The new release from Italy’s Tourdeforce is upon us and follows up the success of 2022s EP “Six in the key of death” which had the band breathing new life into Death In June classics by powering them up with injected synthpop / synthwave soundscapes. For the new album they have delved further into neofolk and reworked classics from Sol Invictus, Coil, Death In June, Current 93 and Above the Ruins with the songs restrung in the key of New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, with some touch of early Nine Inch Nails.
The album opens with A Ship Is Burning – a damn catchy gothed up synthpop classic which will become a hit on the dancefloor. In The Wake of the Wolf – nice mix of industrial Depeche Mode Colliding with NIN will ignite the dancefloor! Death of The West – Pet Shop Boys swimming through New Order. Lovely! Fire of The Mind – reminds me of New Order’s Temptation with vocals that have the essence of Pet Shop Boys making it something completely new and beautiful with a strong 80s new wave / power pop sound to smash any dancefloor! Media – has almost Halloween film score opening ,sounds a bit like early Depeche Mode it could easily have graced MTV if there was a video.Nice! CrowleyMass – industrialised with hints of NIN, Ministry,samples of Crowley reminds me of Men Without Hats and “the Safety Dance” Poptastic! Gold Is King – classic 80s pumped up with a cyberpunk Donna Summer– I Feel Love beat . Wow! All Pigs Must Die – turned into a new synthwave classic with hints of Depeche Mode and Aha Great! Murder Made History – a great piece of darkwave which reminds of Decoded Feedback. In Days To Come – a mix of Kraftwerk, Scott Aitken and Waterman washed with techno. A dancefloor hit! Stormclouds Over Europe – Features some Putin samples “Feel The Hate, Feel The Tyranny” seems quite apt. Darkwave industrial beat drives this to an end. The album is a great synthwave / New wave album and nice to hear a band putting their own stamp on the arrangements rather than just a cloned cover versions.
Hail The Electronic Sun is released on April 17, 2024 via SPQR label and you can catch the band live at this years WGT in Leipzig Order The Album At SPQR
Magnum Opus – LA PORTA ERMETICA Harry’s Game – CLANNAD Go Dig My Grave – LANKUM Deathbed – ANNA VON HAUSWOLFF Stigmata Martyr – COPH NIA The Sick Rose – THE PROTAGONIST Severance – DEAD CAN DANCE Fall Apart – DEATH IN JUNE Kyiv – KAELTE I Called Your Name – OF THE WAND AND OF THE MOON Immersion – PERSEPHONE Imla – CASA UKRANIA I Tokuni – EIVOR Відьма(Witch) – MNISHEK Inside And Beyond – RASP Хей, подивись(Hey, look around) – POROROKA Човен(Boat) – ZWYNTAR Come , Raven King – SIEBEN Macha – JO QUAIL and MARIA FRANZ Eagles of The Trident – ROME Yggdrasill – CORVUS CORAX Serca Raskolata (Heart is Broken) – IRDORATH Das Leben Ist Schwer – GOETHES ERBEN The Never Deserting Shadow – JARBOE Warriors Oath – ELDVRAK Riders On The Storm – SKALD Tine Bealtine – OMNIA Paint It Black – THE HARP TWINS AND THE VOLFGANG TWINS Greenland Whale Fisheries – THE POGUES Some Say The Divil Is Dead – THE WOLFE TONES Fitak Albian(feat aduri) – TARTALO MUSIC AND IAN FONTOVA Mami Wata – LILI REFRAIN Full Mōna – SOWULO O Fortuna – ESTAMPIE Blodfest – HELDOM and DANHEIM Seeker Divine – HAGALAZ RUNEDANCE Valrulven – GARMARNA
