DOOM OVER PSKOV!

Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia, the first historical mention in the chronicles date back to 903 AD. Through the course of many centuries the city of Pskov has been the center of many wars and conflicts, but only once the defense of the city was broken and Pskov was invaded.

After the founding of Saint-Petersburg, Pskov’s political and strategic importance in the western borders of Russia greatly diminished, and after Russia’s borders expanded to Riga (aka Tallinn, currently Estonia), Pskov has lost the status of a military and trade center. In the second World War, the city was under the occupation of the Nazis. Over three-thousand civilians tragically died during that time.

This city, filled with so many stories of sorrow, triumph, and pain, was ideal to hold Doom Over Pskov in the midwinter of 2022.

Reflections by Vladimir Alekseev (frontman/vocalist, Neuropolis)

When we began to organize Doom Over Pskov, first of all we decided to see if there were any bands in the city which play in the doom metal genre, do they exist, how are things within the scene with gigs, and support from the fans.

We were sadly surprised to find out that (but for a few exceptions) Pskov’s metal scene is almost devoid of life, and the culture of metal gigs is almost non-existent.

Pavel Krasnov, leader of Inner Missing, had gathered a great line up for the festival – no doubt in that. The main question we asked ourselves was, Will the festival be of interest to anyone?  To make matters worse, the city was under semi-lockdown measures due to the ever-present COVID-19 infection. This created additional troubles and hardships for the organizers of the gig and the listeners alike.

We were near an almost extinguished fire, with only a glimmer of hope to spark the interest of local heavy metal fans. There was a rather large promotional campaign to advertise the festival, and although we have used different strategies, the interest in the social media was not overwhelming at first.

But at some point, the old-school spirit and the anticipation of something unique took over. People began to show interest in social media and started asking questions. Then we understood that the festival would indeed gather its audience.

The concept of the gig’s lineup and sound was unconventional. The sound was like playing in an ancient dungeon, with an atmosphere of horror and existential dread.

NEUROPOLIS opened the festival, the band having already become familiar to listeners of old-school death and doom metal. Neuropolis brings a unique interpretation of the death-doom sound.

The band continues to play live in various cities with their previous material and is working on new songs. In 2021, they played in Vyborg, Moscow (Doom And Stoner Halloween), Arkhangelsk, and of course Saint Petersburg.

In Pskov, the band succeeded in emotionally igniting part of the audience and preparing the rest to experience new and different sounds. The sound of melancholy, grief, and emptiness, the feeling which comes after hysteria, despair. The sound of sadness looming over the earth.

INNER MISSING took the stage next at the Nora Club (Нора/Nora translates as “burrow”) to overpower the venue with the beautiful academic vocals of Melaer, which made the crowd go silent and full of bittersweet sadness.

Her voice was joined by the rare tones of Sigmund, who put the crowd in a trance, almost hovering over earth in some kind of limbo. The singing was accompanied by exquisite arrangements, which completed the feeling of deep immersion.

Fall out of the trance or leave the barren earth altogether? Where there are no more voices, only endless waves of cosmic sound, which lure you into the infinite depth.

The music of ENDLESS OCEAN accomplished just that. First, there were no words to describe the full spectrum of emotions. Then came the realization that all words are dead and no one is to speak in the depth of space, and even when you are thrown back in the stratosphere, caressed by the cold winds you remain silent.

So what began with a brutal onslaught of growling death-doom continued as pure melodic Gothic-doom, culminating as a flight in the celestial abyss through the means of eclectic mix of post-doom, alternative, and even avant garde sounds.

It is hard to fully define the genre, the sound is so cosmically enveloping that it makes you forget about such things as genre tags. Missing one of the guitarists, Endless Ocean managed to engage the crowd fully, and got the last round of applause that evening.

Reflections by Сергей “Blackknot” Мелихов (reviewer, Darkside)

A rare event in our desolate times. An entire mini-festival of sad music, ranging from the orthodox ‘90s soul-crushing death-doom and Gothic adventures to strict rhythmic post-doom.

