!
Upcoming tourdates:
APR 7 Nexus Braunschweig Brunswick, Tyskland
APR 10 Supersonic Paris, Frankrike
APR 11 Bar des Capucins Lyon, Frankrike
APR 12 Sedel Ebikon, Schweiz
APR 13 Venster 99 Wien, Österrike
APR 15 Kulturák klub Bratislava, Slovakien
APR 16 Dürer Kert Budapest, Ungern
APR 17 Zkušebna / Široká ulice / Liberec
Sunday, time to summarize the 22 days of Eurovision Song Contest that I have been stuck in a chair up in the roof.
It has been long days during the rehearsals but pretty fun, lots of laughs, Bamse Stories, light sniping, strange clothes, flypaper, Finish glittering dinosaurs, Pepsis, paper clothing, pyros etc etc, the list could be endless. Anyway, it was a privilege to be part of this karaoke circus!
Photo Pär Källman/SVT
Here are some facts about the vast technical production that goes into Eurovision Song Contest.
First an pretty odd but fun fact is that the venue has sunk 35mm since work started on April 4!
The production features the work of technical director Ola Melzig, with lighting design by Fredrik Jönsson, set design by Frida Arvidsson and Viktor Brattström, video design by Mikki Kunttu, and pyro design by Markku Aalto.
Lighting programmers are Timo Kauristo, Danne Persson, Fredrik Stormby, and Calle Brattberg, with video programming by Neil Trenell, Pekka Martti, and Fraser Walker. Technical partners for the show and broadcast are Litecom, Pixmob, MA Lighting, Green Hippo, Cyberhoist, Live Media Group, Visual Act, and Barco.
The Followspots department where I was included in, are Fredrik Hill, Johan Ilve, Kevin Moorehouse, Robert Holm, Tina Strand, Anna-Maria Ericsson, Katja Aiha, Marcus Brandberg, Robert Löfgren, Victor Svensson, Rebecka Erixon, Michael Hultgren, Janne Sandsten, Stephanie Wennerström and the Followspot caller Q-Lan Wallertz
General
· Total amount of cable: 143km
· 220 people required to run the live broadcast
Lighting
· 1,828 fixtures
· Consumes 854,000W
· 25,300 control channels
· Takes five main and five back up lighting consoles to run the show
· 14 spot operators
· 45 people involved to run lighting during the broadcast
Video
· 900sq-m. of high-resolution LEDs
· 71,000,002 pixel resolution
· 19 media servers to handle all video content
· 12 HDQ 40 projectors (the world's largest video projector)
· 10 High End Systems Moving Mirror Systems (MMS)
· 37 people involved to run video during broadcast
· 3 operators
Sound
· 134 speakers
· 345,000W
· 64 microphones
· 18 IEM systems (In-ear monitor)
· 152 IEM receivers (In-ear monitor)
· 7 sound consoles
· 480 channels in the opto-loop
· 32 people involved to run sound during broadcast
Pyro
· 30 flame units
· 20 CO2 units
· 30 firing positions
· 6 heavy fog outlets
Rigging
· 109 tons of rigged gear in the roof
· 78 Cyberhoists
· 350 rigging points
· 1,397m of truss
Power
· 4,64 megawatts at full capacity
· 10 generators
· 10,000 liters of fuel used every day
· 15km of high-voltage power lock cables
Stage
· Stage weight 65 of tons
· 220sq-m. performance area
· Height 15.5m
· Width 50m
· Depth 32m
· 2,000sq-m. high-gloss surface
· The wall alone is built of 5 ,397 pieces of scaffolding
· 40 stage technicians will handle change overs during broadcast
Broadcast
· 40 cameras in total, 22 for Globe Arena broadcast
· 50 people involved in the broadcast
· 2 directors
· SVT will use CuePilot
· One 2d camera and one drop camera with a 70m drop
Production
· 172 trucks of equipment
· 70 stage hands for load-in, 98 for load-out
Venue
· 10,500 spectators
· Venue has sunk 35mm since work started on April 4
Georgia's contribution Nika Kocharov & Young Georgian Lolitaz - Midnight Gold, here you see all the back followspots in action.
Check out the Video and you can see us working :) I'm nr 4 from the left.
Russia and Sergey Lazarev - You Are The Only One, the white light on Sergey is my beam :)
The Winner Jamala performing the song "1944", also my beam on her!
Jamala performing "1944"
Jamala performing "1944"
Jamala performing with the prize
3 back followspots beams on Russia at the Semi Final
A nice view from the back
Jamala
The ESC Prize 2016 with a back followspot beam lighting it up!
Today's tune "1944" is a song performed by Ukrainian singer JAMALA (Ukrainian: Джамала, Crimean Tatar: Camala). It represented Ukraine in the Eurovision Song Contest 2016 and won with a total of 534 points.
The national juries voted the entry by Australia first with 320 points, and the televote voted the entry by Russia first with 361 points. The televoting result for Ukraine, of 323 points, however, was sufficient, when added to their jury score of 211 points, to put them in first place, with a grand total of 534 votes, leaving Australia second and Russia third.
The lyrics for "1944" concern the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, in the 1940s, by the Soviet Union at the hands of Joseph Stalin because of their suspected widespread collaboration with the Nazis. JAMALA was particularly inspired by the story of her great-grandmother Nazylkhan, who was in her mid-20s when she and her five children were deported to barren Central Asia. One of the daughters did not survive the journey. Jamala's great-grandfather was fighting in World War II in the Red Army at this time and thus could not protect his family.
The song's chorus, in the Crimean Tatar language, is made up of words that JAMALA had heard from her great-grandmother, reflecting on the loss of a youth which could not be spent in her homeland. The song features the duduk and the use of the mugham vocal style.
Jamala represents Ukraine at the Grand Final of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest in Stockholm with the song 1944
Jamala's performing the song 1944 at the Ukraine Eurovision
Today we throw an ear to the East and listen to a Heavy-blues/stoner/doom duo from Omsk, Russia. From their latest 3 tunes EP "Woodoo" can we hear loads of influences from the country on the west side of Sweden.
The EP is filled with some blues hard-rocking riffs that will entertain you throughout the playing time, however, it is only 11 minutes long :)
They already have a full length record to check out – Eagles and Lions from 2012.
Todays tune "Zombie Ride With The Devil" is the 3:rd tune from the latest EP, the clip is live, Groggy at Tarantulo's birthday party 06.01.2014 The Rock Club, enjoy!
Listen to "Groggy - Zombie Ride With The Devil" on Spotify