In the wake of ongoing protests in Ukraine, it's time to remind that the history of protest movements in Ukraine isn't limited to "orange-ism". Since I already have posted a lot of non-metal folk albums, this folk-rock release would fit in too.
"Знамя цвета ночи" is a concept work about the story of Nestor Makhno's army. Some of the lyrics (tracks #1, #2, #7 and #9, for example) are actualy poetry of Makhno and his close associates. Tracks #4, #5, #6, #8, #10 are authentic folk, anarchist, & cossack songs (of course I mean real cossacks with their traditions of independence and self-governance, and not Putin-loving clowns in ridiculous pseudo-historical outfits that call themselves "cossacks" nowadays). The lyrics for track #3 were written by a modern anarchist author, V.Platonenko.
The band members themselves are from Donetsk (Donbass, Easten Ukraine - which isn't that far from Gulay-Pole, historical Makhno's headquarters). The music is very rich and interesting, definitely recommended to those who are interested in more "punk-ish" side of folk rock... and of course to everyone who's interested in the history of one of the greatest attempts of struggle for human liberation, which is Russian civil war in general, and the story of Makhno's Black Army in particular (the second greatest example of such struggle being Spanish civil war, and the third one is currently ongoing in Syrian Kurdistan).
ЗАВОДЬ "Ягна" Year: 2011 Genre: Melodic Black Metal Country: Ukraine
Track List:
Проклятие
Шабаш
За Тобой
Колопола
Гори, Гори, Гори
Пусть
Голоса
Лучше Умереть
Утро
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Don't know why I didn't post this album right after it was released, but better late than never. It's their first full-length release, which definitely wasn't unnoticed on ex-USSR metal scene (actually, it's considered one of the best BM releases of 2011 in Russia and Ukraine, and rightfully so). On this album, Заводь finally moved away from blackened crust (now they state that they never actually played blackened crust, but BM in its various forms, and don't even understand them meaning of the term "blackened crust). Now, like Kora, they prefer not to be labeled as "RABM", "blackened punk" or whatever else - as they want to be judged by their music, not by ideology. "If we belong to any scene, then we belong to the "good music" scene. We hate metal in general, except for a few bands like Peste Noire, and we view punk rock as a hidebound genre. We also dislike most of these Ukrainian black/pagan metal bands - not even because of their ideology, but simply because they're clowns" (Drake, the vocalist)
Not sure if "Ягна" will be released on CD or any other physical media, as the band members don't want to be dependent on any labels. However, their previous EP, "Ritual", was released as a cassette by ROKOT Prods. (Moscow) One of tracks from "Ягна" was also included in a compilation "Punk Aid :: Aceh Calling".
P.S. another review of "Ягна" in English
PIĈISMO "toH, tlhIngan Hol DajatlhIaH 'e' DaneH'a'?" Year: 2000 Genre: Harsh Noise / Esperantocore Country: Ukraine / Russia / Lithuania
Track List:
qatl pIm ramvam Hoch rammey je
etDaq lIy vIlegh
lotlhwI bom wej
mutlhegh vIyajchube bogh Hech
aqtu mellota
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...Well, I think I'm OBLIGED to have at least one release of this extraordinary band on my blog. Pichismo are the legends of ex-USSR underground punk scene. Formed in January 1993 (!) in Tsuryupinsk (south Ukraine) as an anarcho-punk band singing in Esperanto (!!!), Pichismo have a vast discography and a long history of lineup changes. The band is led by Gleb Maltsev, who's currently residing in Kaunas (Lithuania). This year he'll be 40 years old, but he'll remain a true punk forever! He's a polyglot and constructed languages enthusiast, and all his lyrics are in Esperanto and numerous other conlangs (Ido, Klingon, Toki Pona, Volapük, etc.) It's hard to believe that there was someone listening to crust in rural south Ukraine back in the early 90s - but Gleb was.
It isn't hard to find the detailed biography of Pichismo, if you're interested. As for this release - it was recorded in 2000 at St.Petersburg in collaboration with members of numerous other DIY noise projects. "toH, tlhIngan Hol DajatlhIaH 'e' DaneH'a'?" is extreme noise with lyrics in Klingon (yes, you got it right - it's the language of aliens from Star Trek). Recommended to those who like really weird and noisy stuff.
