Tag Archives: belarus

Album Review – Dzhatinga / Black Wings (2015)

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Spread your black wings and fly away to the dark realms of Death Metal constructed by these excellent Belarusian metallers.

Rating4

coverThe Republic of Belarus is usually known for its enchanting culture, its pristine forests and nature, and obviously for its historical importance as part of the imposing Soviet Union. However, the country has been turning into a mandatory stopover in recent years for fans of heavy and complex music, as previously seen with Progressive Death Metal band Irreversible Mechanism and now with Deathcore/Death Metal newcomers Dzhatinga, who are releasing in 2015 their debut full-length album Black Wings.

Hailing from the city of Minsk, Belarus, like their countrymen from Irreversible Mechanism, the band was formed just earlier this year by brothers Alexey Krapitsky (vocals, guitar) and Dmitry Krapitsky (bass), but their music sounds so solid and professional it feels like they’ve been on the road for a good time already. Furthermore, another interesting fact about Black Wings is that the way the songs (or “acts”) are named and sorted gives the idea the album is a theatrical play, which is reinforced by the ominous and beautiful artwork by Belarusian artist Elena Zharkova. And don’t expect to find any clean singing in the entire album, as Dzhatinga is a lot heavier than almost all Metalcore, Deathcore and Melodic Death Metal bands you might know.

The eerie intro Into The Abyss kicks off Black Wings by setting the stage to the extremely heavy Act I: Faith Devourer, which I personally wouldn’t call Melodic Death Metal but a more modern version of Death Metal, with the outstanding production of the album enhancing the impact of each instrument. Not only Alexey Krapitsky is a talented guitarist, but the way he uses his voice as an eldritch instrument, going from deep guttural to maniacal screams, truly adds a lot of kick to the song. Keeping the level of aggression high, Act II: Neverwhere showcases a futuristic sounding with an old school vibe and tons of brutality, not to mention the excellent guitar lines by Alexey Krapitsky and Alexey Yalovsky, followed by Act III: Bearpaw, an amazing tune that sounds like a heavier version of the Industrial Metal played by Fear Factory. Its lyrics might be simple but are indeed very precise (“My fur is like armor, my claws like blades. / The colour of your hope was lost in the shades. / Show me your fear, give me your life! / Your turn to die!”), and the additional harsh vocals by the awesome singer Anastasia Palamar (Exist M), being sexy and beastly at the same time, turn it into the best act of Black Wings in my opinion.

dzhatingaPassion To Kill (Prelude) is even more obscure than the album intro, being the perfect bridge from the first three acts to the following three, starting with a groovy massacre named Act IV: Their Knock, with highlights to the great job done by drummer Denis Kozyrev by adding hints of progressiveness to the music with his intricate beats, and to the vocals by Alexey Krapitsky, slightly more guttural than before. Then we have Act V: Seasoned With Pain, a hefty assault of Groove and Death Metal focused on its cannibalistic/vampirical lyrics (“Your flesh, your blood is so sweet for me. / My teeth are sharp. They will make you free. / Your taste is so subtle, so delicious. / Your heart and your brain is seasoned with your pain.”), and finally Act VI: Black Wings, featuring additional harsh vocals by Vitaly Shalak (Stanmarsh, Andrea Gail), where Dzhatinga keep devouring our souls with their wicked musicality despite being more introspective than the other acts, with the resonant bass lines by Dmitry guiding the song to its desolate ending.

In order to spread your black wings and fly away to the dark world constructed by Dzhatinga and their music, go visit their Facebook page, VKontakte and in special their SoundCloud page, where you can listen to Black Wings in its entirety and enjoy some high-end Death Metal directly from Belarus, a country that, as aforementioned, is gaining more and more significance and respect in the world of heavy music.

Best moments of the album: Act II: Neverwhere and Act III: Bearpaw.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2015 Independent

Track listing
1. Into The Abyss (Intro) 1:13
2. Act I: Faith Devourer 3:49
3. Act II: Neverwhere 3:54
4. Act III: Bearpaw (feat. Anastasia Palamar) 4:11
5. Passion To Kill (Prelude) 1:21
6. Act IV: Their Knock 4:12
7. Act V: Seasoned With Pain 3:41
8. Act VI: Black Wings (feat. Vitaly Shalak) 4:31

Band members
Alexey Krapitsky – vocals, guitar
Alexey Yalovsky – guitar
Dmitry Krapitsky – bass
Denis Kozyrev – drums

Guest musicians
Anastasia Palamar – additional harsh vocals on “Act III: Bearpaw”
Vitaly Shalak – additional harsh vocals on “Act VI: Black Wings”

Album Review – Irreversible Mechanism / Infinite Fields (2015)

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A mind-blowing experience in Progressive Death Metal that will please all fans of complex and aggressive heavy music.

