Ukranian Music

[SSwans2011]

I've been researching this a bit over the last few days, while stuck inside with the Brisbane floods, as Russia invades Ukraine. Hoping to maybe make some mixes, or do some journalism on it. Not that it makes much difference, but hopefully exposure can serve as a means of cultural preservation, no matter what happens.

I've found some albums which depressingly either reflect or respond to the Russian military aggression. This atmospheric drill and bass album released in 2014 against the backdrop of the War in Donbas, for instance, has one of the album titles ever:



With respect to the current invasion, deconstructed club artist John Object released an anthology of his life work 2 days ago with an absolutely harrowing description. His main work to date was this 2018 EP:



There's quite a bit I've enjoyed, but I don't want to do a massive dump of it all, and would be keen to hear what other folks have enjoyed from Ukraine.

 

[SSwans2011]

danielnajdek dwwaino hate to cold tag you into a thread, but saw you guys mention being fans of Ukrainian bands.

Would be keen to check 'em out, if you're keen to shars

 

[dwwaino]

danielnajdek dwwaino hate to cold tag you into a thread, but saw you guys mention being fans of Ukrainian bands.

Would be keen to check 'em out, if you're keen to shars

I mostly listen to black metal which is a bit of an acquired taste of the metal sub genres. Eastern Europe has been one of the strongest regions for this genre (for example my avatar is of the Polish black metal band Mgla) and one of my all time favourite bands are from Kyiv and they're called Drudkh. Their themes are mostly about ancient slavic mythology and famous Ukranian poets. They also draw on some ultra nationalist themes at times which has drawn some criticism from outsiders, they even have a song dedicated to the Ukranian Insurgent Army that was a partisan force that fought against both the Soviets as well as the Nazi occupiers in WW2 however they were implicated in atrocities against the Poles that worth reading about, especially before trying to glorify the partisans.

This sort of music isn't a sound for everyone, but I absolutely love the beautiful melodies that are hidden under the gruff and distorted presentation. The lyrics are all in Ukranian so it probably doesn't matter that they're unintelligible to us lol. This is the opener off my favourite album of theirs. The album title translates to "Blood in our wells" which was a line from a Ukranian poet that was executed by the Gestapo for nationalist activities during the occupation and the album itself is dedicated to the Ukranian Insurgent Army.



The closing track is an instrumental and seems to be the most popular one getting hits during this invasion.



Their label got in touch with them recently too and they are in fact still safe which is good and nice to see they're pressing on with releasing new music. Knowing them I'm sure they'll be eager to pick up arms to fight themselves.

 

[SSwans2011]

I mostly listen to black metal which is a bit of an acquired taste of the metal sub genres. Eastern Europe has been one of the strongest regions for this genre (for example my avatar is of the Polish black metal band Mgla) and one of my all time favourite bands are from Kyiv and they're called Drudkh. Their themes are mostly about ancient slavic mythology and famous Ukranian poets. They also draw on some ultra nationalist themes at times which has drawn some criticism from outsiders, they even have a song dedicated to the Ukranian Insurgent Army that was a partisan force that fought against both the Soviets as well as the Nazi occupiers in WW2 however they were implicated in atrocities against the Poles that worth reading about, especially before trying to glorify the partisans.

This sort of music isn't a sound for everyone, but I absolutely love the beautiful melodies that are hidden under the gruff and distorted presentation. The lyrics are all in Ukranian so it probably doesn't matter that they're unintelligible to us lol. This is the opener off my favourite album of theirs. The album title translates to "Blood in our wells" which was a line from a Ukranian poet that was executed by the Gestapo for nationalist activities during the occupation and the album itself is dedicated to the Ukranian Insurgent Army.



The closing track is an instrumental and seems to be the most popular one getting hits during this invasion.



Their label got in touch with them recently too and they are in fact still safe which is good and nice to see they're pressing on with releasing new music. Knowing them I'm sure they'll be eager to pick up arms to fight themselves.

View attachment 1335734

When I said I didn't want to dump a bunch of music in the OP, Drudkh and particularly that album was actually one of the main things I had in mind!

I still need to do a deeper dive of their broader discography, but I coincidentally actually listened to this album yesterday, and really enjoyed it. Pulverising stuff. Furrows of Gods and When the Flame Turns to Ashes were my two favourite cuts. Now I'm extra glad I tagged you in here, nice to get some further info on them.

Shame to read about the nationalism, but they're obviously not on their own with respect to the genre (Nokturnal Mortum being another Ukranian metal act that come to mind) in that regard. And I guess it's murkier waters and not particularly uncommon in Ukraine, after watching the entirety of Vice's Russian Roulette series. But obviously now isn't the time to dwell on that, and hopefully they are able to stay safe and healthy.

 

[dwwaino]

When I said I didn't want to dump a bunch of music in the OP, Drudkh and particularly that album was actually one of the main things I had in mind!

I still need to do a deeper dive of their broader discography, but I coincidentally actually listened to this album yesterday, and really enjoyed it. Pulverising stuff. Furrows of Gods and When the Flame Turns to Ashes were my two favourite cuts. Now I'm extra glad I tagged you in here, nice to get some further info on them.

