This time, the project Fullmoon Stories decided to faithfully cover the track “Overburdened” by Disturbed — from the band’s 2005 album Ten Thousand Fists. Everyone knows it, but I’ll remind you: the record hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart and went platinum in the U.S. just five months after its release. So, Fullmoon Stories definitely know where to find good material.
In the original, David Draiman sings with a mystical air — as if he’s being squeezed in a vice and only then released…

First of all, Fullmoon Stories perform an acoustic cover, using piano as the main instrument.

Secondly, when Anton Skald takes on the vocals, I have a rough idea of how he “cultivates” the theme. He listens to the original track about five or six times — sometimes more — and during that process starts figuring out how he’ll deliver the vocal part himself. He mentally lives through the lyrical storyline. Only then does he step up to the microphone.
I’m sure the final vocal take we hear on the track was chosen from at least three or four versions. Not because the others turned out poorly — it’s just that I know Anton’s perfectionism.

And the result?
Once at the microphone, Anton begins with a lyrical tone, but quickly builds up emotion, slows down slightly, and then releases another emotional surge, as if baring his soul — singing at times even expressively and with drive. In the heat of the performance, he reaches a powerful passage at 4:26 — about ten seconds of belting (I hope I’m right) — when he holds a long, strong note with commanding vocals.

I can’t help but note the sound quality of the track — it’s excellently recorded, atmospheric, and perfectly balanced to highlight both the vocals and the piano tone.

Fullmoon Stories is a Moscow-based musical project creating both original compositions and cover versions of metal and rock songs — not only in their familiar “electric” form but also as acoustic piano interpretations.

https://vk.com/fullmoonstories

Available on all platforms - https://band.link/PCqyU

PZDTs — 2025 - В Полотне Иллюзий — (Album)
Black Metal, Atmospheric Black Metal, Occult Folk Metal

"Under a damp blanket, I’m shivering and trembling,
Just the other day, the sunset blazed prophetically…"
The debut album of a Black Metal collective from Siberia.
It’s an anonymous project — no one knows who’s behind it, though it’s most likely a one-man endeavor. That’s nothing unusual for the Black Metal scene — or, to be more precise, for the New Wave of Russian Black Metal.
And while many bands today prefer to throw singles at the audience, this project steps into the public eye with a full-length album.
After a brief atmospheric intro begins a harsh Black Metal onslaught with an almost galloping rhythm — recorded with proper sound engineering. It doesn’t take long before vocals enter this dark experiment: first in a low timbre, then switching to a blackened, atonal, twitchy, neuro-paralytic style (like gas). Later — purely macabre, eccentric. And the performer wants us to understand what he’s saying (exactly that). The vocalist often shifts into a declamatory, storytelling tone, and this directly ties into the project’s serious lyrical component.
 

A good attempt to rewind the history of Black Metal some forty years back. Such excesses are inevitable, since history moves in spirals — musicians will inevitably return to point “zero,” though at a different level, with new techniques and instruments. And perhaps even with different impulses.

But it’s worth listening to the track “Driven by Aphrodite.” Because the true blackened frenzy of guitars, vocals, and drums suddenly sprouts second and third musical layers — vocal, instrumental, and a general atmosphere of decay, strange textures. And most of all — an unexpected, desperate guitar solo that finally opens a door into a three-dimensional world where the vocals double and triple.

The author is clearly set on creating a dynamic, misanthropic musical atmosphere and performance that thoroughly unchains the listener’s psyche. The lyrics follow in the same wild, mystical direction. By the way, in the track “Thunderstorm in the Forest” a tender female clean vocal appears (it recurs locally throughout the album)...

The musician sticks to the foundations of True Black Metal sound and aesthetics, yet interesting instrumentals or even vocalizations keep emerging into the gray daylight — like “Passionate Dances,” which ends with a gasping guitar finale.
The longest composition — “In the Canvas of Illusions.” In its first third, distant “symphonic” keys appear, then a guitar bursts into the theme — slightly inspired, yet defiantly bold, with shades of classic rock phrasing.

In spirit and mood, the track “Mystery” is emblematic of the album. Starting with an exalted (vocally and instrumentally) fragment, the track suddenly plunges into an abyss where “time has frozen”; the guitar steps cautiously, a flute scans the void, life sighs heavily — and then once again rushes madly down a road chopped strictly by axes...