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First demo from Dogoda Cry, a new nature-inspired anarcho-pagan ambient project, consisting of two untitled tracks. There's almost no info about the project, except it's based out of Ukraine. The sound is quite minimalistic and composed mostly of nature sound (however, it isn't surprising, given the primitivist ideology of the project).
P.S. In the last few days I had serious problems with my internet connection, so I wasn't able to answer my mail or the comments here. Sorry about that.
Another bad news: Megaupload is down, Filesonic also has serious problems, and the major recording corporations are actively pushing the SOPA/PIPA laws. Hope Mediafire would stay OK...
ХВИЛЯ ВIДЧАЮ "Відчуження" Year: 2011 Genre: Raw Post-Black Metal / DSBM Country: Ukraine
Track List:
Спомини
Борьба
Взгляд
Гра Суспільства
Моє Життя
DOWNLOAD
Хвиля Відчаю (Wave of Despair), formerly a DSBM project based out of the south of Ukraine, are now working on their first full-length album, which is expected to be a conceptual release dealing with the topics common to the RABM and Cascadian BM scene: environmentalism, civilizational pessimism, societal oppression, etc. Unfortunately, I have no idea at which stage is the work, because they didn't reply to my last mail, and they have no official site/blog.
So I'm posting only this 2009 demo, which is obviously pretty weak, but I hope someone will enjoy it anyway... just don't have too big expectations for it. The lyrics on this demo deal mostly with personal feelings and social alienation, and are all in Ukrainian. According to the band, such choice of language isn't a sign of nationalism, it's just because Ukrainian language seems to be sounding more "atmospheric" and less "trendy" (it was a direct translation of what they wrote to me... not sure if I understood them right). The whole project never had anything to do with NSBM or Ukrainian nationalism; moreover, they view nation as an unnatural social construct which must be overcome.
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".
DOWNLOAD
And one more new EP from these Kharkiv-based blackened crusties. It's called "Ritual", and (IMO) now their sound is much better than on their early works - it's raw, powerful, and really "blackened". Enjoy! P.S. I'll post a lot more stuff in next few days - not only music, but also some researches on social and historical topics.
A new EP by this well-known Kharkiv-based chaotic blackened crust project (and of course, it's available for free by the band's permission). Fun fact: it was posted even on 88music (but quickly deleted) - they thought it's right wing because of the name of last track (which is named "Glory to Rus'" strictly for satirical purpose).
About a week ago, I was asked to post some more tracks by Moscow Death Brigade. Well, it's certainly not the kind of music I usually post here, and I'm absolutely not sure if my readers wouldn't be turned off by hip-hop and rap, but I'll post it anyway. At least they have very good political message, and very heavy and aggressive sound.
Considering it wouldn't be easy for you to find any other political hip-hop acts from the former USSR (if you're interested in that kind of music), I decided to make a compilation of the best political rap stuff I've ever came across. It took a lot of time and efforts, but finally I made this sampler of 20 best socially conscious hip-hop projects from Russia (and some from Ukraine and Belarus):
2K
(A)political Scum
Blitzkrik
Диета!
Ебаланс / Ebalance
entexnau
Face Of Violence
Красный Смех
Культура Апокалипсиса / Apocalypse Culture
La Vida Cuesta Libertades (ex-L.C.L.)
L.C.L. (ft. Brule BLS, XJihadX, 2K)
missis Garrison
Мордой в пол!
Московский Освободительный Оркестр (МАО) / Moscow Liberation Orchestra
Moscow Death Brigade
Nuclear Winter
One Shoot
Sheridan
T.OST (feat. Slaughter 2017)
x Jeffrey Goines x
DOWNLOAD (upd.: unfortunately I've lost the track list for this compilation, so I couldn't reupload it even if I really wanted to. Sorry)
Almost all of this stuff can be found on gnwp.ru in the "hip-hop & rap" section. It sould be noted that these rappers are very different in terms of ideology: there are anarcho-communists (L.C.L.), traditional marxists (Ebalance) and even anarcho-primitivists (Apocalypse Culture) and self-proclaimed "satanic hip-hop" (Entexnau)... or satirical projects (missis Garrison), and just people without any particular ideology, but still holding progressive views towards society (MDB, 2K, NW). The sound is very different from track to track as well; there's a lot of Necro-inspired hardcore hip-hop (MDB, FoV) and rapcore (Blitzkrik), but also some less aggressive stuff, and even female-fronted trip-hop (Sheridan). Hope you'll enjoy at least some of these projects.
