Monday the 12th saw a first visit to the Louisiana, Bristol. Knowing nothing of the headliner, it was another case of a flyer grabbing attention in the timeline and hitting interested on the event from there.
Then came a surprise a couple of days beforehand when finding an article on the BBC website singing the praises of Death Pill’s cause; this I didn’t know about.
Death Pill’s story is phenomenal; so much so, it’s humbling writing now to think I got to witness part of it.
Death Pill—comprised Mariana Navrotskaya guitar; Natalya Seryakova bass; Anastasiya Khomenko drums—are from Ukraine.
At the onset of the war they became spilt in the most thorough way: Mariana stayed in Kyiv, Natalya headed to Adelaide, Australia, while Anastasiya sought safety with her mother and eight-year-old son in Barcelona, Spain.
On May 20th, after over a year apart, the band reunited for a tour that started with two benefit concerts in Ukraine. It wasn’t just the BBC that Death Pill made the pages of in the UK; a quote in the Sunday Times revealed just how personal the fundraising to be: “We donate raised money for anti-drone weapon for Anastasiya’s friend from childhood, who is now defending our country.”
Rehearsals for the tour had to be conducted over the internet and with considerable time differences in the equation too.
Death Pill, though, apparently feed off adversity for fun, strength, direction and purpose; the live performance an absolute scorcher from start to finish, every member exploding with an energy that manifested in a focused, tight, driving set oozing with the stage presence of a seasoned band very much at the top of its game (a truly jaw-dropping-with-amazement performance to witness firsthand).
Making their story all the more incredible, Death Pill somehow managed to release a self-titled debut album on the 24th of February, 2023; a date significant, for it marked one year since the criminally obscene Russian invasion began.
The CD comes in a nifty little package including a lyric booklet with additional art, and is released by New Heavy Sounds, a label worth a follow by any serious music lover for what it’s doing and the way it’s doing it (despite dealing with the media heavyweights mentioned above, they still found time to answer some questions for me; cheers, guys – very much appreciated!).
Track ‘Dirty Rotten Youth’ opens dark, moody and brooding, before ripping into a guaranteed pit filler of epic proportions, the quality of composition showing that while it might be a debut release, the band has been putting in the hard work for some time now having formed 2017.
Lyrically its speaks—to me, at least—of being bullied; the anger and frustration for the mentality faced; knowing its arrogance exists only in numbers; and wondering what might come of ever meeting one-on-one.
The hardcore epithet found on the flyer is more then merited, though Death Pill bring so many other elements to their sound they might well have created a genre of their own. A strong thrash/death vibe in line with Nervosa that also carries—especially in solos—a glorious slab of genre gods Obituary is also prevalent throughout.
‘Miss Revolt’ somehow manages to up the ante with a literal and actual WOW factor that lyrically suggests the revengeful conclusion to the previous track. A stomping, scratching, scathing anthem that howls with triumph over adversaries; a song so full of hooks there should be a warning on it, for as heavenly as those thorns might be to someone like me, walking round the supermarket almost inadvertently singing the chorus out loud . . .
‘Die for Vietnam’ unleashes the next glorious string in the Death Pill bow: range of vocal style. On this point, the album lists vocals shared between Anastasiya and Mariana, while live Nataliya sang too. Such was the bouncing melee of sweaty bodies in front of me at the gig, not to mention how much fun I was having watching it all, I wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess at who did what precisely; and after all, each style might not have been done by one alone.
But then, with Death Pill—especially with Death Pill—who did what exactly isn’t the point, and neither would those details convey how this new aspect adds to the mix:
Imagine having a meal of many courses, everything is delicious, totally top-notch. One couldn’t want for a thing more, happy to sit and bask content in that already served. And then the host brings out a whole a new course, a big rich one at that. It’s not needed, it really isn’t, but once seeing what it is it’s utterly impossible to say no.
Up to now vocals have been a harsh threatening growl; but here comes the introduction of cleaner sometimes sweeping vocals that do some incredible things.
One is send the sound in the direction of Japanese pop-punk legends TsuShiMaMiRe (who on reaching a milestone anniversary, once broadcast a live performance online that lasted 24 hours and included every track from every album in order; incredibly the stars lined-up to have Death Pill finish the UK leg of the tour playing on the same bill).