Dance of Death – MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH Hell Scene – JOCELYN POOK Diary Of The Fallen – LISA GERRARD Frozen – UNTO ASHES Running Up That Hill – THE MIRACLE ALIGNER Where The Devil Awaits – DARKHER Creep – HILDEGARD VON BLINGIN Odins Sang – MYRKUR Visveiding – WARDRUNA Mami Warta – LILI REFRAIN Eagles Of The Trident – ROME Scream My Shallow – BLACK TAPE FOR A BLUE GIRL Dreaming Is Doing – PAINTED ROMANS Of Wind Water And Sand – AUTUMN TEARS Yulunga(spirit dance) – DEAD CAN DANCE Flurfall – VLIMMER Fields Of Athenry – ASLAN Du Hast – SKALD There Is A Zed – SIEBEN Ich Will – DOCTOR HMM The Killing Jar(Lepidopteristic Mix) – SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES Heroine – THE EDGE/SINEAD O’CONNOR Nocturnal Me – ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN No Gods & Monsters – GARBAGE Consciousness – GLARING Hex(The Spell) – BESTIAL MOUTHS Limbs Entwined – BEDLESS BONES Happy House – BLACK NAIL CABARET Don’t Take My Light Away(Mr Monell mix) – KITE The Cycle Of Life(elektrostaub mix) – AIBOFORCEN feat Jan D The Dignity Of Serfdom – PLAGUE PITS The New Stone Age – SEX CODE Undertow – OCTAVIAN WINTERS No Fear – URBANDONED Tale Of Tongue(7 vers) – PETER MURPHY Gregor – DUCTAPE Walk Into The Sun – MISSING PERSONS The Lebanon(12mix) – THE HUMAN LEAGUE If I Was (7remaster2023) – MIDGE URE Away – STORR
Sing Child – PAINTED ROMANS Things Left In The Past – GLARING Hagalaz Grad – POROROKA Bones In The Forest – ITERUM NATA Daydreaming – CASA UKRANIA Addiction(acoustic) – COLUMBIA MILLS Atmosphere – THE FLOWERS OF HELL Verdades (chosen version) – THE EDEN HOUSE Feel The Fever – SIEBEN Jesus He Knows Me – GHOST Full Spectrum Dominance – KILLING JOKE Damn She Looks Good – RAZORBATS Die Tonight – CLIFF AND IVY This Means War – DEAD EXPRESS We Shall Find Out – FLECHETTES Overthrown – THE WRAITH I’m In Love With A Girl Who Looks Like A Girl I Hate – GDANSK81 Annihilation – GRAVE PLEASURES We Feel Alright (who the f… is killing joke) – GIRLS UNDER GLASS Tomorrows Sky – HOST New York – DIE KRUPPS The Switch (digital murder remix) – ATTRITION Sex Tape(copy) – KILL SHELTER & DEATH LOVES VERONICA Vampires – NIGHT CLUB Never Let Me Go – DEPECHE MODE Lovesong – KAT VON D Voice Carry – TIL TUESDAY This Time Tomorrow – BLEEDING GROUND In Ictu Oculi – RITES OF SIN Light To Dark – CORBEAU HANGS Gedeih & Verderb – DIARY OF DREAMS Bury Me – SHE PLEASURES HERSELF Not Alive – URBANDONED. Midnight Shadow – ANTIPOLE Silent Lovesong – DAYS OF SORROW Waiting for Days – CLOSED MOUTHS Bittersweet – GOD IN A BLACK SUIT We All Rise – THE BELLWETHER SYNDICATE Run Run Run – TRUE MOON No Response – WORN OUT Rise – THE BACKLASH Pray For Sleep – NOX NOVACULA The Whore Of Babylon – LUCIDA FILA Something Strange (boost) – ROSETTA STONE The Fall – AUTUMN Love + Pain – THE BLOOD PACT Buried – POLYVERSO Delusional Paragon – PULSATIONS Scum Of The Earth – MISERYLAB Glass Prison – HEIMBERG Serotonin Dopamin – ZPUTNIK Patient – CORPUS DELECTI
That was quite cool and bizarre. Had a last minute request to appear at a secret party. Everything was paid for including a fee on the condition that no pictures were taken on the trip or at the event. All I am allowed to reveal it was at a large private house with its own underground ballroom, it was a masked ball, somewhere in Europe and no other specific details can be revealed as part of my contract. The last time I did anything similar was a few years ago at a medieval castle in the middle of nowhere in Northumbria.