Hip-hop is actually very good as a political genre, since it's very popular now, very lyrics-oriented, and relatively easy to make. You don't need to form a full band of 4-5 members to become a rapper, and you can achieve a fairly good quality of production even if you make your recordings at home. Of course, there's a lot of really amateur and poorly produced stuff... but it's D.I.Y., you know; and it's only the beginning. Only a few years ago there wasn't any openly leftist hip-hop in Russia at all, except for Blitzkrik and xEdge Jihadx (and they both were not very good). So it's good to see more and more people listening to not some gangsta shit about lots of money, whores, drugs and big cars, but to really conscious/revolutionary hip-hop.
And here are some photos:
Moscow Death Brigade
missis Garrison
Dieta
Sheridan
This archive includes all the tracks by Moscow Death Brigade I could find. They don't release much stuff, because they prefer quality over quantity. I recommend to start listening this compilation precisely from their tracks - because they're the best. MDB are one of the few bands to speak openly about a lot of social problems, consumerism, police brutality, street violence and the rise of chauvinistic tendencies in the post-Soviet countries. In the late 20 years Russia became a not very nice place to live (to say the least), and they're not afraid to tell the truth about it in their lyrics, along with hope for a positive social change.
"Stay true for youself and your deed, In the world full of chaos, go ahead bravely, There's no option except to stand up 'til the end, Moscow Death Brigade fuels the flame in hearts"
(from the track "'Till the End", sorry for such a rough translation)
And I also need to say that there's a specific problem in the ex-USSR, called "nazi rap". No, I'm not kidding. There really are people who are trying to make "rap only for whites" and simular shit, and unfortunately it's becoming more and more popular. First I thought it was just a joke, but now there are thousands of NS hip-hop fans... If it's a joke, then it's a very bad joke. At least anti-racist hip-hop is still prevalent here, and here's a video of a live performance of MDB on an anti-nazi rally in Moscow (one year ago):
DOWNLOAD (alternative link)
I've already posted one EP by these Kharkiv guys, who previously participated in Life Is Hell. Now their lyrics became less straightforwardly political and more focused on abstract subjects, but it isn't nesessary a bad thing. Here's their latest release - a split album with Dirtpill (Russia) and Zuboroth (Belarus). I'll post only Заводь's side, because the other two bands are playing some kind of sludge/drone/noise rock, and it isn't most people's cup of tea. If you still want the whole item, you can get it in a lot of places (gnwp.ru, for example).
Yes, they're well aware of the RABM movement, but they don't label themselves "RABM" - they're playing a mix of crust, black metal and grindcore/powerviolence, so their music doesn't belong to any particular style. Additionally, they don't divide black metal scene by the political stance, but you can be sure that they're against racism, sexism and another kinds of shit like that, and they don't need neither gods, nor masters.
...By the way, what's with the title of the 1st track ("The Beast Of Aachen")? I know about the Beast of Gévaudan, but what's the beast of Aachen? Even Google search yields no results.
В объятиях валькирий я чувствую, что мне пора избавиться от всего и обрести себя
Больше, чем слово
Юность во впадинах глаз
О гордом имени и низких поступках
Агония леса
Человек
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Заводь are a new blackened crust band from Eastern Ukraine (Kharkiv), and their name means "creek of river" in both Russian and Ukrainian. Here's their first 6-track demo, which is very short (only about 4.5 minutes)... The first 5 tracks feature extreme raw blackened crust/powerviolence in the vein of Iskra and Life Is Hell. And the final track is obviously influenced by atmospheric black metal (especially of Cascadian kind). For me it's the best track on the whole demo, and I expect more stuff like that from them in the future.
Their lyrics are very symbolic and hard to translate. But at least I'll try to translate the song names:
In the embrace of valkyries, I feel that I need to get rid of everything and to find myself...
More than a word
Youth in the eyes
Of a proud name and low deeds
Agony of a forest
Human
Release notes: "Never thing that you do too much. Always try to do even more".