“Joyful Song” — not paradoxically at all — is a dark and heavy Black Doom Metal experience, essentially the album’s central, programmatic piece, embodied by the ouroboros on the cover — a symbol of eternity and cyclicity — speaking of pain, perseverance, and the torments of creation. The author notes:
"And then morning comes again, and everything repeats — the eternal cycle of rebirths..."
Russian Black Metal — true and at the same time melodic, mystical-philosophical and merciless.


https://pzdts.bandcamp.com/album/-

Gals Of The Eternal Solstice - Dissect

Rock, Hard Rock, Art Rock, Heavy Metal

In Russia, there is Rock — real, solid, and just as it should be: wild and spirited. The thing is, not everyone (even those who care) knows where to find it. Somewhere deep in the thickets of social media. But how do you dig it up? Few people know.

Here’s the band BASTER. Back in 2023, I came across three of their singles — hard-hitting, expressive music swirling around the lead vocalist’s voice. And that voice deserves mention: a clean gothic timbre, tense, nervous, distinctive, mannered, and harsh all at once. It has a faint link to Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson.

It’s this voice that ties together all eleven singles from 2023 to 2025 into one tangled thread. The lyrics are witty and paradoxical… and what’s important for me — the musical content is great (sometimes even edging into Art Rock). The author does a lot to make every track sound original.

Now’s a good time to mention the musicians: Baster himself (Pavel Nadykto) — guitars, vocals, bass, sampling, music, lyrics, recording; drums are usually handled by Evgeny Mantulin. So yes, it’s basically a one-man project.
Let’s listen...

1. “Nesmeyana.”
A classic BASTER track — it starts with acoustic guitar and troubadour-like vocals, gradually toughening up and spreading its Hard Rock wings. Then comes a local guitar solo — solid, yet minimalist. As almost always, the vocalist soars above the musical fabric, commanding from his own cockpit where to go next.

2. “Guru.”
They worked the material well — spread the sound nicely across the channels, and the recording is high quality. The multi-layered sound construction is impressively built — professional, no doubt. I recognize the old-school BASTER here — the guitars swell and roar fiercely, slicing through the air with decibels.

3. “Such Tales.”
BASTER’s tracks really do require printed lyrics (at least on a screen). You can catch most of it by ear, but it’s better to read along — the singer often modulates. I noticed the vocal structure is trickier than it first seems — three levels of vocal layering. And yes, it all had to be carefully mixed down...

4. “Time Thieves.”
Some BASTER tracks carry a 70s old-school vibe, constant nods to classic rock, yet the musician always keeps a modern sound. It’s not so much a lifeline as a second turtle — one of those on which the broad world of BASTER rests. The third turtle dives deep into the Primordial Ocean, embodying not just musical gravity but also the weight of social existence...

5. “My Friend the Zombie.”
Humor? Dark? Not necessarily — rather, allusions, allegories, hyperboles, grotesques — those are the ampoules that the chief therapist of the BASTER Clinic fills his syringe with. Russian rock can pull off such themes — or rather, must pull them off. And I get the sense that the musician carefully measures just how much melodic guitar to inject. If that’s true — it’s the right approach.

6. “The Lighthouse Keeper.”
It seems this lighthouse keeper also swings the pendulum on which the musical parts sway — rising, soaring skyward, clutching clouds with sharp claws. Again, a 70s feel — and the vocal mannerisms fit perfectly in this little “counting game”:
“The sea is restless once, the sea is restless twice...”

7. “Son of the Wind.”
There’s drive everywhere — an emotional surge. And yet the author manages to separate different emotional motifs with finesse (a sign of both musical literacy and compositional imagination). Still, the unity of this virtual album — made of singles across a couple of years — remains intact.

8. “Unexpected Problems Delivery Service.”
A line from the song: “Too much good luck lately? Don’t worry — their courier’s on the way.” The vocals blend beautifully with the guitar here — that synergy builds the body of the track and its aura. A wave of heavy metal — intense and enticing.

9. “Get Ready, We’re Going!”
Here I felt the track could’ve been refined further — sharpened, spiced with some magic. And yes, the keyboards after the midpoint don’t quite keep up — a bit too buried in the mix. But there’s a “Broom” here, maybe the same one from a 2023 BASTER single, where “Led-Zeppelin-style guitars — not a copy, but a clever, masterful allusion” (as I wrote in that review).

10. “Little-Known Facts from the Life of Meerkats.”
A gorgeous display of guitar dramaturgy. Compositionally complex song.
By the way, the Ministry of BASTER warns all meerkats: “Caution is the best protection.”

