The Last Three Winters - s/t (2012)

THE LAST THREE WINTERS "s/t demo"

Year: 2011
Genre: Black Metal / Doom Metal / Sludge
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. Death Of Norns pt.1
2. Death Of Norns pt.2
3. Shadows Of The Dead Children In The Reflections Of Your Mirrors pt.1
4. Shadows Of The Dead Children In The Reflections Of Your Mirrors pt.2
5. Shadows Of The Dead Children In The Reflections Of Your Mirrors pt.3

Bandcamp

Not much is known about this band, except they're from Moscow, and participate in the Old Roots New Shoots cirlcle. They're also expected to play a show in Moscow on 24th this month, and are included in the lineup of "Karelian Plague" fest (25th of August). As for this album - it's a quite interesting debut, musically ranging from BM to doom/sludge and even drone ambient (and the opening track is a rather lengthy ambient/choir intro). Some of you may dislike the vocals, though.

Axidance & Rivers Run Dry & Doomsday & Abyssal - 4-way split (2011)

(A)XIDANC(E) / RIVERS RUN DRY / DOOMSDAY / ABYSSAL "4-way split"

Year: 2011
Genre: Blackened Post-Metal / Neocrust / Raw Crust
Country: Russia / Hungary / Colombia / Mexico

Track List:

Axidance

1. Beginning of the path
2. The last cry of nature (Part I)
3. I know the sky loves me
4. The sign
5. They died because of you

Rivers Run Dry

1. Rephrasing old dogmas
2. The clock's tyranny
3. Hearts urbanized
4. Failure/success

Doomsday

1. Asesino del estado
2. Degradacion
3. Falsos positivos

Abyssal

1. Blindness

DOWNLOAD


Not so much time has passed after Axidance/Gattaca split was released, and now they made another split - now with 3 other crust bands from all around the world. All the Axidance tracks on this split are new versions of their old songs (except for track #2), recorded with different lineup:

• Dionis (vocal, guitar)
• Sergiy (guitar)
• Ilya (bass)
• Sergiy (drums, synths)
• Ksenia (synths)

Rivers Run Dry are a neocrust band from Budapest with Dr.Slayer on bass, who also plays in Human Error. As for me, I like Human Error better, but nevertheless, it's good to see another crust band from a country which has loads of nationalist rock bands, but neither a big crust scene, nor anything like Cascadian BM scene.

Doomsday are a raw old-school crust band from Colombia whose lyrics are mostly about Colombian civil war (which isn't surprising at all, though - it's the main lyrical theme in both Colombian crust and thrash metal scenes; and while living in the country with an ongoing guerrilla conflict, I understand them quite well). To be honest, they're my least favourite on the whole split, but if you're into stuff like Hatross, you may like Doomsday as well.

As for Abyssal, I can say their music is relatively far from post-metal or crust, but I definitely like the acoustic parts of their track. BTW, there's one more RABM-sympathising band called Abyssal - atmospheric death metal from the UK - whose first album I'll post a little later.

Overall, a quite decent split, and Axidance's side is clearly the best. The physical release: 500 books with CD; 6 color pages with lyrics and photos; released as a benefit for the Anarchist Black Cross. Distributed by: They Live rec. | Иакх rec. | Black Cardinal rec. | Resist rec. | My Riot Inward rec. | Wasted Sky's rec.

66° 33′39″ - "The Light from the Depth of the Arctic Ocean" (2012)

66° 33′39″ "The Light from the Depth of the Arctic Ocean"

Year: 2012
Genre: Drone Ambient, Old Roots New Shoots
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. Погружение в арктический океан
2. Путешествие
3. Свет со дна

DOWNLOAD

The first "more or less serious" solo work from one of the most staunch supporters of the RABM movement here (and a member of one of the most prominent "Old Roots New Shoots" bands... won't say which exactly). It's an one track EP, but it consists of 3 parts: "Submerge into the Arctic Ocean", "Journey", and "A Light from the Depth". Compared to his previous works, it's more drone/noise than just dark ambient.