Here is my setlist –
Carmina Burana – CARL ORFF Die Walkure – RICHARD WAGNER Masked Ball – JOCELYN POOK *R Face To Face – SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES *R Weeping Song – CATHEDRAL IN FLAMES Gods & Monsters – LANA DEL RAY*R Frozen – MADONNA *R Go Your Own Way – LISSIE Summertime Sadness – DEATH IN ROME Forgone – DARKHER *R Solringen(First Flight of the White Raven) – WARDRUNA Return Of The She-King – DEAD CAN DANCE Ahi Tapu – LILI REFRAIN Montségur – HEKATE *R She Said Destroy – DEATH IN JUNE Fallen Angel – ENGELSSTAUB Dead Souls – SOPOR AETERNUS *R Marian – SISTERS OF MERCY Don’t Fall – THE CHAMELEONS *R In The Flatfield – BAUHAUS Spellbound – SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES Vampyres Cry – NOSFERATU Black No1 – TYPE O NEGATIVE *R Echolocate Your Love – VV Say Just Words – PARADISE LOST *R Dance Macabre – GHOST You Could Be Mine – GUNS N ROSES *R Ace of Spades – MOTORHEAD Love Song – THE DAMNED Holidays In the Sun – SEX PISTOLS Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) – THE BUZZCOCKS *R Love Will Tear Us Apart – JOY DIVISION Warhead – UK SUBS Working For The Yankee Dollar – SKIDS *R First & Last & Always – SISTERS OF MERCY *R Preacherman – FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM Deliverance (sorcerers mix) – THE MISSION *R Away – THE BOLSHOI Just Like Heaven – THE CURE Christian Says – POPTONE An Honest Mistake – THE BRAVERY*R Papillon – EDITORS Love Never Dies Part 1 – APOPTYGMA BERZERK *R Call the Ships to Port (Club Version) – COVENANT Before The Rain – VNV NATION Tomorrow’s Sky – HOST Delight – SOLITARY EXPERIMENTS *R Ocean Feat. Dave Gahan (Dominatrix Remix) – GOLDFRAPP *R Die in the Disco – NIGHT CLUB Heat – NOUVO TESTAMENTO Wild Roses (Remix by Fragrance) – PRAYERS Lovesong – KAT VON D *R Not In Love – CRYSTAL CASTLES (feat Robert Smith) Become The Lies – THE SOFT MOON Kiss And Swallow – IAMX Rituel- SHE PAST AWAY We Don’t Have To Dance – ACTORS *R She’s Lost Control – THE COLOURS OF SILENCE Kissing The Ground – DRAB MAJESTY Rain- DUCTAPE Storms – PILGRIMS OF YEARNING Death Rides – THEN COMES SILENCE Society of Spectres – GRAVE PLEASURES *R Patient – CORPUS DELICTI Greensward Grey – CINEMA STRANGE Condemnation – IKON *R Skeleton Hands (Làmhan Craiceann) – LEPER We All Rise – THE BELLWETHER SYNDICATE Death Reflects Us – BEASTMILK The Heinrich Maneuver –INTERPOL *R Faster – MANIC STREET PREACHERS *R Heaven’s Descent –VOLBEAT Right Here In My Arms – HIM*R Radio – RAMMSTEIN Lord Of Chaos – KILLING JOKE Sid Vicious in a Dress –POWERMAN 5000 Dead Souls – NIN *R Boulevard Of Broken Dreams – GREEN DAY *R Kuss Mich – IN EXTREMO Lugner –TANZWUT*R Ring Of Fire – SCHELMISH*R Omnis Mundi Creatura – HELIUM VOLA White Wedding –ARDOR Ecce Gratum –QNTAL *R Faerieland – ENGELSSTAUB Beautiful People – MM *R Word Up –GUN *R This Is Not A Love Song –PIL *R I Want Your Love –TRANSVISION VAMP *R Monkey Gone To Heaven –PIXIES World Shut Your Mouth –JULIAN COPE Gangsters – THE SPECIAL AKA One Step Beyond – MADNESS *R Lip Up Fatty – BAD MANNERS *R Three Minute Hero – THE SELECTER *R Liquidator – THE SUNSHINE BAND The Conqueror – THE VALKYRIANS*R Could You Be Love – BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS *R Tom Hark –THE PIRANHAS *R The Lunatics – FUN BOY THREE Electricity – ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK *R Is It A Dream – CLASSIX NOUVEAUX Girls On Film – DURAN DURAN *R Don’t You Want Me –THE HUMAN LEAGUE Running Up That HilL – KATE BUSH *R Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) –EURYTHMICS Life’s What You Make It –PLACEBO Goo Goo Muck – THE CRAMPS *R Tomb Mau Mau – VAMPIRE BEACH BABES Miss Take –THE HORRORPOPS Miss Murder –AFI *R One More Nightmare – FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM *R Wicked Game – HIM Year Zero – GHOST BC *R Sanctuary(long) – THE CULT *R Vagabonds – NEW MODEL ARMY A Forest – PEELING GREY All That I Wanted –BELFEGORE Gabrielle –HANDFUL OF SNOWDROPS*R A Day – CLAN OF XYMOX Atomic – BLONDIE *R Freedom Of Choice –DEVO *R No More Heroes – THE STRANGLERS Pet Sematary –RAMONES *R Cry For Love – IGGY POP Rebel Yell – BILLY IDOL Dragula – ROB ZOMBIE *R Enter Sandman – METALLICA *R Dig Up Her Bones –MISFITS *R Trigger Inside –THERAPY? Roots Radicals Rockers And Reggae – STIFF LITTLE FINGERS “R My Perfect Cousin – THE UNDERTONES Love Like Blood (version) – KILLING JOKE *R Dominion / Mother Russia – SISTERS OF MERCY *R Wasteland – THE MISSION *R Why Can’t I Be You – THE CURE *R Shine On – THE HOUSE OF LOVE The Cutter – ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN This Charming Man – THE SMITHS *R Temptation – NEW ORDER Mad World – TEARS FOR FEARS *R Adrenaline – ROSETTA STONE Care Of The Devil – DREAM DISCIPLES Allegedly, Dancefloor Tragedy – SUSPIRIA*R Sex Dwarf – SOFT CELL Personal Jesus – DEPECHE MODE *R Pale Shelter (Ginger Snap5 Rx) – TEARS FOR FEARS Du Hast – Rammstein *R End Of The World As We Know It – THESUICIDE MACHINES
Outro The Sound Of Silence (Pure Version) –GREGORIAN Invitatorium: Deum Verum – PSALLENTES Nothing Else Matters – GREGORIAN Marche Funèbre –CHOPIN
Here is the sixth of my series of interviews with people involved in the Gothic and Alternative music scene and to get an understanding in their own words how russia’s war of war crimes against humanity is impacting people just like you and me in Ukraine. For the sixth interview I am very happy to have an interview with Pororoka who are dark-folk band formed in Kyiv in 2017. The name comes from a wave, which appears twice in a year on the Amazon River.
Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your involvement in the Goth/alternative music scene, so for how long, what you do?, Your 5 top favourite bands?, films, books? etc?
Pororoka band was formed at the end of 2017 in Kyiv. Most of us came to the capital from other cities. And the acquaintance with every member for me was fateful. Our bandurist and vocalist Olenka Hetmanska was born in occupied in 2022 Melitopol city, in the southeastern part of Ukraine. She never planned to play bandura, and I never imagined this instrument in Pororoka music. But it sounds fantastic. You may listen, for example, to the song “Don’t sleep”, where bandura is a lead. Keyboard and vocalist Liza Zharikova is from the Lugansk region, which was occupied in 2022. I faced Liza three times under different circumstances. And we became closer after the music festival in Mariupol, ruined by russians these days. Guitarist Eugene Kolyada came from the Kyiv region, and our vocalist and stage manager Andrij Boichenko is from the Poltava region, central region. As for me, frontwoman Svitlanka Sugak, I am from Lugansk city, which has been occupied since 2014 by russians. I moved to Kyiv in 2002. Pororoka band was started as a creative project, concentrated on its atmosphere. I couldn’t define its style for some time. And when we got acquainted with the underground Ukrainian music scene at Taras Bulba Festival(Dubno city), I realized that we are among like-minded people.
What do you miss most of all since russia started a full-scale war?
I’m lucky – I have food and a roof over my head. What I personally miss… quiet mornings without news, for example, or calm walking in the forest… Man’s psychology is very flexible. You can get used to many things, but it continues to influence you secretly. I live like millions of other Ukrainians in continuous anxiety, it has become the norm of life, unstoppable background. It pressures all time, wherever we have air alert or not. I miss the feeling of life without this pressure. It names “peace”. It will come after our Victory. The Victory became the most spread wish to each other among our people.
Could you tell me in your own words how the full-scale war being carried out by russia in Ukraine has affected your life? I am much less emotional today. The main goal became to stay effective every day, don’t waste time. My material life is gathered in two bags. I learned some early strange for me things and continue. I began to divide people into those, who see russian lie and don’t accept it and those, who say that it is ok or who are keeping silent. This war affected my life in 2014, I lost my parent’s home, an opportunity to visit my native town, and the graves of my father and grandparents. My mom died at the end of 2021 in russian occupation… 5 months before the full-scale war started. But I’m lucky one – I could bury her and say farewell. Thousands of Ukrainians lost their relatives after the 24th of February 2022 and couldn’t do this because russians make war crimes.
How do you feel towards russians after they invaded Ukraine?
I don’t feel. I know very well that this is a disease, parasites. This idea is very clear – we should beat them or lose ourselves forever. And it concerns not only Ukrainians. People who are still thinking that this is a “local conflict”, demonstrates dangerous naivety. “ruzkij mir”(which means “russian world”) is the way of thinking, characterized by a mix of anger and envy toward other nations/countries and feeling of their(“ruzzkii”) total superiority. “ruzkij mir” says that it is a revolutionary alternative against “all the evil of the West”. But the real evil is “ruzkij mir” itself.
I had many friends and connections with russians before the war started in 2014. At the beginning of 2000 I was fond of poetry and dived into a moscow-based small literature hangout. We kept connection through the internet. Some of these people came to Kyiv for the rest and meeting, we walked together and have fun… but. Once I was shocked when they showed sharp spikes of anger looking at signboards on the streets in the Ukrainian language. We were 20-25 years old. It was so wild… This anger towards Ukrainian culture and language seats very deeply in russians. Because russian regime tried to kill our cultural memory for a long time. My grandma Valentina(born in 1921) came to Lugansk in 50s-60s of the last century from a small village in that region. Our village was Ukrainian speaking, but the city policy made my grandma russian speaking. My mother learned in russian and me too. Nobody asks us. There was only one Ukrainian study school in Lugansk in 1990 – 2000. So my first language is russian, I remember who I am because my mother kept the connection with our native village and the language policy in the village was not as cruel as in the city. In primary school, there was such entertainment among children – to laugh at some Ukrainian words. I laughed too for some time but then I stopped and understood that this was cruel and unfair. My parents didn’t teach me this question. I just looked around and made my child’s conclusions. These days I refused to use russian in public at all. The hardest was to keep speaking Ukrainian when the strange people asked something in russian. There was always such a trap – come on, speak russian on russian, be polite. Sorry – no, because we know the consequences. russian regime considers people who use russian as their citizens, the homes of these people – their own, russian, territory and this is a formal reason for all these deaths.
