The moment everyone had been waiting for since 31 January finally arrived. At last, as part of the Ukrainian Incursion Tour, Kyiv was visited by Polish brutalists PARRICIDE alongside the Lysychansk (or by now essentially Kyiv-based) band MENTAL DEMISE. Both bands had already toured extensively across Ukraine as part of the tour, and on 18 March reached the capital city. Well then — let's get to it.
Six acts were announced for the show: WILD GARDEN SIMARGL PAGAN LAND MENTAL DEMISE TESSARACT PARRICIDE
All of this took place at the Batyuk Cultural Centre. Who this same Batyuk was could not be established, but MC Crocodile — who as always served as the evening's host — offered the suggestion that it was the headquarters of the cult of the grim god Batyuk, god of death and destruction and sundry other things. A colourful theory, admittedly, though I later accidentally discovered that the Cultural Centre belongs to the Kyiv Society for the Blind. I can just picture them holding black masses in there… A properly kvlt venue, heh. But in all seriousness, I wasn't fond of the space. First: far too small with no proper ventilation — by the end of the show it felt like being in a sauna, so hot and stuffy it was. Second: in my view the hall was simply not designed for any kind of concert — whether the acoustics were bad, the equipment substandard, or the sound engineers incompetent, the result was poor sound. Which was a real shame, because there was plenty worth hearing. And third: there was no beer available nearby. The nearest kiosk was beyond visual range, which had people wandering off in a somewhat agitated state, forced to trudge back to Moskovska Square marketplace for strategic supplies. But enough of that — on to the music.
Opening were WILD GARDEN — a band already well known to the local audience, playing gothic/doom metal. Unfortunately I caught only the end of their set, having missed the start of the show. I should note — somehow, remarkably, organiser Ed Yeremenko (that's the tour organiser, for those who don't know) had managed to avoid a crush at the entrance, for which he deserves enormous thanks. I walked in completely calmly without testing the durability of my ribcage. Getting inside and throwing my jacket on a seat (no cloakroom had been provided), I made my way toward the stage. What can be said? A familiar band, long established, and they performed as always: nothing extraordinary, but nothing embarrassing either. During their set, another theatrical performance on the themes of their songs was taking place — but since I arrived toward the end, I only saw two lovely girls on stage. Space was again at a premium, which wasn't surprising: the stage at the Batyuk Cultural Centre is much smaller than at the Sputnik cinema. This band clearly needs a larger stage.
Next up were the satanic metallers SIMARGL, playing satanic black/death. When the band appeared on stage I initially thought MC Crocodile had mixed up the announcement and PAGAN LAND was about to perform — the vocalist was clad in a long chainmail hauberk with a shaved head save for a long plait at the back. The rest of the band members looked fairly civilian: two in white T-shirts, one in grey. The band needs to work hard on their image, especially if they want to play satanic black/death. The music didn't impress me, although they appeared to play without major errors. Everything sounded somehow too derivative and unoriginal (BEHEMOTH sounds better), though in fairness this style offers an enormous creative field. I was also struck by the sheer volume of keyboards — in this style, that's a lot. In my view they don't quite belong there. Credit is due to the vocalist, though — the man was brutalising his voice as much as humanly possible, with sharp transitions from screaming to growling, which is by no means simple. The collective has potential; they need to develop it.
Next on stage were the Lviv pagans PAGAN LAND. Having tuned up and sent greetings to the Kyiv audience from "the glorious city of Lviv," they launched their set. Now this is what real pagan metal looks like: black metal generously mixed with folk Slavic motifs, heavy guitar riffs, and proud pagan lyrics — exactly what's needed. The guys showed real class; I think they'll soon be able to challenge the existing leaders of the genre. A few words of admiration are in order for the vocalist: not everyone has the stamina to stand through an entire set in chainmail — not just screaming lyrics into a microphone but also playing guitar at the same time. Especially considering that such chainmail weighs seven to ten kilograms. Yet the physical demands of the wardrobe had no effect on the quality of the music — the band played very professionally, which the audience duly appreciated. People started warming up and getting into it. At the end of the set, one person even charged the stage and, having jumped up, tried to stage-dive into the crowd — but since the fans were separated from the stage by a row of chairs and about a metre of open space (incidentally, a significant minus in my view — I really wanted to jump off that stage), he landed on the floor, taking out a security guard.
