Once again, the heavy locomotive Made In Donbas roared through the ears of listeners in Kharkiv. As before, the Brutal Fest was held at club Fort. The organizer was Sasha Silver, and huge thanks to him for closing out the summer with a crushing mosh-fest.
First to take the stage were KHLAMIDA from Luhansk, who reportedly play punk with a twist. Indeed, for a brutal concert it was a twist. The lineup consisted of three people: vocals, guitar, and Silver himself on drums. And to the question "Where's your bassist?" Silver answered — "who the f**k needs one." Under the merry music, the crowd even started moshing. As a warm-up, the punk stuff worked perfectly — at least people got up from their tables. For variety, it was interesting to hear something like that.
Eastern Ukraine is, as always, hardened by white steel, so I wasn't surprised by the arrival of Donetsk's FLESHRIPPER. The guys truly delivered some bloody mince and rotting corpses. They even touched on sore subjects like female drug addiction, illegal organ trade, and how doctors work in soviet-era hospitals. Probably someone in the band wants to put on a white coat and treat patients at a hospital called The Morgue. The guitar carnage and passage-driven chops sent most of the club into a grind-trance; Otis's growl harmonized excellently with the jaw-crushing drum parts. Covers of DYING FETUS and CRYPTOPSY were recognizably rendered — overall, everything was played to perfection.
After the performance, I managed to chat with the band. Here's what Ed, FLESHRIPPER's drummer, told me. The lineup: Tatarnikov Andrey (Otis) — vocals, Norenko Artyom — guitars, Lazarenko Andrey (Vambas) — guitars, Shakhovsky Dmitry (Ded) — bass, Litvyakov Eduard — drums.
"The history of Fleshripper should be linked to the end of the Donetsk death-metal band Eternal Coma, which existed from 2001 to 2004. The last 'gasp' of that band was probably their performance in Donetsk at a Mental Demise show in the summer of 2003. After that, disagreements started in the band, and by autumn we were thinking about creating our own group. On January 31st, we told our leader that we were going to play our own style, since our musical views differed significantly. We marked that very day as the founding date of the brutal-death band Fleshripper. Our old compositions in a new guise were performed publicly for the first time, though for our listeners, it seemed, these were completely new songs — and many liked them. That's when we realized we'd made the right choice and that all our efforts weren't in vain. The only thing we lacked was two more musicians and a fully recorded demo album, since the old material had been replayed countless times, and new, fresher, and more brutal ideas were already forming. After active rehearsals, we recorded our debut mini-demo album Demoralized Demonstration (winter 2005), which included 6 tracks. After recording, we set about creating new compositions that already differ significantly from the old ones both musically and thematically. To be more precise, the new compositions are more brutal and don't bind us to the past in any way, giving us complete creative freedom."
What else can I say — the band has a lot of plans. They're preparing to apply for the next MNM, working on new material, a new recording. The lineup may be young, but the potential is clearly there, and I wish them creative success and further experience in the heavy industry.
Ho ho... well, here come our long-awaited veterans CATALEPTIC. The guys from Luhansk piqued interest back when they were still performing as SACRAMENT. But! The new project is even more exciting, as the music is more infused with innovation and professionalism. Namless's low riffs, Cannibal's guttural vocals contribute to the pummeling sound. This time, the vocalist's screams were shared by Anya from TESSARACT!!! It's not the first time I've seen women on vocals, but Anya has her own capabilities. Alternating between drawn-out screams and guttural growls while actively working the stage... I don't think every lady could handle such extreme conditions. And the two vocalists resonantly filled the atmosphere of the hall — the whole thing sounded wonderful. Maybe the vocalists tired a bit, but toward the end they played a cover of VADER's "Carnal," which seemed to me to be played faster than the original. The only thing — they played too few songs; they could have made the set longer.
So, next up came ACEPHALA from Alchevsk. Interesting looking, a big lineup, and the music didn't smell like children's poppy-seed pies. The sound, of course, left something to be desired, but I still heard what I wanted. In general, the folks in ACEPHALA are soaked in death from head to long-haired dome. I finally found them collecting their gear, so now we could talk. The band was formed in September 2004 in Alchevsk; at that point they were playing something resembling doom-death. The lineup included Valera Kolesnikov — guitar, Dmitry Dolishnyak — guitar, Andrey Danko — bass, Nikolay Kovalenko — vocals. After some time the lineup changed. Current lineup: Valery Kolesnikov — drums, Dmitry Petrenko — guitar, Andrey Danko — bass, Alexander Gerasimenko — guitar, Alexander Mayevsky — vocals. In just one year of existence, the band maintained active concert activity, managed to visit Yenakiyeve, Pervomaysk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kyiv. They also organized and held a concert in their hometown of Alchevsk. The band always strived to play ultra-extreme music, hence they play something resembling brutal-death-core. On this sick soil, a promo track "It said me kill" was recorded at Hotjam Records studio. A full-length is planned soon, and of course plenty of gigs... "Plans for the future? Our plans are simple — to bring our music to the maximum number of listeners."
Last to perform were SIMBIOZ from Pervomaysk. They played so-called melodic death. I had a different impression — something resembling melodic doom with death elements... though it didn't smell of technicality. They definitely didn't measure up as headliners. Perhaps they could entertain the audience with their calmer passages after the forged battlefield. Not having listened to the end, I left the club.
Overall, the whole fest sounded excellent. New bands pleased with their material; it was interesting to hear CATALEPTIC with their unorthodox approach to vocal parts. For unclear reasons, our Kharkiv boys TRIALAI didn't show up. The only downside noticed by everyone — the small number of people. Maybe it was due to the arrival of st. petersburg's AMATORI, or maybe just the end of the last days of summer. Be that as it may, it's better to hold quality fests with good bands than to put on frequent duds. I want to express gratitude for the sound to Max, to Kvadrat for the chaotic speech, and to Sergey Shapranov for the drumming. To all bands that visited us and Kharkiv — separate thanks. Come again, glad to see you!