EN: Anthology of Ukrainian Depressive Black Metal: from iconic names to the underground. Part 1

The following material from Roman Shevchenko's series about Black Metal from Ukraine is dedicated to the most emotional of subgenre — Depressive Black Metal.

Disclaimer: This material is strictly not recommended for minors and vulnerable people who are currently experiencing deep depression or have serious mental health problems. We recommend that you seek appropriate professional help and avoid viewing this article.

Depressive Black Metal is one of the most emotionally charged forms of black metal, focusing on the themes of depression, alienation, suicidal thoughts and inner struggle. The genre is characterized by slower tempos, monotonous riffs, and specific vocals that resemble cries of despair.

Originating in the mid—1990s as an offshoot of classic black metal, DSBM began as the antithesis of traditional aggressive sound, emphasizing emotional depth and personal pain.
It reached its peak in the 2000s, when the second wave of bands such as Hypothermia, Trist, ColdWorld, Make a Change… Kill Yourself and others took the genre to the extreme. They made depression not a theme, but the basis of the sound. Most musicians created this music as therapy for themselves and others.

The Ukrainian DSBM scene is also widely represented by performers from different parts of our country.

Today we offer you the first part of a chronological journey—anthology of Ukrainian Depressive Black Metal bands.

Ossadogva

The occult depressive metal band Ossadogva was founded in Kremenchuk in 2007 by two musicians — Alkiviad (all music) and Nomidimon (vocals). This is how the musicians told the beginning of their cooperation in the band's only interview:

Nomidimon: "I've been listening to black metal since 1996 and didn't recognize other styles. Our acquaintance with Alkiviad was based on common views of the world — in particular, the occultism of similar traditions".

The band's concept is inspired by the works of Howard Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos.

"Lovecraft is very close to us in some ways... Judging by his biography, he was a misanthrope who spent hours reading books in his library. After reading his works, I came to the conclusion that Lovecraft did not write his stories just off the top of his head — he clearly had access to ancient manuscripts and knew what he was talking about. Many people believe that the Cthulhu Mythos is fiction. Well, let them think so. He who knows knows. We profess a certain tradition — a combination of Eastern practices of forgotten cults of the Great Ancients and shamanism. We draw inspiration from the results of our practices, fragments of knowledge that have come down to us through the ages. We don't use alcohol, drugs, tobacco or other stimulants; we don't watch TV, listen to the radio, read newspapers, use cell phones, or give concerts or autographs, and we have very little contact with people", — Alkiviad said.

Music is also available at Spotify, Apple Music

The band's music is depressive black metal with an ambient twist. Here's how the musicians explained the choice of genre to reflect their creativity:

Alkiviad: "After listening to some depressive and suicidal bands, I came to the conclusion that black metal combined with dark ambient are the only styles (for me) that convey inner experiences; they are inherently real, they have no falsity — unlike other genres. All other styles, especially those that are in fashion, remind me of a boring mathematical formula — everything is too simple and dead".

Nomidimon: "Black metal, funeral doom, and dark ambient are the styles that resonate with my inner worldview. Black metal has never been just music for entertainment; it's the only genre that is in opposition to all the fashionable heavy music."

During the band's existence, they have released three full-length albums: "IA Ancient One" (2008), "Born from a Tomb" (2009) та "The Word of Abominations" (2010).

After the release of the last album, Ossadogva still keep silent, but Alkiviad and Nomidimon continued to work together in other projects — U-235 (black metal) and Cold of Tombstone (depressive doom metal).

Cancer

The studio project Cancer was formed in 2008 in Kyiv by Ihor Gorin, who is the author and performer of all the music. Among the bands that influenced his work the most, Ihor names Trist, Grisâtre, Wedard, Through the Pain and Hypothermia. In the same 2008, the Ihor recorded a 30—minute demo "Clinical Depression". Despite the name "demo", the recording is of good quality and allows you to widely evaluate the project's legacy.

The second and last release of Cancer is participation in a split called "Constatation: Hebephrenia" (2010), where you can hear two more new songs of the project — "Delirium" and "Catatonia Febrilis". After the split was released, Igor closed Cancer and focused on other music projects.

Nödutgång: Självmord

The name of this post/depressive black metal band from Poltava translates from Swedish as "emergency exit: suicide".  The band was formed in 2009 and existed until 2020. The first single "Leave Me Alone" was released in 2011 and demonstrated the depressive and melodic atmosphere of Nödutgång: Självmord.

