Please tell us about the history of your band and its members
Hello! The history of the band dates back to 2010 when we tried to play heavy experimental music. We performed a lot and even released a full-length album «Streams of Consciousness» and several singles and EP. That musical project existed until 2014. Then we became more adult, and we began to think that music is not what we should do. But it was not so.
In recent years, we talked a lot with musicians and producers from around the world.
We decided that it makes sense to continue what was once begun!
Only 2 people left from the previous band – Dmitriy Ovinov and Max Irkibaev.
Together in 2017, we have started working on a new album. But all at once did not work.
In 2018, we returned to this idea, found a cool vocalist, and began recording of the debut album «Interlacing Of Worlds»
Now there are three of us:
Slava – Vox
Max – Guitar
Dmitriy – Author, Composer
Our sound engineer and producer – Vladimir Lehtinen (Second To Sun, Ultar and others)
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
We play heavy dark music at the intersection of many genres.
We were influenced by various bands – such classic Doom / Gothic Metal as Paradise Lost, Darkseed, Katatonia, Moonspell, Amorphis and some Black Metal bands – Behemoth, for example. Swedish melodic death metal also proved its influence – Dark Tranquillity, In Flames. As well as electronic Darkwave music – Hocico, Grendel.
We call our musical genre simply – Dark Metal
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
It is up to them. You can listen to our music in almost all online music services. Let people listen and decide whether they like it or not. We will be very happy if people who like our music will support us! This will help the band to progress and write more good songs!
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
We released 4 singles (list in chronological order): Catatonia, Honesty In Death (cover on Paradise Lost), You See The Light, On Other Planets.
Our audience liked all released songs. And, importantly, the audience is constantly growing. So far these are only a few thousand people, most of whom are from Russia. But we manage to find a common language with a foreign audience (despite the fact that we sing in Russian).
We were greatly supported by the broadcasts of our songs on European online radio: Goth’N’Roll, Trigger FM, Rock Rally.
And also the fact that our cover of Paradise Lost was noticed by the authors of the original and highly appreciated by the group and their manager. Nick Holmes even made a tweet about it https://twitter.com/NickHolmesPL/status/1013751346909122562
We also had a couple of interviews and reviews in Russian online media. But now we are trying to go to international online publications.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
We are not giving concerts yet. Not only listeners from Russia, but also from Britain, Germany and Hungary ask us about it. We are planning to play our debut concert this November in our homeland - in Yekaterinburg. And then we'll see. It would be great to go on a tour in Russia and Europe. So far the audience is too small – we need to write more songs and increase the number of listeners, then tours will be possible
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
We are a young ambitious dark metal band from Russia. We sing in Russian and are proud of it. We are trying to write interesting songs without using templates. We think that our debut album «Interlacing Of Worlds» will tell more about us than this interview.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
Release an album! It is most important!
Make it heard by as many people as possible.
Then we plan our debut concert. In addition, we are already working on new songs that we hope to release in early 2020. It is possible that the new single will be released before the end of this year.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Everything is available on BandCamp https://returnofthesoul.bandcamp.com/
Here you can buy CDs and T-shirts.
You can listen to our songs on different resources:
· Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1PZHh0uvSBNgY4AFrN0h4m
· Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/artists/B07CV3D8CV
· Apple Music: https://itunes.apple.com/ru/artist/return-of-the-soul/1380660664
· Google Play Music: https://play.google.com/music/listen?u=0#/artist/Alg6hmp2dtzrmcqvnoubeg524n4/Return+of+the+Soul
· YouTube Music: https://music.youtube.com/channel/UC7CySUjUhWiukFZ8irMJgRA
April 2019