Belarusian digest-2024

The last few years, of course, were not good not only for development, but in general for the very existence of Belarusian music. But, despite all odds, it still endures. And sometimes it even offers excellent releases, although in Belarusian metal, the quantitative-qualitative ratio today is perhaps the worst in history; while truly talented and ideological musicians have anhedonia, struggle with difficult personal conditions or are forced to survive abroad, all sorts of, forgive me, Crystaylers and Poloskanuses are trying to fill the gap. In this digest, I will list the releases and bands from the period between January, 2023 and June, 2024 that you should pay attention to (minus those that have already been reviewed in Bagnik Zine). Some of them are great, some - not so much, some are here just for sad giggles.

NOVOSVET
In a year, some hyperactive character from Miensk managed to shit out 7 full-length albums in the most horrible style of quasi-pagan "black" metal with such a poor sound that it would hardly satisfy even Depressive Illusions Records. I honestly don't understand who in this world still needs this shit about Rus' (which one of them?) that is "strong by paganism", as well as a thousand times discredited fairy tales about the “unity of the Slavs”. Unfortunately, Belarus is becoming one of the suppliers of the most insignificant and irrelevant metal styles today. As if all those useless instrumental projects were not enough, now we also have this...

OMINOUS SCRIPTURES – Rituals of Self-Ignition
In January 2023, the third and final album of brutal band from Miensk was released. I've translated the lyrics for this album to English language. The release turned out to be powerful: these guys have been doing their job on a planetary level for a long time.

 

APRAMIETNAJA – Ahonija Niabiosaŭ
The debut release of the new band, which includes T.D. of DOOMSLAUGHTER. Krywian Black Metal as it should be – I hope we won't have to wait too long for the continuation. The tapes were released by our dear friends from Crypt of Black Fog.

 

CIEMRA – The Tread of Darkness
The debut album of new Belarusian dark metal stars was released in February 2023 on Avantgarde Music. The band, I believe, is another area of activity of DKHARMAKAOZ members, but I'm not 100% sure. My attitude towards CIEMRA is ambiguous – their interviews are silly in terms of ideological content, the music is sterile, and I don't even get me started about these sacks on their heads. But they do their job very professionally; their product is of the highest quality. Such bands are also necessary and useful, if only because through them foreign listeners begin to take interest in our scene. In other conditions, I have no doubt, CIEMRA would have already toured through Europe, maybe even through USA.

 

WOE UNTO ME – “Along the Meandering Ordeals, Reshape the Pivot of Harmony”
Funeral doom has never been one of my favorite genres, but I respect WOE UNTO ME for their undeniable achievements in this field. In March 2023, they released their latest EP on the US label M-Theory Audio, which, for obvious reasons, didn't reach Belarus. That's why I didn't even know about its existence until recently. Let's listen to it together:

 

DOWNCROSS
The consistently active duo released two albums and a split with Brazilian act VOBISCUM INFERNI during this period. The latest album "White Tower" was released recently. I also advise you to get acquainted with their ATRUTA project, where the guys finally sang in Belarusian.

 

EXTERMINATION DISMEMBERMENT – Dehumanization Protocol
These guys have been making their new album for 10 years, but you can say it was worth it. won't say anything about musical qualities, since I don't like slamming brutal death metal. But, the bare facts speak for themselves: Unique Leader Records, 4 (!) video clips, a US tour. None of this would have happened if the album was shitty.

 

AURORA CONSURGENS – Demo I
Everything related to the fashionable label Horrible Room, but why not - from a musical standpoint, this project is far from hopeless.

 

FÖRSTÖRELSE
At first glance, this little band looks very bad: it is literally "VKBM", since they use Vkontakte as the main platform for their releases (together with Spotify). The music itself is quite weak, poorly performed and badly recorded. But! If I'm not mistaken in my observations, the talents behind FÖRSTÖRELSE are around 14 years old, and that changes everything. At least their project is trying to honor the traditions of Black Metal, which in itself is worth respect. The main problem with FÖRSTÖRELSE is that today's youth have a habit of throwing everything on the Internet. If you want to act reasonably, you should record these demos and ”albums" for yourselves until you learn how to do it at a decent level, and only then, having given out something really worthy, introduce listeners to your “cult” early recordings. Well, as they say, the album is not a sparrow, and you can't put it back in the cage, but in the future I wish the young band every success and a wiser attitude towards their work!

LEPROUS VORTEX SUN – Шум Небытия
Unfortunately, the second album of the Homiel formation was released so quietly that I only found out about it a few months later. Once again, it is sad that truly deep, worthy bands often remain in the abyss of oblivion, while those who could appreciate them are forced to rummage through the piles of musical manure in search of a smallest pieces of black gold. 

 

PA VESH EN
I write about PA VESH EN less often now, but only because I don't keep up with his activities. During this period, the indefatigable evil spirit managed to change the label and publish three releases, of which the most recent – “Sesyi Rytualistyčnyja” – is not only Belarusian in language, but also, perhaps, the best of the entire discography.

 

GHASH – The Lands of Night
Nearing the end, another young band. According to the short description on Bandcamp, it was created in May 2024, and released its first EP a month later! Usually, in the following months such enthusiasts publish about 25 more full-length albums and 60 demos, which are not even worthy of reading their titles, but I will hope for the best. "The Lands of Night" is, of course, very raw, and the vocals here are simply unacceptable, but the band has quite successfully entered the medieval fantasy sonic aesthetic, and in places it gives out very mature and majestic pieces of music. I will keep a close eye on these guys.

 

FLAMMAE and PETITE NUAGE NOIR
These geographically Polish bands actually have Belarusian line-up. First one is Nekrolyte of DOOMSLAUGHTER and some Aahros (a person close to the band COLDROPE, which is not very inspiring). Aahros also plays in PETITE NUAGE NOIR, a band that pretends to be serious, but the name gives it away. Musically and aesthetically, both work in the field of modern traditional Black Metal.

 

 

That's all for now, but there's still a lot of interesting things ahead. A most powerful new album PESTILENTIA is being prepared for release, the physical release of the new BLACKNESS is somewhere nearby, there will be a second recording by VIEDŹMINY PAKUTY, as well as several releases from anonymous groups who ask not to write anything about them until the releases take place.