A new documentary from Ternopil, Ukraine based dark screamo act ELEPHANT OPINIONS explores 10 years of their project, as well as this particular era in their local screamo scene and culture. Premiering today, we broadcast the full DIY movie with English subtitles, take a look back at the Ukrainian music scene and the bands who pursued their own creative impulses. The video was created by a local studio «VIDOmotion» to celebrate the band’s 10th anniversary and is “about band formation, development, loss, victory and defeat”.
ELEPHANT OPINIONS’ latest record “Awakening Will Be A Journey” was released back in 2014 and can be heard below. The band is currently working on their new offering dubbed “Another Side Of Youth” and you can learn about it more in our brief interview below!
What’s the story of Ukrainian screamo scene in general?
Screamo is probably the only genre in Ukraine that has a few long-lived teams and dozens of those who lit up for a couple of years and disappeared as suddenly as they came, leaving the legacy of poorly recorded demo, mini-albums and live videos with tube atmosphere.
For the first time, screamo in Ukraine appeared in the 00s and in 15 years the genre was born and acquired its own distinctive features. The bands that played or are playing it in the classical sense can be counted on the fingers of two hands. But despite it’s stylistic monotony, there were still examples that were radically different from one another within the genre.
It is impossible to say exactly who started playing first since bands of this period appeared almost at one time, with a difference in months or even days. Their merit is that they brought the genre into the country, adopted the style and ways of the game and tried to create something similar. This is the foundation, the roots.
This category includes:
False Effect, Scream Into Nowhere, zebra?contract!, Swallow! Swallow! Splinter!, Gumilinski, Oh, Deer!, Elephant Opinions. Among these, only Elephant Opinions are currently alive.
Heyday (2009-2014)
A lot of bands appeared in this period of time. Thanks to them the underground, in it’s broadest sense, found out about the genre. The bands was born as quickly as they were splitting, leaving a few releasing behind. A great part of the bands was inspired by Russian poetry of the Silver Age, often imposing their own music on top of the most famous poems of the time.
In terms of music, this period was characterized by an effort to move a little away from what was before and a desire to focus on melody instead of aggression. Preference was given to emo rather than hardcore. The lyrics were as close to personal emotions and anxieties as possible.
Representatives:
Dollores, Date Rape, Irae, La Belle Verte, Marejada, Mádu, Mariesena, Alphabet Cities, MA’AT, Moa!, Esokhôra, Салют!, Фейерверки Ранят Небо, Oppenheimer Limit.
Today (2014 -…)
The decline of the genre in its classical sense. Those, who created it, have broken up. Those, who raised it, abandoned the projects and began to make music extremely different from what they had played before. Bands appear less often, but they do. Among the participants of the second period, new groups are formed, who create music, which is not like the one that sounded a few years ago. There has been a general break away from the so-called ‘standards’ and the music has undergone significant changes – elements of post-black, post-metal, post-rock, alternative / indie-90s are being actively introduced.
Representatives:
Yotsuya Kaidan, Light Matters, Shosanna, The Worst Is Yet To Come, René Maheu, Janpalach, Unholydays, Качели Не Стареют, Good Mourning!, New Begining.»
All of the above is taken from Ukraine’s main underground music resource «neformat.com.ua». Author – Egor Felust. GO HERE to check it out.
How have you gravitated towards this particular type of hardcore? What’s the story of forming this band?
You will be much more interested to find out about this by watching our 25-minute documentary. It shows a lot about our band, history of creation, formation, change of band members, losses, victories and defeats, and many other interesting stuff.
What other Ukrainian screamo bands would you recommend to our readers?
For the genre fans, you should listen to our friends: Oh, Deer!, Marejada, La Belle Verte, Yotsuya Kaidan, Janpalach, Unholydays, René Maheu.
What plans do you have scheduled for the coming months?
Our main plans for the future are first of all to release our album whose name «Another Side Of Youth», which we have been working on for a long time. At this moment album is completely done and we’re looking for a label for premiere. The final release date will be announced soon, so follow our social networks to avoid missing out.
Also, in March we will play at the emo-festival «Please Don’t Cry Fest» in Krakow
