In the shadowy underbelly of Berlin’s metal and hardcore scene emerges MACHUKHA, a post-black metal and dark hardcore band that breathes new life into the genre with raw intensity and emotional depth. Their debut album, “Mochari,” set to release on June 7th, 2024, via Consouling Sounds, explores the human spirit’s resilience in the face of adversity. With lyrics entirely in Ukrainian, frontwoman Natalya channels profound anguish into every note, narrating the band’s journey through darkness and pain to renewal.
MACHUKHA, whose name translates to “step-mother” in Ukrainian, seamlessly blends post-black metal, dark hardcore, and punk, creating an experience that is both raw and monumental. The band members’ diverse musical, social, and cultural backgrounds contribute to a creative process that seeks to express shared experiences of retaining humanity in a harsh world. Their music is a relentless exploration of resilience, a theme that permeates every track of their upcoming album.
“Mochari” delves into the human capacity to endure atrocities and survive day by day. Natalya’s vocals, serve as a conduit for genuine anguish, with lyrics and melodies that reflect the band’s own experiences.
In addition to the full album, MACHUKHA has self-produced three music videos that form a continuous story. Natalya, the vocalist, designed and handmade six sets of modernized traditional Ukrainian clothing for these videos, while guitarist Bláthin directed and assembled a team of creative workers and performers. This collaborative effort has resulted in a visual and auditory experience that is deeply personal and profoundly moving.
The photo used for the album cover of “Mochari” was taken by Yozy Zhang during the video shoot of the last part of the three-chapter short film, which serves as the music video for “Tsyu tayemnytsyu duzhe vazhko berehty.” Special FX makeup by Una Ryu and featuring performance artist The Ljilja, this final scene encapsulates the core message of the album: resilience and renewal.
From the very first breath of “Mochari,” the album exposes a conflict that unfolds throughout its duration.
The opening tracks, “Trymatys’,” “Dykhay,” and “Bezpliddya,” set the stage with themes of rage, pain, and the torment of reality.
“Inodi padaye snih tak lahidno krizʹ sosnovu khvoyu” delves into the surrender to pain, while “Tsyu tayemnytsyu duzhe vazhko berehty” explores grief and the shedding of old wounds. “Kvit” symbolizes picking oneself up with renewed strength, and “Nezrushnist'” serves as an epilogue, a mantra for grounding oneself for the future.
Here’s the full track by track commentary by the band:
Words by the band:
The first three tracks, “Trymatys’”, “Dykhay” and “Bezpliddya” are the exposition of an unbareable situation.
“Trymatys” is full of rage and pain, it’s about suffering within structures that you have no control over, and you have been suffering within for too long.
“Dykhay” is like a flavour of madness that comes from this suffering, but this track takes a very clear turn – towards the end of “Dykhay”, we fall into a moment of clear introspection – as if everything around you slows down. This moment is foreshadowing the realisation that you cannot go on like this for much longer.
“Bezpliddya” – which is also the first video of our three part short film – is about the final push of this boulder up the hill. The torment of acknowledging the reality that you are going to break, if you continue like this. “Bezpliddya” is about dragging yourself to the point of surrender.
“Inodi padaye snih tak lahidno krizʹ sosnovu khvoyu“, which is the second video, is about how it feels to finally surrender to this pain. It’s about allowing yourself for the first time, to truly feel the whole range of this pain, that you had been carrying inside of you, that you had been surviving for such a long time. How does it feel to let yourself spiral into this void, how far does it reach?
The next part, “Tsyu tayemnytsyu duzhe vazhko berehty” is about grief. You have reached the bottom of this void, you have allowed yourself to feel, surrendered yourself to this pain, and now the only thing you can do is grieve. You’re grieving how you were forced to survive, what you had to do in order to survive, how you were compromised because of this. This is our second longest track, because grief is also the key to letting go – while grieving your pain, you are also shedding it, like ripping old skin from yourself – but you are also seeing that there is new, pink skin underneath it. Renewal. This is the final part of our music videos, and where our album cover is from.
Which brings us to resilience. “Kvit” is our most energetic track, it’s the act of picking yourself back up, honouring everything that has happened, everything that you’ve been through. To breathe in strength.
Our closing track “Nezrushnist‘” is the epilogue. It’s like a mantra for grounding yourself for the future. Reflection on this process. Breathing out, remembrance. Bracing yourself for what else is going to come, welcoming the pain of being alive.
Looking forward, MACHUKHA is excited about their festival appearances this summer at Core Festival and Complexity Festival, sharing stages with bands they admire. The band sees “Mochari” as just the beginning, eager to explore a broader range of sound and artistic expression.
“Looking into the future, we are aware that there is a far greater range of sound and artistic expression that we could explore – ‘Mochari’ is only the beginning of Machukha, and we are all eager to take more risks, to be more curious to experiment.” – comments the band.
“We’ve set the bar quite high for ourselves, especially with making this three part short film in connection with this album. Natalya handmade the costumes that were used in these videos, which are a nod to traditional Ukrainian clothing, and Bláthin used her knowledge as a professional dancer/performer to direct. Together they wrote the script and self-produced these videos; this process was invigorating and we are very grateful for the work of everybody who contributed much more than we asked for.”
MACHUKHA are storytellers, artists, and visionaries, ready to take the underground world by storm with their hauntingly beautiful and fiercely powerful offerings. “Mochari” is a testament to the human spirit’s resilience and the cathartic power of art.
“Mochari” was recorded by Jan Oberg at Hidden Planet Studio (known for working with DOWNFALL OF GAIA and THE OCEAN) and mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley at The Atomic Garden Studios (notable for DEAFHEAVEN, AMENRA, and WIEGEDOOD). Get your copy via Consouling Sounds: CD / Black LP (Limited to 100 copies) / Dirty Pink LP (Limited to 200 copies)