Axidance & Gattaca - split (2012)

(A)XIDANC(E) & GATTACA "split"

Year: 2012
Genre: Blackened Crust, Dark Hardcore
Country: Russia / Czech Republic

Track List:

(A)xidanc(E)

1. Aeon I - The great enemy
2. Aeon II - Fury and weakness
3. Aeon III - The old spirit of war
4. Aeon IV - The doomed freedom
   

Gattaca

1. Intro
2. Seli jsme z cesty
3. ...
4. Gulag

bandcamp / bandcamp
Release notes:

Axidance & Gattaca (split) 2012
* 500 lp - black vinyl & screenprinted covers. 8 pages booklet.
6 songs, 35 min.
* 200 tapes. two versions of printed cover, with a cassette,
an inlay with lyrics and a sticker inside. 7 songs, 40 min.
* 100 cd handprinted cd`s, two versions of box
design, a booklet with lyrics inside. 7 songs, 40 min.
* Released in a cooperation of music for liberation,
abc records, waking the dead, pure heart, rapidas
grabaciones a michal juriš. (CD and Tapes) They live rec.
-----
Axidance line-up:
Anastasia (vocal)
Dionis (vocal, guitar, percussion)
Sergiy (guitar, bass)
Sergiy (drums, synths, percussion)
-----
gattaca.bandcamp.com
www.musicforliberation.com/gattaca
www.myspace.com/gattacaxvx
www.myspace.com/axidance
www.facebook.com/AXIDANCE
www.youtube.com/AxidanceOfficial
-----

To be honest, I didn't like Gattaca's side of the split that much... I think their earlier stuff was more impressive. But Axidance's side is really good (except for 4th track, maybe). The progress is obvious: their first album, released in 2008, was just poorly recorded neocrust with very naive lyrics, and now we have a philosophical, conceptual release strongly influenced by metal of various sorts. As of today, they're probably the best band in the whole Old Roots New Shoots circle, and I hope to hear even better stuff from them in the future.

Kalendae - demo (2012)

KALENDAE "demo"

Year: 2012
Genre: Raw Post-Black Metal
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. В мыслях о смерти мы теряем жизнь
2. Когда мы думаем, что начинаем жить, фактически мы уже мертвы

DOWNLOAD


Finally, one of the core bands of "Old Roots New Shoots" circle released their first studio-recorded demo. Their founding member was an avid supporter of the RABM movement from the very beginning (although two other members are apolitical). Personally I was suprised at the amount of post-rock and drone/ambient influence on this demo - it even reminds me of Velvet Cacoon... Anyway, it's very promising debut, and good to see something comparable to the Cascadian scene is emerging here. It'd be released on physical media in February (30 CDs + 30 cassettes).

Kalendae - live set (from "Evenings of Forests and Sorrow")

The 3rd event in the series of "Evenings of Forests and Sorrow" will take place in SPb on 19th of October. Line-up:

1. Kalendae (atmospheric black metal\ post-)
2. ... и возвел их на гору (ambient)
3. Gray Bastion (death/doom metal)
4. Virosa (post-metal)

info

Two tracks from the first live show of Kalendae (not even a demo, just a live recording; the upcoming demo may sound different. I'm putting it here only to give you an idea of what kind of music they're playing):

DOWNLOAD (UPD: the demo is officially out)

And some more photos (credits to Julia Buryakova):

Kalendae: live photos

Latest news from Kalendae: there's still no demos or live videos from them, but now they have a blog and an official newsfeed. Some photos of them from a recent gig (credits to Polina Chernovolenko):

66° 33′39″ - "Arctic Sea" (2011)

66° 33′39″ "Arctic Sea"

Year: 2011
Genre: Dark / Cosmic Ambient
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. Arctic Sea

DOWNLOAD

One-track ambient demo by one of the most prominent activists of our local RABM community. Just like his first release, it's very minimalistic (and of course, don't expect to hear any metal there!)

Kora - rehearsal demo (2011)

KORA "demo"

Year: 2011
Genre: RABM, atmospheric black metal
Country: Russia

DOWNLOAD

Finally, some recordings from this Moscow-based RABM project. Kora was formed in 2010, and for about an year was mostly a "live" band. Now they released a 2-track demo, and it sounds very promising, despite the poor quality of recording. Reminds me of Panopticon at times (which isn't surprising, because Panopticon is extremely popular in our RABM community), but of course it's only a rehearsal demo, and their sound might change in the future. The founding member of Kora also has an ambient project called Дно.

Axidance & Заводь - split (2011)

(A)XIDANC(E) / ЗАВОДЬ "split"

Year: 2011
Genre: Blackened Crust, Neocrust, "Rock Noir"
Country: Russia / Ukraine

Track List:

(A)xidanc(E)

1. Пoкa Дoгopaeт Пocлeдний Кocтep
2. Ha Paзбитыx Cкaлax Oтчaяния

Заводь

1. Oдa Cвиньям И Их Пacтyxaм
2. B Кaнaвax (на стихи Б. Пастернака)
3. Клeймo Heизлeчимocти
4. Пpoщeниe B Myкax

DOWNLOAD


Those guys from Kharkiv are incredibly productive - not so much time has passed from the release of their latest EP, and here's another portion of their work: a split album w/ Axidance. When compared to previous releases of both bands, it sounds a bit different: Axidance became more of a BM band than a neocrust one, and Заводь's sound became more melodic and less brutal, with slightly more decipherable vocals. It's probably what they call "noir rock"... This album also contains some elements of shamanic folk music and tribal chants (on Axidance's side).

