It never ceases to amaze me that there is still a music scene within Ukraine, and that musicians still manage to find a way of getting their music and message out, and here we have Vøvk who released this their second album in October last year. The current line-up of Oleksandr Kuts (lead & backing vocals, bass, percussion), Yehor Druzenko (guitar, synths) and Yevhenii Khrulov (drums, backing vocals, percussion) came together in January 2022, just before the invasion, and it is no surprise there is plenty of post hardcore aggression in what they are producing. But this is a progressive rock band at heart, bringing together the emotion of Porcupine Tree, the soundscapes of Muse, the attack and complexity of Mastodon and the downtuned ferocity of Deftones to create something which is emotional, dark, and primal.
All lyrics are in Ukrainian, but one does not need to understand the words to get the emotion and pain of the world they live in, something most of us can only imagine in our nightmares, yet they live through it every day. It is oppressive, aggressive, and there are times when the music feels like a great weight, yet there are also lighter moments which provide the contrast. They invited singers from other Ukrainian bands, Zwyntar, Omana, Straytones, Svitaie, to become part of the choir, while Swedish singer Johannes Persson (Cult of Luna) sings for first time in Ukrainian on “Promin”. Hopefully fans of his band will also seek this out, as here we have a band pouring out their hearts while the world stands by and looks on.