What worries you have most about russia’s war in Ukraine?
I’m afraid that we may forgive too quickly. Ukrainians are very kind people, our forefathers went through terrible tragedies and suffered from russians not so long ago. My family too. This experience didn’t help us to prevent a full-scale war. We must be prepared for it much better. Many Ukrainians had illusions that peace could be possible in 2019-2021. Nowadays all these illusions are broken. I wish we’ll remember all this suffering for centuries.
What are your hopes for the future?
I hope that we, Ukrainians, don’t allow to happen this violence nevermore and every russian will pay his price for all this grief. There is a rather funny moment – one of the key russian classic literature concepts is an idea of repentance, but there are no examples of it in their history.
What more help would you like to see countries give to Ukraine?
I’m very glad and grateful for all this help. I can’t find the right words to express … this is a very deep feeling. I believe that the russian lobby in other countries will finally lose. And the rest business will realize that it is the wrong way to deal with a totalitarian regime, based on violence and death. Because this is the way to common humanity catastrophe. I see that such institutions as the UN don’t wanna understand this. These are very dangerous signals. It shows that the influence of “ruzkij mir” in the world is still very huge.
Is there any more action that you would like countries to take in regards to russia?
Ukraine needs weapons, it is said everywhere. But not only this. I think we, I mean all people who realized this war nature, should do everything possible to overcome the “ruzkij mir” concept. It must be punished and become as taboo and unacceptable as other crimes against humanity. Even small steps of every person against “ruzkij mir” are very important – don’t buy russian goods, don’t use their content, say “no” to their posts/events, write a word in support of our common struggle in social media. russians must realize at last their war crimes, accept the reality, struggle, and repent.
What do you think about russia bands playing gigs in Europe whilst their country is carrying war crimes in Ukraine?
Nothing good. Why do people visit these gigs? The only acceptable reason for this can be the gathering of money for the Ukrainian Army under the slogan – “Slava Ukraine”. You can do an experiment – ask them “Slava Ukraine” and look at their reaction. Today it is the Ukrainian Army who makes their(all russians) hard job – struggling with their regime and collective aggression. I don’t understand what russians are doing in other countries. They usually are so proud of their country – let’s go back and struggle for it. I saw many interviews – they say that they love their home but can do nothing. This is a lie. They did nothing essential for 20+ years including the last one. If you love you must struggle. There is a Legion of Russians in the Ukrainian Army, who fight. This is the only adequate way for true people. If you can’t join it, struggle inside russia for peace and freedom, sabotage the war machine, and help us to restore justice – to return from russia thousands of stolen Ukrainian children. Stop lying to yourself by comparing your situation with Ukrainians. Be brave to face your fate.
Here is the fifth of my series of interviews with people involved in the Gothic and Alternative music scene and to get an understanding in their own words how russia’s war of war crimes against humanity is impacting people just like you and me in Ukraine. For the fifth interview I am very happy to have an interview with Casa Ukrania who are a duo from Odesa, merging archetypical folk tradition with versatile modern electronics, finding balance between dark, chthonic themes and a colourful psychedelic passion for life.
Could you tell me a bit about yourself, your music project and your involvement in gothic/alternative scene, so for how long, what you do, your 5 top favorite bands, films, books etc. We were both involved in the Ukrainian gothic/industrial scene since the late 2000s and met between some gothic parties. Our main project Casa Ukrania was created in 2014, when russia first attacked Ukraine in Crimea and Donbas; there was a huge inner rise of interest in Ukrainian music and culture afterwards. We’ve also written angst-pop/minimal synth under the name Acedia and some other smaller side projects. We release most of our music through our label Khatacomb which is also acting as an underground culture online magazine with music reviews, podcasts etc. We love all kinds of music but the most influential were Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails and How To Destroy Angels, IAMX, Bjork and Coil. As for the movies, these are Alejandro Jodorowsky’s works (one of those has actually given the name to Casa Ukrania), some European arthouse like ‘The Hourglass Sanatorium’ Wojciech Jerzy Has, or Gyorgy Palfi’s filmography, Tim Burton’s and David Lynch’s classics and modern noire from DC, with some absurdist humour like Monty Python and our absolute favourite musical movie ‘Frank’. Also we highly recommend the truly neofolk Ukrainian movie ‘Brama’ (‘The Gateway’, 2017), a great magical realism about Chornobyl, if that one hopefully pops up someday in Europe. We also have a huge library with a special place there for books by Gustav Meyrink, Howard Lovecraft, Philip K. Dick, and such brilliant Ukrainian authors like Pavlo Derevyyanko and Oleksii Zhupansky.
