(We present Comrade Aleks‘ interview of E.S. from the Russian band Who Dies In Siberian Slush, whose latest album was released on the last day of 2023 by Solitude Productions.)
Who Dies In Siberian Slush is probably the longest-running active death-doom band in Russia. It was formed in 2003, but the first album Bitterness of the Years That Are Lost was released only in 2010. They developed a kind of their own aesthetic as they also used lyrics with Russian cultural references, like a poem by Nicolay Gumilev in one song or a dedication to the painter of tragic fate Boris Kustodiev in another, but at the end of the day, it’s “death-doom with trombone and Russian lyrics”.
The most up-to-date album Uroki Smireniya / Lessons of Humility is the personal and grim monolog of the band’s founder and the only original member, E.S. Here’s his interview.
******
Hi E.S.! How are you? What’s going on in WDiSS’ lair?
Hello. Everything is fine, thank you.
The band released the new album Уроки Смирения (Uroki Smireniya / Lessons of Humility) after almost a five-year-long break. Firstly, I didn’t find out if the lineup was the same as on Intimate Death Experience (2018). Who’s in the band now?
Yes, during the period from 2018 to 2024 the band’s lineup changed noticeably. From the 2018 lineup, only Lyuba and I remained. Lyuba continues to amaze everyone with trombone and synths. I keep on trying to learn how to sing, write music and lyrics.
We partially remained in the format of two lineups (studio/concert). We have two bassists – Roman, in the band since 2022, and Alexey (previously participating in the band from 2013 to 2018, again with us since 2023). In January 2024, we parted ways with guitarist Alexey, and Evgeniy quickly took his place. Ilya is responsible for the second guitar, he has been participating in the group since 2020, and Denis is responsible for the drums (with us since 2021). Ilya and Denis are our good old friends and former members of the Otkrovenia Dojdya / Revelations of Rain band).
From aside it looks like you composed and recorded these six new tracks for five years. How long did you work on the new songs indeed?
That’s the way it is, we’re just not in a hurry… ha-ha. As for the speed of song creation, it varies. If we evaluate the tracks included in our new album in this sense: we worked on one for eight months, and another was completed completely from scratch in less than two months. I think that the speed of this album’s release was influenced by many events; it is quite possible that it could have been released earlier.
One of the band’s features is the trombone, which you started to use for the first time in 2014, when you were recording songs for The Symmetry of Grief split. And it’s still in the band’s arsenal. Does the status of a death-doom band with a trombone benefit WDISS?
For me, the trombone is an extremely interesting instrument for expressing musical ideas in heavy music. We, all of us in the band, love the nuances that the trombone gives to our sound. Well, it seems that the listeners are just as interested in it.
The new songs sound quite familiar to the ear of those who follow the band for some time. How do you see the album as one of its authors? Was it a challenge to compose and record this material?
I don’t see anything wrong if a listener familiar with our previous works could see a handwriting that is already familiar to him. We are completely honest in everything we broadcast.
I know that you write all of the lyrics in WDISS, but what about the Lessons in Humility music? Who brought the main ideas this time?
This time I wrote all the lyrics except track five, and almost all the musical ideas on the album are mine. The arrangements belong to the band. The music of the last track on the album belongs to my son Vova, who passed away untimely at the age of 21 He was a talented musician with an absolute ear… and I will never reach his level…
Please accept my sincere condolences… Does the album’s title summarize the songs’ lyrics? All texts are written in Russian, so I believe that it’s right to clarify some moments for foreign listeners.
Yes, the album title sums up the idea behind the album’s lyrics. We created a canvas, reflecting the Russian view of the global catastrophe. We are honest as always, and we address our listeners with renewed vigor of sincerity. This is our strength – we are the heirs of a great culture and spirituality.
WDISS had its 20th anniversary in 2023. How would you sum up this experience? Can you say if it had its rises and falls?
Ha-ha. What kind of rises can we have? We are not eagles; we are ravens. When it’s cold, we sleep, saving energy for better times.
The band took part in the Dutch Doom Days festival in 2018 (or was it 2019?), and then Covid happened, and the military conflict with our neighbours ruined almost any chance to play abroad. The whole industry was crushed at the moment. How did the situation change for the band? How does it influence its activity?
We premiered the Intimate Death Experience album in the Netherlands at Dutch Doom Days XVII, during our Eurotour 2018. An 11-date tour was planned for September 2020 for Belgium, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany with Clouds, Marche Funèbre, and with a couple of other friendly bands. As usual, the organization of such events begins very early. In this case, all the documents were completed in the fall of 2019. For April 2020, we had Russian concerts planned in support of Esoteric in St. Petersburg and Moscow.
So, I suppose, everyone remembers what started at the end of February 2020: the pandemic and quarantine with all their sad consequences. For us, this resulted in the postponement of the European tour, first to November 2021, then to April 2022, and subsequent cancellation. Russian Esoteric concerts were postponed three times, and were eventually canceled in February 2022.
In the period from autumn 2020 to the end of 2023, we had about a dozen performances in Russia, mainly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as Yaroslavl. Our mood was not particularly positive, but we shared the stage with good bands and shared our music with listeners who find this music really interesting.
What about labels? Did you close Moscow Funeral League? And will Solitude Productions release Lessons in Humility on CDs?
Regarding my MFL-Records: Since the release of the Canadian project Krief De Soli Requiem: Missa Pro Defunctis In F-minor in 2020, the label was in on-hold status until December 2023. At the moment, the label’s new product is the album Ice Transition by the McKENZIE HILLS, a band from Sevastopol, published in digipak format. From a musical point of view, this is a fusion of sludge and funeral doom; the lyrics of the album talk about the Heroical Defenders of Sevastopol, and the defense of Crimea during the The Great Patriotic War.
There is no push yet for further releases, despite a steady flow of requests from bands wanting to be released on the label.
What are your further plans for WDISS in 2024?
There are several invitations to perform in 2024. In March-April we expect the appearance of the physical carrier of the album Lessons in Humility. A reissue of Intimate Death Experience will be released on colored vinyl in the spring. As many as four labels wished to participate in the re-release of this album; vinyl will be available in Europe. Follow the news!
https://www.facebook.com/whodiesinsiberianslush
https://solitudeproductions.bandcamp.com/album/lessons-in-humility