And for those who wondered how to pronounce "Заводь". It is ['zavədʲ],with z and v pronounced like in English; a - like u in the words like "nut", stressed; ə - rather like a in "about", unstressed. The soft "d" in this word has no English equivalent... maybe like d in "dew"? Anyway it's wrong to pronounce it with hard "d" (like in English), because you'll get "завод" which means "factory"; but "заводь" means "river creek".

Axidance - live at Black Monday in Moscow (21/03/2011)

Speaking of a gig announced in my previous post: everything was great, and here's a footage of (A)xidanc(E) performing live. I think they're much more impressive on this video than on their studio recordings, and their style is definitely influenced by Panopticon (or maybe Plainwords? both Axidance and Plainwords are playing rather neocrust/dark hardcore than black metal...):

I don't know if there's any video of Kora, but if yes, then I'll post it here too.

66° 33′39″ - "Demo" (2011)

66° 33′39″ "demo"

Year: 2011
Genre: Dark Ambient
Country: Russia

DOWNLOAD

4 untitled tracks of minimalistic, nature-inspired dark ambient made by one of our comrades from the vicinity of St.Petersburg, who don't want to reveal his identity. I think 66° 33′39″ is very simular to Adamennon both in terms of music and ideology. Looks like this demo was made rather for fun than for any serious plan, but we can expect a lot more output from him in the near future.


BTW, things with RABM scene here are getting better and better. Radio Tundra, a DIY internet radio station made by Irkutsk punks, recently featured a 2 hour long program about RABM, and there are plans of a first RABM gig in Moscow.

myspace

Дно - demo (2010)

ДНО "demo 2010"

Year: 2010
Genre: Ambient / Acoustic Folk / Atmospheric Black Metal
Country: Russia 

Track List:

1. Так далеко, как позволит нам туман
2. Регенерация природных сил (часть 1)
3. Так небо горит, как солнце гаснет
4. Регенерация природных сил (часть 2)
5. Тибетская поющая чаша сердца и дыхания
6. Голос прошедшей эпохи
7. Аура
8. Древняя земля
9. Ночь под открытом небом (часть 1)

DOWNLOAD


Дно/Dno is an one-man project started no so long ago by Max, one of the members of our vkontakte.ru RABM community. As it was said in release notes: "It's my first attempt in creating such kind of music. The quality of recording is lame, instruments are cheap, but I put a lot of soul and efforts in this work, so I hope someone would like it. Thanks to all supporters and like-minded persons!"

There isn't much black metal on this release, it's mostly neofolk and nature-inspired ambient with elements of atmospheric BM. It's nature-inspired music, and it has a heavy influence from Eastern Asian (particularly Tibetan) philosophy. BTW, the black metal parts remind me of Zuriaake and other Chinese atmospheric BM bands.

Our Last Rain - "Different Borders Of Morality" (2010)

OUR LAST RAIN "Different Borders Of Morality"

Year: 2010
Genre: Acoustic/Ambient
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. Different Borders Of Morality
2. Death Never Dies

DOWNLOAD


Someone asked me for the 2nd demo by Our Last Rain, and here it is. For me it's not as good as the first one (for example, the 1st track would be better without vocals... if I could call it so), but anyway it's good for any fan of nature-inspired ambient music. I couldn't find much info about the project, but I probably was wrong about the connection to (A)xidanc(E) and CBTS - the guy behind Our Last Rain is most likely from St.Petersburg...disregard that, he's indeed a member of Axidance. And I'm really surprised of how well-known his project is outside Russia.

Our Last Rain - "Burn Me Tomorrow" (2009)

OUR LAST RAIN "Burn Me Tomorrow"

Year: 2009
Genre: Acoustic/Ambient
Country: Russia

Track List:

1. Burn Me Tomorrow
2. Whisper Of Distorted Mind

DOWNLOAD

And finally, my newest discovery - an one-man ambient project from Russia, called Our Last Rain. Seems like it's somehow connected to crust and RABM bands such as (A)xidanc(E) and Crucified By The Sun, but the music isn't like any crust or metal at all: it's just ambient mix of nature sounds with some acoustic guitar parts, inspired by nature and winter. Of course, Our Last Rain holds anti-fascist and green anarchist beliefs.


myspace



Well, enough for today. Now I'm terribly tired with all of my work, and I already have posted here everything I wanted, so now is the best time to take some rest. Stay tuned!