What do you miss most of all since russia started a full scale war? Could you tell me in your own words how the full-scale war being carried out by russia in Ukraine has affected your life? We’re actually answering these questions during the two-week partial blackout caused by another russian missile attack, when we have electricity for two or three hours a day (mostly at night time, which doesn’t help much). The main problem is, these conditions are much better than the ones in occupied parts of the country. We have little light, heating and internet, but we can go out safely and find possibilities to do our jobs. Honestly, we miss traveling a bit, our sea is still out of reach and energy shortages complicate all we do, but that’s still much better than it could be. Most of all we want all the people on the occupied territories to finally feel free and safe again, because that’s all that matters, and all the temporary difficulties can be overcome. People here help each other with work, money, food, access to electricity etc., and though the times are quite rough we’re thankfully not wasting our time and are still holding on.
How do you feel towards russians after they invaded Ukraine? We’ve severed almost all our connections with russians back in 2014. A concept of so-called ‘good russians’ and ‘liberal friends of Ukraine’ has persisted in our country for several years, but it has proved to be a harmful myth already, because modern russia has become such a toxic and shameful environment, that the only way for russians to evade it is to unrussian themselves as much as possible, switching completely to a different language and cultural context. (Which maybe only several hundreds total did.) There were some weak initial hopes that russians will opt for some form of protest, but nearly all of them choose to do literally nothing even in a safe space abroad, while still actively shaming Ukrainians for anything possible. russia has totally failed as a state and a civil society, so until every single russian citizen uproots this arrogant empire-loving egoist in him/herself, we don’t see a possibility to communicate with them in any way but the military one.
What worries you have most about russia’s war in Ukraine? The worst is the lingering, because russia still has overwhelming human meat resources that Ukraine doesn’t have. russia’s persistent death cult allows them to send a lot of a human scum to war because the value of life in russia is so low, while in Ukraine each day of the war takes away the best of us: activists, writers, translators, opera and ballet artists, sportsmen and so on. Those are the people who would be so hard to replace, and the human loss to our future is immense. As we say here, this war has equaled our two countries’ average IQ level, and this is just horrible. We depend very much on western weapons and financial help to take back and defend our territories, but all the inner European and American political processes slow down the supplies, and each day of a holdback brings new deaths and unrepairable destruction. So the more joint efforts the world will make to bring russia down, the more lives and cities we’ll be able to preserve. What are your hopes for the future? The main our hope for now is that russia will cease to exist, freeing smaller ethnical countries; that these countries will be further demilitarized and will pay reparations for the next hundred years or so. Then it’s our duty to rebuild Ukraine, to make all the necessary reforms, to decolonise ourselves, to change people’s worldview and consciousness and to synchronize with the western world as much as possible, enriching our mutual political, economical and cultural interaction.
What more help would you like to see countries give to Ukraine? The most important now is heavy weapons of course: tanks for counteroffensive, far-range missiles, aviation and anti-missile weapons, because until all our territories are deoccupied again and the majority of russian territory is demilitarized, we’re still not safe. It would be great to have some help in rebuilding our cities and industry afterwards, but it wouldn’t make any sense until russia can destroy any of that with one hit of X22.
