This unstoppable Russian Blackgaze duo is back with their sixth studio album, moving through remembrance toward letting go and acceptance, a quiet reconciliation with what cannot be carried further.
After the burning, there is stillness. Continuing the path opened by their 2024 opus Sacrifice, Saint Petersburg, Russia’s own Atmospheric/Post-Black Metal/Blackgaze duo Olhava is back with their sixth studio album, entitled Memorial. Produced, mixed and mastered by Mikhail Kurochkin, and displaying a darkly captivating artwork by Margot Makletsova, the new offering by Andrey Novozhilov on vocals, guitars, bass and synthesizers, and Timur Yusupov on drums moves through remembrance toward letting go and acceptance, a quiet reconciliation with what cannot be carried further, a shared human state shaped by loss, exhaustion, love, and the fragile will to endure.
The first of the “Ageless River” instrumental tracks, Ageless River X, is a Blackgaze beast that goes on for almost five minutes, hypnotizing us all before we face After I’m Gone and its 14 minutes of atmospheric passages, blackened sounds and the anguished roars by Andrey, while Timur simply crushes his drums in the name of extreme music. Moreover, it completely switches from its core ferocity to a more ethereal sound halfway through it. When the Ashes Grow Cold, featuring a guest “screwdriver solo” (or whatever that is) by Artyom Selyugin (of bands like Show Me A Dinosaur, Somn, and hopeyouwell), is a multi-layered, otherworldly composition that lasts for over 20 minutes for our absolute delight, with its whimsical passages exploding into another round of the duo’s majestic dark music.
Then we have the next Blackgaze instrumental piece, Ageless River XI, heavier and more obscure, as if warning us all about the storm that’s about to begin in the title-track Memorial, where Andrey’s enfolding synths clash with his visceral vocalizations and the Doom Metal drums by Timur, evolving into a full-bodied beast of Post-Black Metal where the anguish flowing from Andrey’s roars is outstanding. Ageless River XII is maybe a bit too long for such a monotone sound, albeit it still builds the ambience for The River Wakes, where their Post-Black Metal vein pulses harder than ever without forgetting their Atmospheric Black Metal essence, and the result is simply superb, with its second half exhaling anger and despair from Andrey’s vociferations. And all comes to an end with Ageless River XIII, the last Blackgaze composition, putting a beyond climatic, eerie and suffocating finale to the album.
Dedicated to more than one loss, Memorial holds space for the dead, for love that has outlived itself, for time that cannot be returned, for friends forced to flee, and for selves left behind. Hence, you can get in touch with the duo and let their music embrace you by following them on Facebook and on Instagram, by streaming their music on Spotify, and of course by purchasing Memorial from the Avantgarde Music’s BandCamp, from Sound Cave, or by clicking HERE or HERE. Memorial offers Olhava’s sonic representation of countless dark emotions like loss, exhaustion, and love, touching deep inside our hearts and souls while speaking the language of atmospheric, melancholic and visceral heavy music.
Best moments of the album: After I’m Gone, When the Ashes Grow Cold and The River Wakes.
Worst moments of the album: Ageless River XII.
Released in 2026 Avantgarde Music
Track listing
1. Ageless River X 4:56
2. After I’m Gone 14:16
3. When the Ashes Grow Cold 20:21
4. Ageless River XI 5:33
5. Memorial 13:24
6. Ageless River XII 6:33
7. The River Wakes 7:29
8. Ageless River XIII 5:46
Band members
Andrey Novozhilov – vocals, guitars, bass, synthesizers
Timur Yusupov – drums
Guest musician
Artyom Selyugin – screwdriver solo “When the Ashes Grow Cold”
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 