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Infinite-Fields-1000When Dream Theater meet Mastodon, who meet Dimmu Borgir, who then meet Meshuggah, you can have a pretty good idea of the level of complexity, progressiveness and obscurity you will find in Infinite Fields, the debut full-length album by Belarusian Progressive Death Metal band Irreversible Mechanism. And you better get properly ready before listening to this album, as it will blow your mind beyond dispute.

Hailing from the city of Minsk, Belarus, musicians Yaroslav Korotkin and Vladislav Nekrash deliver an amazingly intricate blend of extreme and progressive music with the support of Lyle Cooper on drums, who by the way was the drummer on the last two albums by American Technical Death Metal The Faceless. In addition, the album art by renowned Swedish artist Par Olofsson, who has already provided his incredible art to innumerous bands such as Exodus, Aborted, Beyond Creation, Immolation and Onslaught, contributes to making the whole album even more captivating.

The opening track, Irreversible Mechanism, is an ominous instrumental intro that perfectly connects with the album art and transports the listener to this new world or dimension proposed by the band, right before you get absorbed with the complexity found in Into The Void, where you will enjoy interesting heavy riffs amidst intricate keyboard notes and lots of music breaks, with the Black Metal blast beats by Lyle adding a decent amount of fury to the music. Despite being only three musicians, this song shows they’re just everywhere. Outburst continues with the sonic madness, with the harsh growls by Yaroslav getting even more violent and blending deeper with the music while its calm and eerie break focusing on keyboard passages will definitely ease your heart a bit. Besides, there are so many good solos throughout the song I don’t know which one to talk about.

IrreversibleMechanism Photo1The way Irreversible Mechanism put together complex riffs, drums and bass lines in the next track, The Agony, is truly outstanding, followed by the title-track, Infinite Fields, which basically kicks off where the previous song ended, with an awesome rhythmic variation done by its guitar lines and with its sinister keyboards once again gaining the spotlight even with all the violence surrounding them. The excellent intro in Incipience sets the tone to the rest of this blasting song, which showcases a great combination of progressiveness and savagery, with highlights to Vladislav kicking ass with his guitar riffs while Yaroslav maintains his vocals as devilish as possible.

The last part of the album keeps delivering metallic and melodic music, beginning with Fragile, a very symphonic tune that will please fans of contemporary extreme music which offers to the listener keyboards and piano passages the likes of Dimmu Borgir, with its drums getting heavier and faster at times, while The Betrayer Of Time can be considered the band’s Death Metal-ish attack mixed with the progressive music by bands like Dream Theater. Finally, closing the album in a very climatic and desolated way we have more of that Symphonic Black Metal aura in the slower but more atmospheric tune Cold Winds, where its more demonic vocals work pretty well together with the precise and bestial beats by Lyle.

It’s important to mention that none of the songs in Infinite Fields, available as a CD in jewel case with a 12-page booklet through Blood Music’s official webstore and also at their BandCamp page, are too long, with only one of them surpassing the 6-minute barrier, but their level of complexity is beyond average for sure and they’re a million light-years away from being tedious. You can get a taste of Infinite Fields HERE or take a listen at the entire album HERE, and as aforementioned, be ready for a mind-blowing experience in extreme music thanks to this promising Belarusian metal act.

Best moments of the album: Outburst, Infinite Fields and Incipience.

Worst moments of the album: The Betrayer Of Time.

Released in 2015 Blood Music

Track listing
1. Irreversible Mechanism 2:54
2. Into The Void 6:13
3. Outburst 5:46
4. The Agony 3:40
5. Infinite Fields 5:13
6. Incipience 3:42
7. Fragile 3:43
8. The Betrayer Of Time 4:05
9. Cold Winds 3:53

Band members
Yaroslav Korotkin – vocals, bass, lyrics
Vladislav Nekrash – guitars, programming
Lyle Cooper – drums