11. “Good Luck.”
Was that intentional? A farewell wish — Good luck. Thank you, maestro — same to you. “A superb jam.”

Summary.
If this were a real BASTER album, I’d complain that it lacks instrumentals — they’d fit perfectly every two or three tracks, giving listeners a chance to soak in BASTER’s intricate music. Though in those spaces, the composer would have to flex more melodic muscle.
But since this is a collection of singles — let’s just listen...

https://vk.com/bastervk

(Rock-n-Roll), (Punk Rock-n-Roll)

I was recently listening to the Italian Black Metal band Exterminas, and I was amazed at how far the legacy of Lemmy & Co. has reached. In the most unimaginable way, their influence continues to echo through the decades — you can hear it in any metal album, even in Black Metal.

This is the second album by the great MOTÖRHEAD, recorded by their legendary lineup: Lemmy, Fast Eddie, and Philthy Animal. All of them are now immortalized in stone and bronze.

After Lemmy was kicked out of Hawkwind, he immediately started thinking about forming his own band — though such thoughts had crossed his mind before. What struck me was a tiny clipping I once saw — I can’t recall where — just 5 or 6 sentences from some old music press note about Lemmy’s plans to form a new band. Either he was already a known figure, or the British music press back then really covered every hint of news.

Today, we’ve long since accepted and understood the MOTÖRHEAD sound, but at that time many were shocked that the album made it into the UK charts, reaching No. 24.

Here’s one great quote from Lemmy himself:

“We’re going to play the simplest kind of music — loud, fast, urban, noisy, arrogant, a little paranoid — rock ’n’ roll played at insane speed. It’ll be so loud that if we move in next door, your lawn will die.”

And as one of the critics back then aptly said — “Punk Rock ’n’ Roll.” Why not indeed?

“Overkill” — the title track — is dynamic rock: driving, aggressive, stripped down to the bare essentials of what can be done live by just three musicians. Nothing extra — just pure energy, soaring guitar solos, and volume. Lemmy’s raspy vocals only amplify that raw movement, as if he’s tearing off chunks of the song and hurling them into the frenzied crowd. All three musicians seem possessed by the same spirit, pounding away and delivering molten metal with perfect precision. After four years of relentless gigging, their tightness as a band is obvious. And of course, producer Jimmy Miller deserves credit too — his hand is clearly felt on the record.

“Stay Clean.” Lemmy knew well that variety within an album is important, and Fast Eddie Clarke truly shines here — simple but incredibly effective.

“(I Won’t) Pay Your Price” and “I’ll Be Your Sister” — classic rock templates reborn in a metallic form. I looked up the old Bronze label pressing on Discogs: the songwriting credits for nearly all the tracks read Kilmister, Clarke, Taylor. They wrote together and split the credits evenly — though, to be honest, there wasn’t much to split at the time. The band was living on the edge financially.

“Capricorn” — a genuine epic: a slowed-down rock ’n’ roll number with Lemmy’s misanthropic, brooding vocals and Fast Eddie’s heavy, grinding solos. They gave the guitarist room to stretch out — even threw in some special effects.

“When I was young I was already old,
My life, my heart, black night, dark star, Capricorn.”

Lemmy was a Capricorn — so the song’s clearly about him. Philosophical stuff, in its own rough way.

“No Class” and “Damage Case” continue the theme of hard-driving rock ’n’ roll — kicking off side two of the vinyl. Total rock mayhem; and when played live, loud — it’s pure madness.

Tracks like “Tear Ya Down” and others of that kind pushed rockers and metalheads toward inventing Speed Metal — and to play faster and faster.

The hypnotic, bluesy “Metropolis” grinds just as hard as the fast songs — a kind of oppressive Doom Rock, with slippery guitar phrases and Lemmy’s grim, measured vocals.

“Limb from Limb” closes the record — starting mid-tempo, then halfway through it kicks into overdrive and crushes everything in its path. A textbook “finish on a high note.”

The album was released on March 3rd. In his autobiography, Lemmy wrote that in March 1979 they began their first headlining tour, in support of Overkill.

Funny and yet instructive — with their first couple of albums, outwardly simple and anarchically bright, MOTÖRHEAD (alongside other musical experimenters of the time) set a global trend toward heavier and more brutal sound. The history of Heavy Music was only just beginning.