The other is add a folk-esque quality, though I’m not sure that’s quite the right description; perhaps it’s simply a more noticeable accent that brings a distinctly Ukrainian flavour to the sound of a track than in a few short words summarises both the horror of being beneath bombs, the contempt felt for those dropping them and the ever-repeating cycle of hate it can breed.
According to articles, the band used both the Ukrainian and Russian languages in songs pre the War as it was commonplace to do so in everyday life. Attitudes have of course now changed, and any songs in Russian are no longer so (though with many tracks on the album in English, it’s not clear if English was always part of the parcel or if that’s what any Russian tracks became rewritten as).
Either way, ‘Друг’, a mostly growling chant that at points borders on what might be called gothic, is the album’s first outing of the Ukrainian language. The combination of vocal styles swinging the genre from punchy hardcore to sweeping goth, while musically things if anything are more ferocious behind the latter.
‘It’s A Joke’ is a real punk rocker, opening with a bouncing bass line before launching frenetically into Jack Off Jill territory. The lyrics are there to be read into; though there’s no doubting the theme is being on the wrong end of some form of abuse one way or another and the ensuing feelings of inadequacy and anger. Poignant and to the point, it’s a slice of riot grrrl poetry with an extremely sharp edge!
A likewise sharp intake of breath heralds the opening of ‘Go Your Way’ before it roars into a barreling then slick gothic pace that winds its way dervish-like between fast, faster paced and a slightly slower menacing swagger. A compelling track bestowing the virtues of women finding their own path while within an environment always insisting on telling them what’s right/how to look/dress/the list is endless . . .
The track is the only music of the band’s appearing on bandcamp prior to the album. It has the release date of December 13th, 2019. This makes me realise the criminal Russian invasion isn’t the only obstacle the band has had to face: the first case of Covid being reported to the World Health Organisation on the 31st of the same month.
Girls before being twice interrupted: Death Pill on Instagram 13th July, 2018
‘Kill the Traitors’ is a foot on monitors head-banger that could well be about current events, and has likely taken on that meaning to some degree, but in essence feels far more an outpouring of the anger, frustration and hate felt towards two-timing other halves, that two-timing other halves rarely have the empathy to fathom, hence the at points bombarding, relentless nature of the track as it attempts to hammer the hurt home.
‘Расцарапаю Ебало’ doesn’t stop for breath as it returns to the Ukrainian language; it’s another track that treads a fine genre line between hardcore and thrash while brimming with the same electric energy that Death Pill brought to the stage in an abundance of volts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=–eBPi_Fmts
‘Would You Marry Me’ delves back into the realms of TsuShiMaMiRe/Jack Off Jill, only this time more so; it’s fun, light. Kinda. There’s also that edge, a question not of one’s own worth but realising the other person not only doesn’t realise it, but doesn’t care for a second that they don’t. The question comes with a wide-eyed innocent look that belies its sarcasm and the fact there’s a drink over the head following close behind it.
It’s a love song straight out of the book of how to be the most bittersweet of riot grrrls; and in being so, is the perfect end to an album the story of isn’t just representative of the band, but much that’s happened in the last few years to the greater world too.
Though I must stress, while it’s true that if it wasn’t for Covid I wouldn’t have been in Bristol to catch the gig, that sentiment is in no way intended to imply the burden is anything like the same, as some politicians have with statements such as ‘we stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Ukraine’ (Hoyle on Twitter) when we’re not getting bombed, displaced en masse or suffering any of the other vicious atrocities yet again being unleashed on Ukraine and its people from the direction of Russia (at the start of the invasion I made an anti-war post in which I mentioned the Holodomor; an event that some countries/organisations are only now recognising for the evil genocide it was).
Yet despite the trauma, challenges and being at the brunt of it all, it’s Death Pill who’ve somehow managed to find the drive, strength and fortitude to record an album and complete a tour so immensely good it puts a smile on the face big enough to make one momentarily forget the travesties leading to seeing them live in the first place.
If it seems a contradiction, it’s only because to laugh in the face of adversity is the definition of defiance.
Love, Peace and Fuck Putin.
Links:
- Bandcamp
- YouTube
- New Heavy Sounds
- BBC interview
- Sunday Times interview (paywall)
- vs. War (anti war poetry from me)
Thanks for reading 🙂
N. P. Ryan
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