(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.