On one of the final days of winter (to be precise — the second to last; or to be even more exact, around 27 February) lovers of local — Kyiv — extreme music had the opportunity to witness performances by four local bands: some perhaps painfully familiar, others completely unknown. The event took place at a well-known location — the Barvy club, which is... well, if you know it, you understand, and if not — you have everything ahead of you. There is no point in describing the venue once again, since for a good number of years now it has remained unchanged, still just as appealing despite all its inherent shortcomings. It should be noted, however, that by the time of this latest session the club had undergone some renovation work intended to remedy the IRREMEDIABLE — namely, the sound quality. I may be judging too harshly, but no changes that could be counted in the club's favour were observed, which was a shame — one had hoped so much. But anyway, why dwell on the negative? Let us move directly to the event itself, the start of which, as was to be expected, arrived later than announced on the flyers. Though no one was particularly surprised by this fact — there were merely occasional voiced opinions from people who had grown slightly cold from waiting, since the weather was far from summery, or even spring-like, despite March being not so far off.
The instigators of the occasion, as already mentioned, were 4 bands, 2 of which played gothic-oriented music and 2 others — "non-gothic", as the compère expressed it, a veteran regular of Barvy known in narrow circles under the name Chort.
First to take the stage was gothic formation MALINCONIA, who could pleasantly surprise anyone not yet familiar with the band's work. And little wonder — how could one not be captivated by such a powerful female vocal in the finest gothic traditions? Someone present might object to me — it is not only vocal ability but also appearance that plays a far from insignificant role, and I will without question agree: grace, composure, and ease presided on stage when the band performed. The only thing was that they played just 3 songs — but what songs!!! And for that, enormous personal thanks to them.
Next to welcome us from the stage was a band... — oh, I nearly let it slip — they specifically requested that their old name not be used, since they were performing under an updated lineup and a new name: EPISIDE. Their composition "Ty Tut Zi Mnoyu Nazavzhdy" remained with me — which, as they promised, was being performed for the last time. In terms of allocated stage time they were luckier than MALINCONIA. They performed a fairly cohesive and quality programme (not accounting, of course, for the quality of the sound in general).
But then the time came, and the main instigators of the occasion took the stage. Everyone greeted GRIMFAITH with shouts and applause — they were the organisers of the session, and they had good reasons for it! They were presenting to the public their new demo — a creation with the sky-high title Sex in Heaven. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately), by the time of the performance I had already had the opportunity to familiarise myself with the material (I will say — a rather impressive thing). This demo consists of 6 compositions, presented on the disc in the following order:
1. Spinalonga 2. Jack is Back 3. Ruins of My Heart 4. Funeral of Last Hope 5. Vampire to Become 6. Sex in Heaven
The cleverest and most agile among the audience even managed to receive this disc as a gift — from the stage, from vocalist Ivan Cherednichenko. The band's set lasted around 45 minutes, which was entirely sufficient to play not only the compositions included on the demo but also a couple of new ones. The material is quite substantial! One senses that the creative potential in Ukraine is far from exhausted, and that gothic music can be created here too, not only in Germany — the material being recorded here differs only in recording quality, but not in substance. We wish the band continued creative success, since they are making the effort for us, the listeners!
And for those who had nonetheless felt somewhat uncomfortable from such an abundance of melody and harmony, the death metal band FIRELAKE rode over their ears at the end. Whether I was so moved by the previous bands' performances, or whether the FIRELAKE guys were playing with particular brutality, or whether the sound engineer was trying especially hard — something felt off; we had heard better from them!
In general, to summarise: if anyone present at the concert had hoped to see something unique, exceptionally quality, and new, they were perhaps fairly disappointed — not only by the quality of the event's organisation, but even by the weather, which was cultivating an increasingly gloomy mood.
With the not-yet-faded spark of memory, clarity of thought, and a critical eye on the surrounding world, I bid you farewell.
Until next time!