"Nödutgång was born out of a reluctance to play what everyone else was playing. After evaluating our musical preferences and personal beliefs, we realized that we were not like black metal bands at all. At that time, "marshmallow" (post—black metal) was at its peak, and all the members quickly liked it due to its versatility and combination of everything we liked at the time.
The source of our inspiration is the picture outside the window. It seems to me that depressive music is still somehow alive in our countries only because there's nothing else to write about here," — Nagifar (vocals, bass) told Daily Metal.

The band's debut album "All Colours of Rainbow" came out in 2015 via the Mexican label Throats Productions in the form of a CD.

Music also available at Spotify, Apple Music

In 2016, the guys released their new EP "Mourning Poems" via the same label.

"The EP consists of four tracks, and we weren't afraid to experiment — we embodied all the ideas that came to mind: there are clean vocals, trendy blast beats, a guitar solo in the spirit of retrowave and even elements of trip—hop. With this EP, we would like to draw a line under our previous creative stage — to abandon some of the techniques we used before and set a new vector of development", — Nagifar for Drozh webzine.

Also, the song "Beginning Of The End" from it was included in the collection "Electric Funeral Cafe Vol.III" by Kyiv-based label Robustfellow.

The band has been noted for its active concert activity, in particular, took part in the festivals Oskorei Festival, Winter Solitude Evening, Ashen Dominion Festival.

However, in August 2020, the musicians announced on their official pages that they were ceasing their activities. According to Nagifar, over the course of ten years the band had run its course and was no longer interesting to the musicians themselves.

Winter Depression

Winter Depression is a one—man band project of Oleksandr Ivanov from Kremenchuk. Depressive music of Winter Depression with a touch of ambient is dedicated to nature and melancholy. The first records were released in 2009 — the albums "...Your tired eyes...", "Misanthropy" and "Ode to Sorrow". The latter two were released as limited edition cassettes on the Ukrainian label Depressive Illusions Records.

Music also available at Spotify, Apple Music

The very next year, 2010, Alexander released the EP "Empty Cold", the album "Eternal Sorrow of Mother Nature" and took part in several splits. Later, several more albums and EPs were released, and the last release of the project — the album "Journey to the Horizons of Human Depression" (2014) were released.

According to the Metal Archives website, in 2014, Alexander started a new project called "Echoes of Black Forest" — an experimental Drone Ambient based on field recordings. He also manages or participates in other hidden secret projects.

Cuckoo's Nest

Cuckoo's Nest was founded in 2011 in Mykolaiv. In the summer of 2012, the band began recording their debut album "Dark Shades of Lunacy" and in the fall the record was posted online. The band's musical direction covers depressive and atmospheric black metal. Subsequently, in 2013, the release was also released via SwampKult Productions.

The band managed to give several performances in their native Mykolaiv, after which the original lineup changed and concert activities were suspended for a while. Then the musicians began working on their second album, "Everything Is Not As It Was Yesterday", звучання якого змістилось у сторону blackgaze та post black metal. the sound of which shifted towards blackgaze and post black metal.
The recording of the release was attended by Sergey Makarov (Barkasth), who performed drums. "Everything Is Not As It Was Yesterday" came out in 2014 via the Chinese label Pest Production, with which the guys continued to cooperate in the future.

In 2017, the band released a split "Traces of burnt feelings", together with the German-American duo Crescent Days. Cuckoo's Nest is represented by four songs on it.

The band's third full-length album is titled "Tales of human being" and was released in the fall of 2018.

"No, it's not about you. It's about something that will never happen to you — about someone on TV, in the news or on a boring talk show, but it won't affect you. It's about how it all seems fake and artificial when you look at it from the outside, but no... You sincerely believe in it and think you're learning from other people's mistakes," — The band notes on their Bandcamp page.

On this opus, the musicians have significantly expanded their sound, adding new instruments — trumpet, violin and accordion (played by Cryinc Orc of Këkht Aräkh).

In 2019—2020, the band briefly resumed live performances and gave concerts in Mykolaiv and Odesa.

Fleurs du Mal

Fleurs du Mal** This band was formed in Rivne in the spring of 2011. The band has only a few live performances and one full-length album "And I can Suffer Crying Blood", which was released in 2013

Fleurs du Mal's music combines elements of depressive and post-black metal, with a touch of post-rock. The recording of the release also featured Jean De Valois, of the aforementioned Cuckoo's Nest, who played bass.