Shame to read about the nationalism, but they're obviously not on their own with respect to the genre (Nokturnal Mortum being another Ukranian metal act that come to mind) in that regard. And I guess it's murkier waters and not particularly uncommon in Ukraine, after watching the entirety of Vice's Russian Roulette series. But obviously now isn't the time to dwell on that, and hopefully they are able to stay safe and healthy.

Yeah sorry for the 101 backstory on Drudkh and black metal but was more for other readers lol. I've wondered how Nokturnal Mortum have been going. They're from Kharkiv but seemed to lean more on Russian themes especially in their early days. They're a bit more cookie cutter in their music and that's why I love Drudkh so much because I've always felt like I can hear Slavic folk lore and their homeland in their music.

 

[SSwans2011]

Yeah sorry for the 101 backstory on Drudkh and black metal but was more for other readers lol. I've wondered how Nokturnal Mortum have been going. They're from Kharkiv but seemed to lean more on Russian themes especially in their early days. They're a bit more cookie cutter in their music and that's why I love Drudkh so much because I've always felt like I can hear Slavic folk lore and their homeland in their music.

Hahaha don't be sorry. Yesterday was the first time I listened to them, so it's genuinely super cool to be educated on them. I actually smiled in disbelief when I saw it was a band I'd just discovered and was enjoying.

I more so meant I'm glad it's saved me one act from my inevitable dumps in this thread, and I'm glad it's a long-term fan, rather than me trying to do them justice with my few days worth of knowledge lol.

 

[Mudguts12]

Not sure if anyone has heard of a band called Kauan?

They are from Russia but moved to Ukraine a few years ago. I guess you could call them post-metal, but include lots of folk/ambient and even black metal to their sound.

Really stunning music, here's their latest album Ice Fleet, highly recommended as are all of their back catalogue

 

[danielnajdek]

danielnajdek dwwaino hate to cold tag you into a thread, but saw you guys mention being fans of Ukrainian bands.

Would be keen to check 'em out, if you're keen to shars

Jinjer is the band I was talking about. Heavy metal prog metal is what they're classified as. Was watching a YouTube video of a reactor reacting to Jinjer. Loved them since then. Even bought a few shirts and a hoodie last year. Their singer is female. She sings and screams back and forth in most of their songs. Screaming isn't for everyone but I like Slipknot so it doesn't really bother me. Bassist is top notch, guitarist is top notch and drummer isn't too bad either. Tight band all around.

 

[SSwans2011]

Not sure if anyone has heard of a band called Kauan?

They are from Russia but moved to Ukraine a few years ago. I guess you could call them post-metal, but include lots of folk/ambient and even black metal to their sound.

Really stunning music, here's their latest album Ice Fleet, highly recommended as are all of their back catalogue

Jinjer is the band I was talking about. Heavy metal prog metal is what they're classified as. Was watching a YouTube video of a reactor reacting to Jinjer. Loved them since then. Even bought a few shirts and a hoodie last year. Their singer is female. She sings and screams back and forth in most of their songs. Screaming isn't for everyone but I like Slipknot so it doesn't really bother me. Bassist is top notch, guitarist is top notch and drummer isn't too bad either. Tight band all around.

Good stuff, I'll have to check both these bands out.

I think I might have actually heard Sorni Nai by Kauan around the time it came out, which would have been right as I started getting into Bandcamp, but forgotten about it. The cover looks and title sounds extremely familiar, but whether I have or haven't, I'm really digging it and will need to check out the rest of their music.

 

[rank and file]

Not Ukranian,but been listening to The Hu quite a bit lately.
I'd love to see these Genghis Kahn loving,
Mongolian metal heroes come charging over the steppe and give Russia a good boot up the arse.

 

[SSwans2011]

Not Ukranian,but been listening to The Hu quite a bit lately.
I'd love to see these Genghis Kahn loving,
Mongolian metal heroes come charging over the steppe and give Russia a good boot up the arse.
View attachment 1336089

A few of my mates saw them last time they toured here. I'm going to assume it was a good show, because they all bought The Gereg shirts.

 

[La Dispute]

Didn’t realise Drudkh were Ukrainian, but they are fantastic.

I’m still working into black metal, but atmospheric black metal has been what I’ve enjoyed most so far. Bands like Wolves In The Throne Room, Windir and Agalloch. Probably because there’s a lot of folk influence and also some similarities with post metal.

I’ll also have to do a deep dive again at some point.

 

[dwwaino]

Seasons of Mist (Drudkh's label) are donating 100% of Drudkh gear sales to the band right now and are printing some stuff on demand. I grabbed this in t-shirt and hoodie as well as a Blood in our Wells shirt. So that's a 90 euro donation to the band and I'd have put in more if there were an option

Drudkh - Banners Of Our Fathers - Print on demand

Season of Mist offers a giant selection of HEAVY music & band merchandising at the cheapest prices. Discover hundreds of CDs, LPs, T-shirts, DVDs and much more!

shop.season-of-mist.com