This all happened at a time when underground life in Pskov was almost non-existent. Only the atmospheric black metal band Путь (Pathway) from Pskov tours Russia and abroad, and that is all that is present in the underground scene of the city today.

It was my first visit to the Nora. I usually attend venues only to listen to someone in particular and the gigs in this club were not my cup of tea. But Doom Over Pskov was perfect – cozy, friendly, and sad in a good way. I saw my old friends, had a few drinks. All the bands gave out a solid performance.

Neuropolis stood out especially. Inner Missing performed as a duo with some pre-recorded instruments in the mix, and Endless Ocean were without their third guitarist and are an instrumental band.

The bands where different and together formed a logically complete event. The order in which they played was also logical, from brutal growls to a Gothic duo and ethereal instrumental post-metal.

Thanks to the guys in Pathway for introducing me to Neuropolis, with whom we have found a lot of common interests and decided to move towards the friendship of the underground movement of our cities.

We are waiting for them to return. Maybe another gig at Nora sometime would be great (the club is not as far on the outskirts of the city as some people claim). In these dark days, we are hoping for the best. We are waiting for Doom Over Neva!

I would like to sincerely thank the staff of the Nora club and Anastasia personally, the bands Endless Ocean and Neuropolis, the sound engineer, photographers and all those who attended and supported our celebration of death. It was the first major festival outside of Saint-Petersburg I have organized, and if we take into considerations the risks that are present today, we have organized a successful, memorable event. I wish good luck to everyone, hope we will meet again in the future!

–Pavel Krasnov aka Sigmund Краснов, Inner Missing

I’ve attended the gig in the Nora club, it was entertaining It was a pleasant surprise for me to discover this genre. The sound was good and fat.

–Фёдор Егоров, photographer

Reflections by Anton Bryukov (bassist, Train to Elsewhere)

A few words about the past and present of the metal scene in Pskov. First, the present.

Путь (Pathway) are one of the finer examples of slow/mid-paced Russian atmospheric black-metal. Their style is unique; they sometimes use folk arrangements and instruments like the accordion.

The music may be compared to some post-black and atmospheric black acts like Panopticon or Wolves in The Throne Room, but yet has a distinct feel of early Katatonia (Dance Of December Souls era) and some influences from doom and Russian folk in their sound. The band began to make a name for themselves in Russia and abroad. Definitely the most successful band from Pskov.

Recommended albums: Песни Смерти (Songs Of Death) and Песни Смерти (The Vale of Sorrow) to get into there intriguingly atmospheric style of black-metal.

And now I will take a look into the past.

The now disbanded Артефакт (Artifact) band from Pskov recorded an album Дань прошлому (“A Tribute to the Past”) and release it in 2005. The album consists of some unconventional gothic-doom.

The more goth-sounding albums of Paradise Lost come to mind when listening to another band, Lake Of Tears. Their obscure and lo-fi production quality has a hidden catchy and melodic sound underneath. Themes of war, despair, darkness are in the center of the lyrics and narrative here. This doom-laden album was almost lost to time. Yet due to the efforts of Apostle of Doom and its administrator Boris Travkin was rescued from oblivion and is available for listening via vkontakte.

Apostle Of Doom is on a mission of finding, cataloging and publishing obscure Doom Metal from all over the world. Music which is otherwise lost to time. Lots of original, rare music here. Be sure to check it out!

There was another band that originated in Pskov and later moved to Saint-Petersburg. We Are talking about Burial Shades (also not disbanded). They played a mix of dark metal and doom-death with some symphonic overtones.

The sound is deep, depressing, lo-fi and massive at the same time. For fans of wickedly strange old-school doom-death.

Sergej Bychkov (a member of Burial Shades) attended Doom Over Pskov and had this to say:

On January 8th, 2022, Pskov was submerged in darkness, due to a powerful performance of dark and angry guests from Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. Good and high quality music, the trademark of doom metal.