I only found out about this event the day before it was held. At first I didn't think I'd go, but a report had to be written, so to speak. So off I went to this session. The concert was held at the Torba club — already well-loved by metalheads. Approaching the entrance, I was somewhat surprised, as very few people had gathered. Near the club stood almost exclusively musicians and some media representatives. Generally quite odd that attendance was low — after all, the moscow bands had come all this way, and they were at least not the locals who for the most part had already become familiar to the crowd.
Well then, that evening heavy music fans were entertained by the following bands: UNDINA (brutal gothic, Vinnytsia), KRAY (thrash, Vinnytsia), MORAY EEL (psychedelic thrash, moscow), EVERLOST (melodic death, moscow). The organiser of this concert was froster.org. Inside the club there was plenty of room to spread out — even free tables, so one could simply sit down, get a beer, and enjoy a "heavy" evening.
Opening the evening was the Vinnytsia band UNDINA. As stated in the posters, this collective plays brutal gothic — a fact that was somewhat amusing: one immediately imagined a mixture of CANNIBAL CORPSE and gothic SOPOR AETERNUS or L'AME IMMORTELLE. But as the performance progressed, it became clear that the band played some kind of mixture of death, doom, and gothic — in short, gothic-doom-death. The band consists of a bassist-vocalist, vocalist, and guitarist. In the absence of a drummer and keyboardist, all drums and symphonic parts were played back as a backing track — sounding decent enough, though the synthetic quality was perceptible in the sound. As always, the sound was poorly set up — at times the vocals disappeared entirely. The vocals deserve mention: the bassist sang with growl, scream, and even clean voice (quite a beautiful one at that), and during transitions between these vocal types not a single creak was audible. The vocalist sang clean, but quietly. The band's playing gave no cause for complaint, except that the bass parts seemed to push slightly toward the foreground. Two compositions from this collective's set stood out: "Ya plachu krovoyu" and a DEICIDE cover. The guitarist delivered some nice solos throughout, which was always welcome. One can say the band is long past the beginner stage, but there remains room for improvement.
As soon as the members of the previous band stepped off the stage, the members of the next ensemble climbed on: KRAY. Three men appeared before the audience — two of them (guitarist and bassist) looking to be about 40 or more, and a comparatively young drummer. It was immediately clear these were old-school people who would play something from the classic metal genres. And so it was: the band delivered classic thrash, the perfect accompaniment to a glass or two of beer. Everything was played technically and professionally — one could clearly see the experience, though the sound made it impossible to catch every detail, but thanks for that much. The drummer hit so hard his sticks were flying out of his hands (he was giving it everything). What can you say — these gentlemen pleased the ears; I think we'll see them at more than one session to come.
As soon as the KRAY members vacated the stage, the next band — moscow's MORAY EEL — immediately flew onto the platform. For reference: the band is currently on tour in support of their album Psycho: Delusion. They began tuning up quietly, and then... off it went! Let us say this: the intro composition was both played and presented properly. The vocalist sang in turns a pleading and a frighteningly hysterical voice, doing so while kneeling and writhing like a snake. The playing gave no cause for complaint; they even managed to get the sound set up well. In terms of sound the band leaned more toward alternative-hardcore styles than classic thrash — I would characterise them as a kind of psychedelic thrash-core with symphonic elements; in short, in terms of sound they more resembled THE PROJECT HATE MCMXCIX. After the first two compositions the vocalist flew into the audience and sang from near the stage, simultaneously executing pirouettes and grabbing the microphone stand. All of it — the music and the performance — looked excellent. I should note: the frontwoman sang with both growl and scream that transitioned into hysterical screaming or plaintive pleading — there is no other way to put it. The band performed with energy and passion; had there been more people, a slam would have been guaranteed. The final composition "Boo" was performed in a hardcore style (I mean in terms of sound), but very well. Yes — I had never seen anything like this at the Torba: good music and a proper spectacle in one package. In short, MORAY EEL — thank you, you gave real pleasure. After the performance I immediately ran to get the band's album and managed to meet the band's director Tetyana, who turned out to be a very pleasant and sociable woman; she gladly gifted a disc and said she knew and respected our webzine. She also mentioned that she was upset that so few people had come and that there had been no crowd activity at the stage.
Right then — who's next? Ah yes, the guys from EVERLOST were already taking the stage, quietly beginning to tune up — though they took a little longer than everyone else, giving people the opportunity to step outside for some fresh air. Then the first sounds drifted from the hall, and the people moved back inside en masse. And the moscow "lads" were already setting things ablaze. A brief digression: this band consists of a guitarist, a vocalist-guitarist, a drummer, and a bassist. The guys gave one hundred percent — the drummer was hitting his kit so hard that by the third or fourth song he was completely drenched in sweat, and the vocalist, running energetically near the stage, was looking considerably strained and tired. I should note that the vocalist-guitarist used three effects pedals — the vocals were most likely distorted, and when he executed meaty solos he pressed the pedal effect (it had "VOX" written on it — unfortunately I had not encountered that particular model before). One small detail: the vocalist was wearing bathroom slippers — very grindcore, indeed. The band played genuinely well, technically — nothing fell out of the overall musical picture. The sound called to mind IN FLAMES and DARK TRANQUILLITY. The final song was a cover of — can you guess — SCOOTER: "I Was Made for Loving You Babe" (I believe I have that right). The vocalist invited the MORAY EEL members to join in, and near the stage one could observe dancing and three-part singing. In short, the moscow bands were burning at full intensity and delivered a great deal of pleasant emotions and impressions.
So! The session was a success; enormous respect and thanks to the moscow bands — they put in the effort and showed what a genuine level of playing and performance looks like, even in the format of a metal concert.
And the sparse audience, lightly buzzed and pleasantly tired, made their way home. One can only hope both MORAY EEL and EVERLOST will visit us again, and we'll welcome them with a proper slam and a storm of applause.