Out of budget and out of options, a low-key live studio session turned the Ukrainians into an international metal sensation
IN A CRAMPED rehearsal studio, a band start to play. Gentle guitar picking meets skittering drums and soft bass tones as a woman sings softly into a mic. Amid the warm glow of fairy lights, it all feels very safe and comfortable. But then the illusion is shattered. A clanging riff kicks in and the vocalist goes from a demure croon to guttural howls, letting loose a growl that makes the world’s meanest bulldog look like a kitten.
It’s a huge stylistic twist, and for millions of people around the world, it’s how they were introduced to Ukrainian metal sensation Jinjer.
By 2017, the band were onto the third single from their second album, watching the world politely overlook them time and again. But within 24 hours of their live session of Pisces being uploaded to YouTube, it had gone viral. Dumbstruck viewers left comments on the video as they shared en masse, and so many professional vocal coaches made ‘reaction’ videos to vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk’s singing prowess you can watch compilations for hours. Finally, Jinjer had gone international.
It was just as well: by bassist Eugene Abdukhanov’s reckoning, it was the band’s last chance at making their second album – and Napalm debut – King Of Everything a success.
“King Of Everything had to work, no matter what,” he explains. “We’d been working so hard to get recognised, touring constantly, and suddenly we were given this amazing opportunity to sign to Napalm. At that point we were just a small band playing for tiny crowds, and we were given this life-changing record deal. There was a lot of pressure to succeed.”
THE FACTS RELEASED: 2016
ALBUM: King Of Everything
PERSONNEL: Tatiana Shmayluk (vocals), Eugene Abdukhanov (bass), Roman Ibramkhalilov (guitar), Vlad Ulasevich (drums)
Homegrown heroes in Ukraine, Jinjer had bagged awards such as ‘Best Ukrainian Metal Act’ from Kyiv-based music label InshaMuzyka, but King Of Everything was their chance to break out on an international scale. It was crucial that they didn’t fumble the opportunity. Stylistically, they were aiming high. With the glorious technical groove of Captain Clock, to the meticulous instrumentals of Prologue and epic jazz-fused closer Beggar’s Dance, the band were pushing themselves beyond the Killswitch Engage-like metalcore they had embraced on their 2012 debut, Inhale, Do Not Breathe.
However, King Of Everything’s first two singles – Words Of Wisdom and I Speak Astronomy – had failed to ignite interest. Though fine demonstrations of Jinjer’s newfound djent-adjacent technical prowess and prog sensibilities, the songs didn’t quite have the same suckerpunching qualities that Pisces ultimately packed. Even whe
