Holy Blood is a
folk metalFolk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
band from Kyiv, the capital of
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, formed in 1999. The band is notable for being one of the few
ChristianChristian metal, also known as white metal, is a form of heavy metal music usually defined by its message in a song's lyrics as well as the band's dedication to Christianity...
bands in its genre, and the fact that they are the most successful group on its label Bombworks Records, and the band has been noted world wide despite being an underground group. Holy Blood has released four albums,
The WandererThe Wanderer is the debut album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, self-released in 2002, re-released in 2005 through Bombworks Records...
,
Waves are DancingWaves are Dancing is the second full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released in 2005. The band's and their label's best selling album, Waves saw the band moving even further towards the highly melodic folk metal style while still keeping the black metal elements,...
, being their most successful album by far,
The PatriotThe Patriot is the third full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released on September 19, 2008. A professional music video was shot for the title song by Jmak Agency.-Track listing:# In the Night Gloom...
, and
Shining SunShining Sun is the fourth full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released in 2010.-Recording history:According to the band press release, the songwriting started as early as in 2005 with the previous members, who wrote some of the material, but personal reasons forced the...
in 2010. All songs are in
UkrainianUkrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
and
RussianRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
.
Formation (1999-)
Holy Blood was formed in October 1999 and their music leaned towards
hardcore punkHardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
style. The band consisted of guitarist-vocalist Fedir Buzylevych, drummer Dmytro Titorenko, and bassist Mykhailo Rodionov. Previously, they played in a band called Voice of Cryeth in which Buzylevych played bass, Titorenko handled keyboard, and Rodionov was the guitarist.
In 2000, the band changed their style to death-grind. A year later in 2001 the band was joined by former Revival lead guitarist Oleksiy Furman, female keyboardist Vira Knyazeva and former Maranatha member Yevhen Tsesarev replaced Radionov as a bassist. Rodionov became a rhythm guitarist. After the line up change, Holy Blood changed their style to
melodic death metalMelodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
and began to record the first studio album.
The Wanderer (2001-2002)
Fedir and Vira were married in August 2001. In 2002 a local small metal label called Core Zone released the first album
The WandererThe Wanderer is the debut album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, self-released in 2002, re-released in 2005 through Bombworks Records...
. In the middle 2002, the guitarist Oleksiy Furman left the band and was replaced by former Maranatha member Artem Stupak. Holy Blood changed their style to folk death-black metal style and Buzilevich incorporated blockflute.
Rodionov left the band in 2003 and was replaced by former Celestial Call member Serhiy Nahorny. Artem Stupak focused on his own project, unblack metal duo Evroklidon, and eventually Buzylevych became the rhythm guitarist. Serhiy Nahorny became a lead guitarist. Buzlylevych and Rodionov recorded a death-grind studio project under the name
Requital and released the album
Retribution for Sin. It included previously unreleased songs of Holy Blood.
In December 2003 bass-guitarist Yevhen Tsesarev left the band and was replaced by Oleksiy Andrushenko (Axxent). In the March 2004, Holy Blood was featured on a compilation of Ukrainian Christian metal bands called
Total Armageddon.
Waves are Dancing and The Patriot (2003-2008)
On April 18, 2004, the band shot their first music video called "The Spring". During the same month the band launched its website and afterwards their popularity increased notably outside their native country, and started writing third album. later that year, Holy Blood caught the interest of
TexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
-based records label Bombworks Records. The band signed a record deal with the label which released "The Wanderer" to available in many different countries. In October band played concerts in
BelarusBelarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
and participated
Hear My Call Tour.
In 2005, Bombworks Records released Holy Blood's second album titled
Waves are DancingWaves are Dancing is the second full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released in 2005. The band's and their label's best selling album, Waves saw the band moving even further towards the highly melodic folk metal style while still keeping the black metal elements,...
, and it was also released by young Russian label called
Musica Production. On July 2, the keyboardist Vira Knyazeva left the band and was replaced by former Gefsad member Volodyslav Malytsky. In October, the band was joined by Vyacheslav Kirishun who plays instruments such as bagpipe and flute.