Two members of Fleurs du Mal later formed the project Sobbing Wind, which continued to develop towards depressive and post-black metal, with the addition of post-metal elements.

Shadows of the Fallen

The Kyiv-based depressive black metal one-man band Shadows of the Fallen belongs to the musician, who hides his identity under the pseudonym Lestor. It began in 2011, then under the name Suicidal Empire. Later, Lestor renamed the project and started working on the first recordings. The first recording of the project is considered to be the demo song "Save Me", which was released in 2012. In the same year, Shadows of the Fallen recorded the EP "Deep Suicidal Depression" and the first full-length album "Monotheist", which was released via Depressive Illusions Records in a limited edition. The first recordings demonstrate raw black metal, with a bias towards a gloomy depressive atmosphere.

In the following year, 2013, the musician released several more releases — a split with Gagtungr (black metal project of the musician from Yalta), the EP "Memorian" and the second full-length album "Degradation Of Soul's Fullness".

The Misanthropic Apathy

One-man band project The Misanthropic Apathy was founded in 2013, in Rovenky (Luhansk region) by a musician under the pseudonym Malkavian.

The music of The Misanthropic Apathy — is atmospheric depressive black metal. The musician has one full-length album "Escort by Nights" and participation in the split "Escort by Sadness", which were released in 2013 via the Ukrainian label Depressive Illusions.

In 2014, the band released the last single "It Was the Death...", after which Malkavian announced the end of the project

Nihilism

Nihilism was formed in 2013 in Kherson. It was formed by two musicians — Erkhr (all instruments) and E.C. (vocals). In 2013, the first single "You're All Already Dead" was released.

The project did not last long, but managed to leave a legacy in the form of one EP called "Li(e)ght" (2013) and a split with B.T.T., "Like Desolate Like True and Erkhrankung" (2013).

Erkhrankung, by the way, is a solo atmospheric/depressive black metal project of Erkhr and was released via Depressive Illusions.

Nihilism's latest record was also released in 2013, a song called "Alone".

KZOHH

The band KZOHH was formed in Kharkiv by musicians of Khors, Ygg, Reusmarkt, Ulvegr, Elderblood and others in 2014. The name of the project consists of the first letters of the members' pseudonyms. According to the musicians themselves, KZOHH was created by Khorus and Helg. The main goal was to play music different from what they did in their main bands and experiment with the styles they were interested in. The band's themes are dedicated to death, decline, and perdition.

The band's debut album "IAOLTDOTAD" was released in 2014 via the German label No Colours Records. The first performance of the band took place in 2015, at the Via Sinistra Festival vol.II in Kharkiv. In the same 2015, after the change of the vocalist, KZOHH released their second album "Rye. Fleas. Chrismon", which will later be released on vinyl via Osmose Productions.

"The lyrical concept of the album is dedicated to medieval religious obscurantism and the Black Death epidemic that swept Europe in the XIV century. The track titles are written in different European languages to better convey the atmosphere of pan—European epidemic horror," — Zhoth (vocals) said in an interview for Archangel's Lantern's website.

Music also available at Spotify, Apple Music

The next album "Trilogy: Burn Out The Remains" (2016) came out via the Ukrainian label Ashen Dominion.

"The album covers the events of the fever that broke out in different countries of the Middle Ages. The theme of the new album is to some extent related to the theme of the previous one. "Trilogy: Burn Out The Remains" is dedicated to the Justinian plague, the first large-scale plague epidemic in human history (VI—VIII centuries) and the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918—1919, the most massive flu pandemic in human history, both in terms of the number of people infected and deaths. There is also a connection with the second album and bonus tracks for the vinyl edition. "Rye. Fleas. Chrismon." — "Dilogy: Bring Out Your Dead" — "Trilogy: Burn Out The Remains". All the works are dedicated to the massacres. In this case, the name "Trilogy" has a double meaning: it systematizes both the album's songs and the entire pandemic period in our work." — Zhoth for Noizr.

The band's third and latest release is the album "26", which came out in 2018. The songs on it are named after the coordinates of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Dyatlov Pass and, accordingly, are dedicated to the events of these two tragedies.

The band is also known for its active concert activity — KZOHH performed in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, and took part in the Oskorei Festival, Ashen Dominion Festival, Nove Kolo, Doom Over Kyiv, Kilkim Žaibu (Lithuania), Gothoom Open Air Festival (Slovakia).

The information in this article is taken from open sources and the website Metal Archives. Special thanks to the musicians who helped create the material.