A split album by two "satanicrust" bands - one from USA, and another one from Crimea (south Ukraine). Both bands are very close to black metal, musically and aesthetically. BTW, I've been to Crimea multiple times, but I didn't know there are bands like Tötentanz :/
XDeclarationX were a six-piece anarchist straight edge metalcore band from southern Ukraine, formed in november 2007 and disbanded in march 2009. They're surprisingly well known in Russian/Ukrainian sXe hardcore scene. Their music is very well produced for an ex-USSR underground band, and the black metal influence on their sound is very noticeable. Most of the vocal parts are sung in a black metal way, and some of the blastbeat parts strongly remind me of Iskra. Of course it's not Timebomb, but it's good anyway ;)
The weaker part of these demos is the lyrical content. The lyrics of XDeclarationX strongly remind me those of Earth Crisis, and they're all written in Russian language. I'm pro-environmentalist, and I think I can define myself as a straight edger (though I don't need to), but some of their lyrics are too hardline even for me. (Same shit with the lyrics of another Ukrainian act, Life Is Hell). It should be mentioned that only two of XDeclarationX members were hardline, and overall they weren't a hardline/pro-life band. They also seem to be inspired by the writings of Jack London ("The Iron Heel", in particular), John Zerzan, and Noam Chomsky.
LIFE IS HELL "1st demo" Year: 2009 Genre: Blackened Crust Country: Ukraine Label: self-prod.
Track List:
Война зверя
Человек - не животное
Все вместе
Ничего не делай
DOWNLOAD
Here's another demo from the blackened crust duo Life Is Hell (eastern Ukraine, Rubezhnoe / Kharkiv). Unlike the 2nd demo, it has all lyrics in Russian. Many people say that the lyrical content is the weakest point of this release: the lyrics are just too simplistic and naive, while presumed to be misanthropic and pro-environmentalist. But honestly it isn't worse than the lyrics by the vast majority of underground black metal bands.
Musically, this demo is less heavy and more noisy than the 2nd one. Very strong black metal influence is also present, especially on the last two tracks. It's sad that the band was too short-lived (apparently because almost nobody in their local area could appreciate such kind of music).
Life Is Hell was a very obscure blackened crust band from Eastern Ukraine. They have released two demos in 2009 (both consisting of 4 songs) and then split up.
Almost nothing is known about the band, but their music is surprisingly good - it's very powerful blackened crust metal. Enjoy!
After many years of activity, this blog is now put on hold since the majority of contributors have a lot of other important stuff going on in their lives. New music submissions should go to /r/RABM/ (note that the mods of /r/RABM/ don't have anything to do with this blog).
Most of the uploads here are band sanctioned. Anyway, if you for some reason don't want to see your music here, contact us using rabm (AT) gmx (DOT) com, and we'll consider taking it down.
Bottom note: there's probably a lot of broken English on this blog, since English isn't the first language for many of the contributors.
FAQ
Q.: Which kinds of music are featured on this blog?
A.: - (primarily) RABM or Red & Anarchist Black Metal: all kinds of black metal-related music charged with radical leftist (anarchist, libertarian socialist, eco-anarchist, etc.) political views. Some of the bands featured here may be not openly political, but all of them are RABM-friendly;
- blackened crust/hardcore/punk (only if it's openly RABM-friendly, or if it's just very good music; we have no intention to collect here all the blackened punk in existence);
- other kinds of political (anarchist, socialist, etc.) metal - death, thrash, post-metal, etc.;
- dark ambient, neofolk, industrial, dark electro, etc. - but only if it has some RABM-friendly ideology;
- regular punk/hardcore/crust, post-rock, conscious hip-hop, etc. - but only as a rare exception (so if you want to send us a demo in one of these genres, you're probably in the wrong place).
Q.: What are some RABM/blackened crust bands to start listening from?
A.: Here's an old compilation which I (B.K.) made in late 2009. Doesn't include a lot of good RABM bands that I didn't know of back then, but still recommended if you're new to RABM:
Q.: How can I support a particular RABM band with my money?
A.: Most bands nowadays have a bandcamp page, where you can but their stuff online (usually for an arbitrary price). It's the most convinient way to support the band. If your favourite band don't have a bandcamp or bigcartel page, try to find out in which distro you can find their albums/merch. Of course, go to concerts if you have such opportunity.
Q.: How can I offer my financial support to this blog, or the RABM movement in general?
A.: Unfortunately right we don't have an opportunity to accept donations, but we hope we'll be able to set it up soon.
