As historical artifacts go, the forthcoming compilation of music by the Russian band Fucker (entitled Dichlofos) is an un-earthing of sounds that’s unlikely to generate global headlines. It may be immediately meaningful only to a collective of nostalgic Russian fans, but though I knew nothing about Fucker before being introducing to this new comp, I’m still getting my own feelings of nostalgia from the music, and so agreed to make this premiere today.
Fucker’s music is sometimes pretty far off the usual beaten paths at this site. The vocals do get harsh, but mainly consist of singing in the tracks we’re presenting, and those tracks are far more rock ‘n’ roll and old school heavy metal than the kind of extreme stuff we usually spread around. But on the other hand, the songs do pack a visceral punch, and they’re definitely devilish. But before we get to the music, a history lesson is in order, one with its fair share of tragedy.
The following is a paraphrasing and quoting of the history provided by the label (GrimmDistribution) that’s releasing Dichlofos on April 9th:
Fuckers was born in the city of Novorossiysk at a time when rock culture was strengthening in the old USSR. “It all started in the garage of one of the “fuckers” Igor Prokopenko, where hippies, punks and avant-garde artists gathered and peacefully coexisted. The official foundation date is considered to be July 8th of 1990, when Artur Silkov and Dmitry Polovko came up with the name Fucker. In the beginning, the band’s work was influenced by blues, heavy metal and hardcore punk.”
“In the summer of 1991, Fucker was certified by the Culture Department of the City Executive Committee together with other Novorossiysk groups. From 1991 to 1992 the band moved on to thrash and death metal. One of the first in the city, the rhythm section was overclocked to grindcore speeds in the spirit of Napalm Death. In 1996, experiments with electronics unexpectedly followed (the album Casiopeya).”
Artur Silkov was murdered in February 1997. Since then, festivals have been held in his memory. Other members joined or re-joined, and Fuckers‘ music continued to change. In the mid-2000s the health of drummer Andrey Lisovskiy began to deteriorate, and the group has not played since 2008. “There were repeated attempts to resuscitate the group, but the death of Andrey Lisovsky in September 2014 put the final point”.
What Dichlofos encompasses is a collection of songs recorded from 1993 to 2003, and we have two of those songs to share with you today.
One of those songs is a premiere (except for Fucker fans who heard it long ago). Its name is “Bastard Liar“, and it moves between two phases. The initial one is mid-paced and witchy, with a wailing voice and narcotic guitar. But the music gets more menacing, thanks to a cold heavy riff and the vocals becoming both more gritty and furiously screaming. Back and forth the song goes, alternately seductive and savage, but throughout those movements the heavyweight bass tones and hard-hitting drumwork makes the song one you can bob your head to. Don’t be surprised if it hangs around your head for a while too.
The other song, which was previously released, is “Shadows” (a free download at Bandcamp). It’s a more sinister and bruising track, which incorporates bursts of electronically distorted vocals and elements of diabolic psychedelia to go along with its stomping-monster cadence.
The songs on Dichlofos were recorded by Alexey Chernyakevich. Mixing and mastering was done by Igor Malov in 2004. The artwork and logo were created by Mary Kankava.
PRE-ORDER:
https://grimmdistribution.bandcamp.com/album/070gd-fucker-dichlofos-compilation-2021