Is there any more action that you would like the countries to take in regards to russia? Unfortunately, the world didn’t listen to Ukraine much in 2014. Just like the Sudetenland in 1939, occupied Ukrainian territories were considered a sacrifice to satisfy russia’s appetites so that it won’t move further, and Europe depending on russian gas could be sure of the supplies from the aggressor. We’ve lost so much time and people because of that. Our Ministry of Defence has also repeatedly asked for weapons in 2021, knowing that the full-scale war is looming ahead, but most of the world didn’t believe in the prospect until it was, again, too late. We believe some conclusions must be drawn from that, as russia is not the only dictatorship on the planet, and it’s best to be ready if history repeats itself later with China, North Korea or some Middle East countries. There’s also still no common understanding in the world that this is not a ‘Putin’s war’ but the whole russia’s one. We’ve been there already, trying to find some allies in russia but to no avail. Even those posing themselves as progressive pro-western liberals stumble over the Ukrainian question, denying our right for sovereignty and supporting the occupation of Crimea. (Alexei Navalny, who’s for some reason become a kind of an ‘oppositional icon’ in the West, is mostly known here as a former russian nationalist who asked to give his political party money instead of Ukraine, and said that ‘Crimea is not a sandwich to give it back’. The russians did nothing to oppose the war in Ichkeriya/Chechnya, Georgia, Syria and Donbas, and now they’re denying any responsibility for allowing the full-scale war in Ukraine, while continuing to spread their imperial toxicity abroad. We’d like the westerners to stop looking at Ukraine through the russian prism, to stop inviting us to the same events and platforms with russians, and to finally see us as an independent entity that doesn’t require russian approval for our own decisions. Even though we understand and sometimes use their language, it doesn’t mean we’re the same nation and have any common values. This war has proved that we have so much more in common with Poles and other Europeans, especially those who border with russia and know for themselves what it’s like to deal with a neighboring aggressive empire. Our relations with russia are typical postcolonial ones, though this perspective is somehow unclear even to western scholars who wrote a bunch of studies about former British or French colonies but can’t seem to notice any similarities with our situation. For many years the only ‘experts on Ukraine’ all over the world were russians (they still are, and don’t seem to see any problem with that). Now this russian cancer must be stopped, and they must be denied any public visibility until they recognise their responsibility for supporting the russian invasive politics. If they don’t want to take this responsibility, there’s no place for them anywhere in the civilised world.
The Ballad of Mariupol – ROME The Last Beat of My Heart – SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES Love Will Tear Us Apart – DEATH IN ROME Elemental Cry – HEM NETJER Quis Est Deus – QNTAL Kind of Pain – IAMNOONE City of angels – LADYTRON Pyrexia – CLAUSTROPHOBIA Heat – NUOVO TESTAMENTO Heavy Sleep Heavy Heart (systr remix) – SANG FROID Strange World (dark side exclusive vers) – PARADE GROUND House of Love – HOUSE OF LIGHT Hatefuck – NEW TODAY Nightmare(the coventry remix) – TANKS AND TEARS Following You – WOLFSHEIM Inside – PARADISE COVE Pickity Witch – LOVERS/DECEIVERS It’s Not All About You – SEQUENTIAL ZERO She’s Lost Control – THE COLOURS OF SILENCE Snake Skin – BODY OF PAIN Memorabilia – GIRLS UNDER GLASS The Echo – CORLYX The Secret – DIARY OF DREAMS Hollow Eyes – MARK E.MOON Feeling RuZZian(Fascist)? – LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT The Foreverlost – VV Down To The Knees – THETRUE FAITH Fur Immer – URBANDONED Platzwort – VLIMMER Run Away – WORN OUT Requiem For The Sun – A CLOUD OF RAVENS Bless The Dead – REPTYLE Storms – PILGRIMS OF YEARNING Convulsions – THEN CAME THE RAIN At The End – MYDIAN GALLERY Visions – SAIGON BLUE RAIN Post-History – AUTOBAHN Alone in A Room – THE MEDICINES Not Another Vampire Song – CATHEDRAL IN FLAMES L Mhan Craiceann – Skeleton Hands – LEPER Nowhere Street – TOURDEFORCE Magico – MADRE DEL VIZIO Kahin – PHOSGENE GIRLS Beacons – THE BELLWETHER SYNDICATE Vast Spaces – I-YA-TOYAH Atrocity (feat Elxir , neilio hextapes) – VVMPYRE Like A Bad Girl Should – SHE PLEASURES HERSELF Angel – VAZUM Spellbound – VELVET KILLS
Dedicated to all the brave children, women, men, aid workers, journalists, musicians, sportsmen, doctors, nurses, politicians, foreign volunteers and members of the Ukraine armed forces who have been murdered, killed and maimed by the terrorist state of ruZZia.
Here is the second of a series of interviews with people involved in the Gothic and Alternative music scene and to get an understanding in their own words how Russias war of war crimes against humanity is impacting people just like me and you in Ukraine. For the second interview I am very happy to have an interview with Garden Krist.
Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your involvement in the Goth/alternative scene, so for how long, what you do?, Your 5 top favourite bands?, films, books? etc?
We play in different genres, and gothic has also been present in our work for a long time. We’ve been on the scene for 7 years now, and during that time we’ve released a lot of dark releases in the genres: industrial, ebm, darkwave, post-punk, etc. Now we are working on electronic dance music and playing techno in rave clubs in Ukraine. Undoubtedly, our group has influenced and continues to influence the development of the Ukrainian scene as a whole.
We love cinema very much. Among the most favorite could be: The Matrix, American Psycho, Climax (2018), Eyes Wide Shut
Books: Jack London, Edgar Allan Poe, Ray Douglas Bradbury
What do you miss most of all since Russia started a full scale war?
Inner peace and nightly activities without a curfew.
Could you tell me in your own words how the full scale war being carried out by Russia in Ukraine has affected your life?