Q.: What is the connection between black metal and hardcore/punk/crust?
A.: It's a well-established fact that the connection between black metal and punk scenes existed since the early days of BM (think Venom, early Bathory, early Mayhem and early Sodom on one side, and Amebix, Discharge and Axegrinder on another). Recently this mix of BM and hardcore punk got a new life in the form of blackened crust (thanks to Black Kronstadt / Iskra in first place). And don't forget about Cascadian black metal bands with their radical environmentalist ideology, often to the extent of radical eco-anarchism or "pro-nature/anti-humanity" ideas.
Q.: What's your main ideology?
A.: This blog is generally written from a position of anarchism without adjectives; however, the RABM scene is very diverse ideologically. Let us end on this, as this blog isn't quite a right place for purely political debates; if you want to learn or argue about anarchism/other ideologies, there's a lot of specialized FAQs/blogs/forums for you.
Q.: Isn't black metal supposed to be apolitical?
A.: Supposed by whom? I personally don't think so, but if you think that political awareness should have no place in "true" black metal, you can feel free to call the bands featured on here "blackened punk" or whatever you want. It should be noted, though, that a lot of these bands doesn't openly talk about politics in their lyrics, exactly because they think it wouldn't be suitable for black metal. - B.K.
Q.: Isn't RABM just an "answer" to NSBM?
A.: While RABM is definitely against NSBM and any other kind of far-right crap in metal scene, it's most emphatically a self-sufficient movement and not any kind of "answer to NSBM". Similarly, while RABM is 100% pro liberation from any kinds of religious tyranny, it isn't a movement against any particular religion (Christianity, Islam, or any other).
Q.: What's your opinion on Satanism?
A.: The so-called "Hollywood Satanism", which is often found in black metal, is, in our opinion, nothing more than inverted Christianity, so we aren't big on it. Many of us are simply atheists, pagans of all kinds, gnostics, etc. We also don't share the notion that only genuine theistic Satanists / Devil-worshippers can play "real" black metal (this would exclude such bands as Venom, Bathory, Immortal, Summoning, and many many others). Additionally, the very term "Satanism" is quite vague, and can't be narrowed down to LaVeyan Satanism (which is heavily disliked by many black metallers), or whatever else. LaVey had some good points, but in general his philosophy can be described just as "Ayn Rand with some occult tinge".
Q.: What about misanthropy and nihilism?
A.: To put it in short: we don't hate everyone and everything (and we don't think there's anyone who truly does). We just hate these traits of humanity which make true anarchist society most likely infeasible in the foreseeable future.
Q.: Collectivism or individualism?
A.: There actually is no "hard" contradiction between these two terms. Individualism is simply an outlook emphasizes the moral worth of the individual and its right not to be oppressed by the state or some social group. It doesn't contradict at all with standing up for your rights along with a group of like-minded individuals. It also worth noting that the early black metal scene didn't promote individualism that much (see "black metal circles").
Q.: Who coined the term "RABM"?
A.: Hard to say, but there's an apparent similarity to RASH ("Red & Anarchist Skinheads"). Here's the very first mention of "RABM" we could find (August 2005). The term was popularized by our last.fm group (and later - by this blog) since 2009.
Q.: Do you know the ideology of the band X? It isn't obvious if they're NSBM or not...
A.: Sorry, we don't know, do your own research. It's often hard to say anything certain about a band's views, if the members themselves aren't open about it. We also don't advice using various "lists of nazi bands" etc. as a reference, as most of them are full of bullshit. Similarly, forum posts or blog comments (especially anonymous ones) generally aren't a reliable source for anything. In one particular case, we had an anonymous comment claiming that the members of Timebomb are now playing in a fascist band called SPQR. Later it turned out that it were members of a completely other Italian band with a similar name (Timebombs). Hopefully that'd be a good example of how important fact-checking is.
Q.: I've seen some of the albums posted here in the same distro with some albums by right-leaning bands...
A.: Unfortunately it's often the case with distros and labels that distribute stuff regardless of its political affiliation. Even Austin Lunn of Panopticon complained about Pagan Flames (the label which released his "Collapse" and "Social Disservices" LPs) having NSBM in their distro, so things like these are just unavoidable.
Q.: Some bands on this blog have Burzum on their list on influences. Isn't Varg Vikernes a nazi?
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