CD Info

2012
Russian Federation

9 Tracks

English Lyrics

We cover a pretty fair range of music on this site, there are the various forms of Gothic, there’s the more straightforward metal, the symphonic metal, the operatic metal, on and on. Well, here’s a new one: Sex Metal. Now, I know there’s supposed to be No Sex in Femme Metal but I guess they didn’t get the memo in Belarus. But, in an effort to be accurate, I don’t see all that much sex in the lyrics. Now, the websites, that’s a little different story, here and here. Robin Stryker had a fashion moment with the fishnet and thongs in the first one; I hear she’s working the hottest shops in Washington State for new wardrobe material as we speak.

So, once you get beyond that Sex Metal label, what you get is some pretty good B & B Gothic. This is not a new band; they have at least 6 previous releases, mostly in Russian. Now, we might need to put that geographic / lyrical thing in perspective. Belarus is a former Soviet state, bordered by Russia to the northeast, by Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west and Latvia and Lithuania to the northwest. It has a rich history, but one with plenty of dark moments. During World War II, the country lost a third of its population and half its economic resources as German and Soviet troops fought throughout the area. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the country became independent, but retains close ties to Russia. Its president, Alexander Lukashenko has not always drawn rave reviews for his democratic ideals, but, politics is not the focus of this discussion. What is a focus is the language factor; most former Russian states were required to utilize some form of the Russian language. I understand that the country speaks Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian. And that meant that communicating with the band, and their label, in English was a bit of a problem. Fortunately, I had help as Marta Medler of Onatra provided translations, thanks Marta. But, it did limit my ability to get specific information on the band. Interesting that the lyrics for this release, as opposed to previous releases, were in English, and not bad English. And those lyrics seem to capture a very dark perspective on life, but in an interesting way for the most part.

If you look at the websites above you quickly realize that the two vocalists provide an interesting visual contrast. Kaira, the rather normal looking, if somewhat clothing challenged on some occasions female vocalist is dwarfed by male vocalist Zergved. And not only is the male vocalist large, the entire band seems to have grown. I don’t have any videos to point to from this current release, although their music is covered on the two websites above. However, this one from an earlier release shows fewer musicians than what we have today. Oh, and you have to love the aforementioned fishnet and thongs, you won’t see Tarja or Simone looking quite this appealing in public. And, to some extent, you won’t hear the same language, this gets a little graphic on occasion, not rap territory but they do drop an F bomb or two. And they start out doing it with the first track The Fucking Death. But the title is about as close as they get to a rap production. The track begins with some solid female vocals, with some solid metal and then moves to a B & B approach to things. And, not to worry, there are sufficient keyboard symphonics to ensure you get the message that these are Europeans, not American gangstas. Kaira has a strong metal vocal, not exactly classically oriented but more than sufficient to cover the needs of most of the readers on this site. And, the interchange between the two vocalists provides a strong interpretation to the B & B approach to things, assuming you go for that approach which I do.

Again, there is not much sex here, once you get beyond the marketing pictures. What there is tends to be solid metal, symphonic based and well developed. There are strong guitars and drums, well devised keyboards that tend to make this almost Western European based, and lyrics that talk far more to the darkness than they do to sex. You get more sex from some of the Western European acts, coming from societies that are far more liberal than Belarus. So, even the pictures are more risky than some of us would imagine from that part of the world. However, we do drop another F bomb in the second title, Say Fuck Them All. But, again, it’s more of a statement regarding anger than anything relating to sex. Lyrically, we get:

Leave good and indifference / to rotting people's hearts
to their fallen fates - / the fates of gods 
I don't want to be quiet in / The world of solid
I'm not a god, I don't turn / the other cheek, no need

The remaining tracks tend to follow a more typical Gothic perspective, some anger, some angst, some remorse but lyrically rendered in the language most of us are comfortable with. In fact, the third track, Pain, tends to mirror much of the Gothic we get from Western Europe. And here, we get a fuller taste of the Kaira vocals. The girl can sing, she can capture the pain as well as anyone, and, when positioned against a strong death metal vocal, those vocals are even more captivating. The keyboards drive much of the action; our keyboard player is another female musician as are many of the Europeans who handle this responsibility.

One of the things I found most interesting about this release was the ability to do some beautiful, in a fully Gothic kind of way. Kaira has a voice that can handle multiple assignments, and, with You Kill Me Slowly, she gets an opportunity to do the beautiful. You still get the B & B but she proves beyond a doubt that lovely can be part of the framework. And, again, the lyrics, done in a fourth language, suggest that Americans need to get out of town a little to learn how to write:

When heart is covered by huge layer of ice
When northern winds blow off ancient dust from my soul
When my childish thoughts are insane
And body doesn’t feel even flame / When touches lose their sense and die
When sunny rain pierces snowy sky / When disappearing light becomes darkness
I know you here waiting, calling, hiding…
I know, you kill me slowly!

The majority of the tracks are upbeat, a pounding drum, some solid guitars, and the harsh vocals positioned against a variety of sounds from Kaira. But this is an experienced bunch, they’ve been doing this for a while, they know what works and what they do best. Most of us are more than a little unfamiliar with the music scene in Eastern Europe, although large numbers of bands from Western Europe tend to make regular appearances in Moscow and St. Petersburg. And, from what I’m hearing, the newer sounds from Eastern Europe need take no back seat to the sounds from Western Europe. Kaira may have decided to take this Sex thing as a marketing theme for whatever reason, fishnet and thongs being the majority of the effort in a couple pictures on the website. However, once you get past this, what you’re left with is just some solid Gothic, lyrically beyond much of what we get in the Americas by a mile and musically on a par with many of the best in the West. So, don’t let the sex thing drive you away, this is good metal with some interesting thoughts. Eastern Europe is clearly not what most of us expect. And musically, they’re sure heading in the right direction.

9 / 10

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