Having played their programme and expressing hope to return to Kyiv, the Lviv band made way for one of the legends of Ukrainian brutal death — MENTAL DEMISE. What then began... The audience surged toward the stage, nearly knocking down the barrier, and the pit erupted. The preceding bands had clearly warmed the crowd up sufficiently and now all hell broke loose. Staying on your feet was impossible. People all around were jumping, howling, and whipping their hair, chanting the band's name between songs. Overall the band played brilliantly — during the songs one could picture in one's mind an enormous bloodied slab of meat just torn from a body, fresh and dripping. The professionalism and extensive live experience were palpable. The only thing — the lyrics were sometimes rather too indistinct to make out the full brutality of the songs properly.
At this point I needed a beer and was forced to leave the hall. Seeing the enormous toilet queue, I decided to step outside for fresh air. I regretted not hurrying back. Meanwhile, on stage, the Kharkiv band TESSARACT had appeared (whose drummer Kostya Zmiyevsky is a staff member of our website). Entering the hall, the first thing I noticed was a person screaming growls into the microphone. I looked — everything seemed normal, yet something was somehow off. Then, when it dawned on me what I was seeing before me, I was stunned... that was not a vocalist... that was a FEMALE VOCALIST. Until this point I had known of only one band where a girl handles the growling — ARCH ENEMY. Well, now she has a worthy competitor from Ukraine. The girl had previously been a member of the band DESDEMONA but for various reasons was now fulfilling these duties in TESSARACT. Also worth noting: drummer Konstantin Zmiyevsky handled his responsibilities very well too — but most of the attention naturally went to the vocalist. I must have spent five minutes picking my jaw up off the floor, and some people outright refused to believe it was a girl singing. The band played excellently — I wish them continued progress, and at this rate they'll be noticed in Europe soon enough.
The time came for the headline act: Polish band PARRICIDE. While they were soundchecking, the somewhat weary audience began enthusiastically pressing toward the stage again. At first the headbangers regarded the vocalist rather suspiciously — he looked like an acid-head, short-haired and wearing trousers with suspenders. But the first chords tore through everyone. Where people found the energy, I don't know, but the crowd delivered another round of carnage and brutality. And this was not just carnage — this was CARNAGE. A proper battle was underway under the stage. Naturally I couldn't miss that. Everyone collectively forgot about the security and surged toward the stage. The songs were also performed in Polish, which sounded quite distinctive. About the music, one thing can be said: the level is evident. The heavy scene is clearly more developed in Poland, and more's the pity. Despite the apparent similarity of many bands, our domestic acts lack that level — for now. But our bands will catch up, I believe. Closing with the immortal CANNIBAL CORPSE track "Hammer Smashed Face" (incidentally, this Cannibals composition enjoys insane popularity among brutal bands — seemingly every band that fancies it has covered it), PARRICIDE brought the evening to a close. To some indistinct music, people began dispersing.
A word about lighting: there wasn't any. Or rather, what there was, one's tongue would not turn to call lighting. Judging by appearances, the rigs had been installed by the organisers themselves immediately before the show.
Security was barely visible. Well, thanks be to Batyuk — at least no one interfered with the fun. Although when I tried to push through to the stage during PARRICIDE's set, a guard shoved me back three times, so hard that I knocked over a row of chairs and fell with them. His behaviour was completely inexplicable to me, since right next to us people were already raging in the pit right under the stage. One other amusing incident involving the security: when during the set the PARRICIDE vocalist jumped from the stage into the crowd and crowd-surfed, security wouldn't let him back on stage. Like — son, who are you exactly?
In summary: the event was a success. Organisation was good, the performing bands played well, and the lineup was well chosen. If only the sound had been better. And the venue, as I've already noted, is completely unsuitable for events of this kind.
As an announcement: VADER should be visiting us at the end of April. Looking forward to it.
Special thanks to Ed Yeremenko for the accreditation provided.