In June 2006, Vyacheslav has left the band. 2006 year was successful concert year for the band. Holy Blood played in different cities of Ukraine and also played in
MoldovaMoldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked state in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the West and Ukraine to the North, East and South. It declared itself an independent state with the same boundaries as the preceding Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1991, as part...
and notable foreign festivals such as
Elements of Rock in
SwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and
Maata Näkyvissä in
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. On December 1, Jmak Agency shot a professional music video for the self-titled song from the third album
The PatriotThe Patriot is the third full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released on September 19, 2008. A professional music video was shot for the title song by Jmak Agency.-Track listing:# In the Night Gloom...
, released in early July 2008, and the Russian label Musica Production re-released the first album
The Wanderer with new artwork.
Shining Sun (2010-)
In late 2008, the band went through major line-up changes: in a press release on their website, it was announced that all other members apart from Fedir Buzylevych left to continue under a different name, Oskord, while Fedir will continue under the Holy Blood moniker with new members, including his wife Vira, who was previously in Holy Blood from 2001 to 2005. With new members surrounding Fedir and Vira, Holy Blood completed fourth album titled
Shining SunShining Sun is the fourth full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released in 2010.-Recording history:According to the band press release, the songwriting started as early as in 2005 with the previous members, who wrote some of the material, but personal reasons forced the...
in early 2010. The band stated in a MySpace blog that the album features "a combination of traditional Folk Metal with elements of Melodic Metalcore, and elements of new school Hardcore."
Music
Holy Blood plays
folk metalFolk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
with
deathDeath metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
and
black metalBlack metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
elements. Their music is characterized by elements based on Ukrainian folk traditions and
Celtic musicCeltic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
. They incorporate ethnic instruments such as blockflute and bagpipe. The vocals are high-pitched shrieking but also incorporates folk choirs. The band is influenced by groups such as
EnsiferumEnsiferum is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released four full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums and one unreleased album.-Musical...
and
FinntrollFinntroll is a folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. They combine elements of black metal and folk metal. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" on Visor Om Slutet...
.
The Wanderer has been compared to melodic black metal groups such as
DissectionDissection was a black metal band from Strömstad, Sweden. The band was formed in 1989, by Jon Nödtveidt. The band released its first EP in 1991. They disbanded in 2006, after Nödtveidt's suicide.- Band overview :...
but is said to be more modern in sound and style.
The Wanderer is also said to contain more variety and complex songwriting than
Waves Are Dancing does.
Waves are Dancing embraced more folk oriented direction as majority of the songs incorporate flute and bagpipe. Several songs incorporate guitar solos keyboards and folk choirs. Holy blood's lyrical themes tend to revolve around their Christian faith, heaven, and God.
Current members
- Fedir Buzylevych, Vocal + Flute
- Vira Kniazeva, Vocal
- Yevhen Titarchuk, Guitar
- Ihor Dziuba, Guitar
- Iryna Kleshch, Bass
- Oleh Bohomaz, Drums
Former Members
- Artem Stupak - Guitar
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Yevhen Tsesarev - Bass
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
- Myhailo Rodionov - Guitar
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Serhiy Nahorny - Guitar
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
- Oleksiy "Axxent" Andrushenko - Bass
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
- Dmytro Titorenko - Drums
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
- Volodyslav Malytsky - Keyboards
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Studio albums
- The Wanderer
The Wanderer is the debut album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, self-released in 2002, re-released in 2005 through Bombworks Records...
(2002)
- Waves are Dancing
Waves are Dancing is the second full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released in 2005. The band's and their label's best selling album, Waves saw the band moving even further towards the highly melodic folk metal style while still keeping the black metal elements,...
(2005)
- The Patriot
The Patriot is the third full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released on September 19, 2008. A professional music video was shot for the title song by Jmak Agency.-Track listing:# In the Night Gloom...
(2008)
- Shining Sun
Shining Sun is the fourth full-length album by the Ukrainian folk metal band Holy Blood, released in 2010.-Recording history:According to the band press release, the songwriting started as early as in 2005 with the previous members, who wrote some of the material, but personal reasons forced the...
(2010)
External links