With the outbreak of the war, we began to live differently: power outages, a rise in the price of everything necessary, anxiety appeared, we stopped planning – we live in the moment.
How do you feel towards Russians after they have invaded Ukraine?
Since 2014, we have severed all ties with Russia. Nothing has changed so far.
What worries do you have most about Russia’s war in Ukraine?
What worries me is that the war will be for a long time and will bring many deaths. Also, women leave Ukraine en masse for other countries, leaving their husbands and families.
What are your hopes for the future?
Ukraine will emerge victorious from this war, and we will all be able to return to a quiet life again.
What more help would you like to see countries give to Ukraine?
Europe is already helping our country a lot in any way it can. Our citizens are grateful for this and appreciate it very much.
Is there any more acton that you would like countries to take in regards to Russia? More sanctions.
DJ De’Ath – Please show some love and support for Garden Krist from Ukraine by buying their music and following them on social media.
Here is the first of a series of interviews with people involved in the Gothic and Alternative music scene and to get an understanding in their own words how Russias war of war crimes against humanity is impacting people just like me and you in Ukraine. For the first interview I happy to finally have an interview with DJ Featon who responsible for various Gothic activities in Ukraine including the Gothica magazine and organizing festivals and gothic parties for people to attend.
Could you tell me a bit about yourself and your involvement in the Goth/alternative scene, so for how long, what you do?, Your 5 top favourite bands?, films, books? etc?
Gothic in Ukraine is my magazine 🙂 Joke. I do a lot of things. It all started somewhere in 2004-2005. At that time I was publishing the gothic fanzine “Dark Culture”. 13 issues were published and then I closed it and started working on a professional “Gothica” magazine. At the same time, I was the editor of the Ukrainian Gothic Portal, helped organize the annual Children of the Night festival. Then I organize a lot of parties and founded several festivals. The largest is a three-day open air of industrial music – Energy Open Air (from 2010 to 2013). And its one-day club “brother” Winter Energy festival, which was also founded in 2010, is still alive. Since 2009 I performed at various events and festivals as dj Featon, and since 2010 with my EBM project T44 (currently frozen). That’s in short. I still like to take pictures as a concert photographer. It is difficult to name the five most favorite bands, sometimes the accents change. But the number one band for me was and will always be Pink Floyd. I love the atmosphere of books by Murakami, King, and Max Frai. But number one is Tolkien. As for movies, action and art house are also different. Lynch, Barton. Spielberg, Arоnofsky, Villeneuve.
It was not directly in the question here, but if they ask me what Ukrainian I can recommend. There are a lot of interesting musical projects – Onuka, DakhaBrakha, SadSvit, Stas Korolyov, Ragapop, ZwyntarS and others.
What do you miss most of all since Russia started a full scale war?
Safety, of course. It is calmer now, but in the first months of the war, russian troops constantly fired missiles at the territory of Ukraine. Sometimes the air alert could be 10 or more hours a day.
Could you tell me in your own words how the full scale war being carried out by Russia in Ukraine has affected your life?
I live in the center of Ukraine in the relatively safe city – Cherkasy, so so far the war has not directly affected me. But today, at the beginning of December, the russian authorities are making constant attempts to destroy the energy infrastructure of Ukraine, so we have to be without electricity for part of the day. Just today, russian troops fired more than 70 missiles at Ukraine, 60 of which were shot down by air defense.
How do you feel towards Russians after they have invaded Ukraine?
This war was not unexpected. We have been counting down this war since March 2014, when russian troops seized the Crimean peninsula and began military operations in eastern Ukraine. What was the reason for this? First of all, the Russian leaders suffered a defeat in Ukraine after their protégé Yanukovych fled the country after the Revolution of Dignity. But the Russians had been planning the seizure of Crimea for years, so it was not a spontaneous operation. I have personally been to russia many times and I remember that there was anti-Ukrainian propaganda on central television back in 2007.
Regarding the russians, I can say that I feel only contempt that they turned out to be such worthless people who did not find the strength to resist evil. This is not to mention a large part of the population that fully supports this war. And those who fight and kill people in Ukraine are war criminals. So they will have to rake up the contempt of civilized people for decades.
What worries do you have most about Russia’s war in Ukraine?
What worries me the most is that Ukrainians are dying, both military and civilians.
What are your hopes for the future?
Hopes are simple. The first thing is to liberate the entire occupied territory of Ukraine, and then build and develop the country.
What more help would you like to see countries give to Ukraine?
The main thing is constant military aid, without it it will be difficult for Ukraine to win the war. russia has a lot of resources and has already “put everything on the line”.
Is there any more action that you would like countries to take in regards to Russia?
I don’t have all the information, but at least the economic sanctions could be tougher. The tenth month of the war, and Russian banks are not disconnected from SWIFT.