{"id":3622,"date":"2025-08-17T23:20:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T20:20:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bagnik-zine.net\/?p=3622"},"modified":"2025-08-17T23:32:38","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T20:32:38","slug":"%d1%80%d1%8d%d1%86%d1%8d%d0%bd%d0%b7%d1%96%d1%8f-%d0%bf%d1%80%d0%be%d1%86%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%81%d0%be%d1%80-thanatophobia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bagnik-zine.net\/en\/rev\/3622\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: PROCESSOR \u2013 Thanatophobia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Year:<\/span> 2025
\nLabel:<\/span> Metal Race Records<\/a>
\nRating:<\/span> 6 \/ 10<\/span><\/p>\n

PROCESSOR is a very old band from Khabarovsk. It has been in existence since 1992 and is mostly popular in the Far East. Even more popular was bassist \/ vocalist Sergey Kokorin, who was the host of the musical rock program \"Drive\". In 2024, Sergei died of cancer.<\/p>\n

PROCESSOR released demos in 1992 and 1993, but contrary to its tradition, Metal Race did not re-release them. The two-disc collection that I'm reviewing today contains more recent material: the English-language version of the album \"Thanatophobia\u201c, the Russian-language version of the same album, as well as the EP \"\u0412\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043b\u044b\u0435 \u0434\u0435\u0442\u0438 \u0442\u044f\u0436\u0451\u043b\u043e\u0433\u043e \u0440\u043e\u043a\u0430\". The album was recorded from 1997 to 2002, and the EP from 2007 to 2014. The recordings, in the best traditions of the early post-Soviet era, were made at the studio of a television and radio company (obviously thanks to Sergei's connections). And, probably, because of this, all the material sounds accordingly, even \u201cAdult Children ...\u201d. Without reading the booklet, I would never have guessed that this music was made, so to speak, in the 21st century.<\/p>\n

PROCESSOR plays technical Thrash\/Death Metal with small progressive elements. It should be noted that this is still real metal, and not a CYNIC-style gayness. The vocals are extreme, even if not too much. The main role is given to the riffs, and the \u201chigh-brow\u201d arrangements are distributed according to the residual principle. There's even a SLAYER cover. In short, PROCESSOR are metallers, not swaggering jazzmen, who are \"misunderstood\u201d and so on.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, \"Thanatophobia\" left me indifferent. The sprawling style of the band's compositions creates a patchwork effect, which is quite common in technical styles. Most of them are not songs; they are a collection of segments connected to each other. After listening to the album, I can't say that there's a strong track out there that impressed me. All the material is perceived as a collection of parts for some kind of mechanism: high-quality, reliable, made by skilled craftsmen. But it is unclear which mechanism consists of them as a result. \u201c\u0412\u0437\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043b\u044b\u0435 \u0414\u0435\u0442\u0438\u2026\u201d is different in this regard, but at the same time for the better and for the worse. The songs here are more consistent, but also silly, because, like old metalheads always do, PROCESSOR got into a nasty \u201dgroove\". And in Russian, this band sounds very bad. Some of the fragments reek of classical russian shit rock. I was also unpleasantly surprised by the lyrics to the track \"\u0411\u0440\u0430\u0442\u044c\u044f\". I can't exactly call it \"ruscist\", but in any case, it immediately brings to mind the famous mini-comic about a psychologist. KHABAROVSK, KHABAROVSK KRAI! It's literally the border with China, and they're writing songs about what's going on at 6500 kilometers from them.<\/p>\n

The physical edition from Metal Race, as I already said, was released in 2CD jewel case. In the fold-out booklet you can find photos, scans of old posters, English-language lyrics for the album and a biography of the band written by the deceased vocalist. Details \u043d\u0430 \u0432\u0456\u0434\u044d\u0430.<\/a><\/p>\n