(Below you will find Comrade Aleks‘ interview of the Moscow-based epic heavy metal band Vendel, whose debut album was released by Dying Victims Productions on June 14, 2024.)
I learned about the Moscow band Vendel thanks to their cover of Bathory’s immortal killer hymn “Under the Runes”, and then I found out that the guys have a couple of their own tracks with covers of Saint Vitus and Manilla Road. And, perhaps, these references already give a fairly accurate idea of what Vendel offer us on their debut album Out in the Fields: high-quality and lively old-fashioned metal at the junction of heavy (Manilla Road, Iron Maiden) and doom (Bathory, Saint Vitus).
The band was founded in 2015, but its actual lineup was formed in 2017: Alexey Goryachev (vocals), David Kazaryan (guitars), Lasha Khabalov (bass), Sergey Kargalsky (guitars), and Sergey Skorodumov (drums). In their new material, Vendel focus on the old-fashioned heavy metal with references to albums like Hammerheart as well. Despite all the clearly discernible influences, Vendel does not tend to copy anyone, although you’ll hear some familiar turns here and there, things happen.
But first of all, Out in the Fields sounds sincere and charged; the guys are possessed with the spirit of true and epic viking doomy metal. Secondly, there are no bands that would embody this spectrum of musical influences in Russia.
In addition to the well-coordinated and creative work of Vendel’s guitarists and the smooth operation of the rhythm section, it is important to emphasize that vocalist Alexey Goryachev has a memorable and bright, heroic manner of singing; his parts would do credit to many modern bands of both the heavy and doom persuasions. I can’t say that memorable choruses and guitar hooks are Vendel’s specialty, but their merit is that they build their epic expressively and powerfully.
Hi Vendel! How are you? What’s going on in your camp?
Hi there! We are well so far, preparing for the upcoming presentation shows coming up next month.
The band was formed in 2015, and to this moment, there are two EPs in your discography – Vendel (2017) and Dirge (2019) — and the brand-new LP Out in the Fields. What slowed you down on your way to the full-length album?
Frankly many things – personal issues, Covid-era, the social situation in our country, participation in other bands, lots of random things. It took us several years to have it done, all in a good time, mate.
Taking into account Covid and the “social situation” in Russia, didn’t you think to put the band on hold and focus on daily issues? The future is blurred, the gods turned away from us.
We had to hold it at some point due to personal and health issues inside the band anyway, but still we made a show or two during the covid period despite the official restrictions as I remember. It wasn’t that kind of a strict ban for shows, so we took the opportunity to play.
Talking about this nowadays “social situation in Russia” thing and putting the band on pause due to it – this band has never been about any kind of political agenda; we do play heavy metal music and are going to proceed even it’s a fucking Ragnarok outside. The Gods are always on our side.
You combine traditional, almost epic, doom with good old heavy metal, and the album evokes some obvious associations like Iron Maiden, Scald, Bathory. What else shaped your vision of Vendel and Out in the Fields?
Black Sabbath meets Thin Lizzy is our primal formula.
Both epic doom and metal demand an exceptional vocalist. It’s the rule set by Messiah Marcolin and Scald’s Agyl in your case. I mean, you’re lucky to have Alexey in the band. How did you work with vocal harmonies when you recorded the album? Did you set them in the finished instrumental track, or did you sometimes work differently?
Alexey is a Gem himself. He just comes to jam sessions and gives us 99% of a completed vocal line for any song you hear on the album. It never takes him a lot of time; sometimes we assist him to make it in a more specific way at particular points of different tracks.
This kind of music was never popular in Russia, and even Scald didn’t leave any followers after its disbanding back in the ’90s, though it was well-known abroad at some moment. How do you think – what didn’t work with it here?
I guess epic metal is too complicated for an average metal listener – the length of the tracks, aesthetical features and stuff. The epic metal scene is quite tiny if compared to other metal genres. Despite this we feel ourselves at our own place in this remote island of the metal underground.
I see that most reviews of Out in the Fields still come from abroad. Do you get enough support and feedback from the local underground?
We have some local reviews but it’s true that most feedback comes from abroad. I have no explanation for this, maybe it’s not the most popular genre here again.
But do you feel support from the local audience somehow? Was there some feedback at all?
We have a solid fan base here in Russia, at least in the biggest cities. At least for an underground metal band with just several EP releases for an almost 10-year period. I hope we’d be able to expand it in other Russian cities too.
By the way, did you think to sing in your mother tongue and focus your lyrics on ancient Russian traditions and beliefs? Or did you aim to reach more listeners from the start, so you chose English?
We feel better to do it in the most traditional way heavy metal should be, so that’s why English. We respect bands like АРИЯ / ARIA and others who do it in the mother tongue, we are just on the way of our own. And yep, reaching more listeners is a good goal for sure.
Did you feel more responsibility when writing lyrics on foreign history topics? What was your approach to the texts?
I surely do, but I dedicate it to the Russian history topics too (see the “Defender” – it’s about the foundation of the first capital of Russland – Aldeygjuborg, which happened at the Late Vendel Period historically). Some of them are just universal hymns put into a historical setting.
Talking about the Vendel Age history and putting this inspiration into music – I was just keen on that particular history period when most of the texts appeared. It gave me lots of inspiration. I was digging all the sources to get more into it, so I was quite accurate and confident with the content, giving it some kind of a poetic form for a heavy metal purpose.
I was inspired by ancient Germanic stuff like Beowulf, and more contemporary stuff like Tolkien’s lyrics and poetry, so it gave me the way of how it should look and sound like. There’s a lot of alliteration there, which is an ancient Germanic poetry feature, too. I also took a lot of inspiration from ancient Russian poetry, but just proceeded with it in English.
Is there a kind of concept behind Out in the Fields? Or is it a collection of stories set in the same timeframe?
The self-titled track is dedicated to the Battle of Bravellir, the hugest semi-legendary battle in Nordic Tradition, which might take place around 7-8th centuries AD. There’re several medieval poems and legends on which I based the lyrics of the track. Talking about the other tracks – they are some kind of odes or epic hymns to the heroes of the past, poetizing the true values of humankind which are true for an any kind of an epoch or era, whatever you call it. The main overall are honor, loyalty, courage, a decent acceptance of death, and vengeance.
How actively do you play live? Do you feel if it’s necessary to perform your music alive?
It surely is, live and loud! We usually give 3-5 shows a year but are going to expand this field in future.
How did you get in touch with Dying Victims Productions? Which benefits does this collaboration grant you? Did you get an offer to play abroad, or is it impossible for you at the moment?
We met Florian at the Riddle of Steel fest in 2019 where he offered us a deal (which took several years due to the world situation with covid and war). We are beyond happy to have it done with his help. And surely we’d love to tour abroad but obviously it’s just impossible for Russians at the moment.
Didn’t you discuss an opportunity to play a show with Scald? I guess that they’ll be unable to play in Russia as their vocalist Felipe Plaza Kutzbach lives in Sweden, so that may work. How do you think?
We are in contact with Velingor of Scald; it might be the best epic metal show in Russia ever. But the Future is Unknown.
Did you ask them?
Yes, we did. But due to obvious political and social circumstances it’s impossible nowadays.
Do you plan to continue Vendel’s development in the same direction? Do you already have some ideas for the next album?
We have done some new tracks, which are kind of being more mature stuff than the album material, more doomish I should say – stay tuned and I hope people will enjoy it!
How do you see your mission with Vendel?
Making stuff of our own, reaching new listeners, expanding our genre, playing live and touring more, just obvious things for any band. NEVER SURRENDER.
https://dyingvictimsproductions.bandcamp.com/album/out-in-the-fields
https://www.facebook.com/vendelrussia/