I WILL KILL CHITA

I don't know why, but there have been times when IWKC have played as Evil Bear Boris instead of IWKC, while the third IWKC album is called 'Evil Bear Boris' although the track of that name does not appear on the album but does appear on this 2013 3-track EP. Confused yet? The core quartet are still Nick Samarin (bass), Nikita Samarin (drums), Andrew Silin (keyboards) and Artem Litvakovsky (cello) alongside various musical guests and a choir (I must confess to not often seeing "chainsaw" listed as an instrument). It would be easy to surmise that they perform music under a different name so as not to confuse their audience when they perform music which is outside their usual area but given they have changed so much over the years I am not sure of the need.

Here the band is much more in your face, far more art rock than post rock, with the bass being the most important instrument. There are times when they bring in the older styles, especially on closer "Geheimnisse des Dritten Reichs" which would easily have fitted on the previous IWKC album, 'Before We Disappear', yet the other two tracks are far more in your face. Opener "Fight Club" has a dramatic harmonica which makes one think of the late Sixties and the likes of Blue Cheer, yet with plenty of horns and keyboards to lift into something dramatic and powerful. This is an interesting adjunct to IWKC, and well worth investigating. Currently available on Bandcamp for the princely sum of "name your price".

Following on from their third album, 2015's 'Evil Bear Boris', IWKC again took a melodic shift with the 2016 4-track EP 'Cargo Cult'. By now the core band had dropped to a quartet of Nikita Samarin (drums), Nick Samarin (guitars, keyboards), Andrew Silin (keyboards) with Artem Litvakoskiy now adding bass to his cello duties. However, the additional instrumentation and high use of strings they had utilised previously had now fallen away and the only additional guests this time were singer Roman Karandaev (on one song) and Ramil Mulikov (trumpet, trombone). The band has moved away from their post rock and orchestral styles into something where 80's-style keyboards have a far more prominent role.

The bass is often the most important aspect, as we move into more experimental areas which also brings in elements of pop, and the result is something which does not have the gravitas or solemnity of their earlier releases. It feels way more lighthearted, almost as if it should not be taken seriously, and it is only closing tracks "Keine Angst" which shows some of the passion of what went before. Interesting, but certainly not at the same level as their earlier albums.

Their second album, 'Before We Disappear', came out at the beginning of 2013, and is the only one of the four to have I Will Kill Chita as the band name instead of IWKC. The band line-up was the same as the previous year, but while the quintet had again brought violinist Anastasiya Narochnaya back as a guest, they added another two string players, three brass instrumentalists and an additional keyboard player. These instruments are all integral on an album which still contains post rock elements but is also moving into modern classical with complex arrangements which sees them form a hybrid of a rock group and a chamber orchestra. The rhythm section of drummer Nikita Samarin and bassist Alex Ivanov are incredibly important in this new setting as one sets up the rhythmic cut through while the other provides the foundation, often controlling the melody as the other layers are placed on top.

The result is something which to my ears is the most complex and complete of all their releases to date. Experimental yet exciting, complex and complicated yet easy to listen to, progressive, eclectic, modern post rock and classical combined, this is a thoroughly enjoyable and interesting album throughout. The physical product is again no longer available, but the band are now with the noname label so this is now easily available through their Bandcamp site, where I can see this is currently available for the princely sum of ?4 EUR which is definitely a bargain. Russia has some wonderful progressive bands, and whatever one thinks of the leadership of that country, that is no reason not to support these musicians. Here they experiment with different styles and forms, the result being an album which is fascinating throughout.

What we have here is I.W.K.C.'s 2012 debut album, which when released on R.A.I.G Records also contained three bonus tracks which were originally taken from their 2010 'Best Days' EP. Although the CD itself is no longer available, both 'Urban Fears' and 'Best Days' are available through Bandcamp. I have previously reviewed their third and fourth albums, so it is interesting to go back in time. Formed by brothers Nick Samarin (keyboards, guitars) and Nik Samarin (drums, electronics, design), by the time of the album release they also included Andrei Silin (keyboards, electronics), Alexander Ivanov (bass), Artem Litvakovsky (cello) and guest violinist Anastasiya Narochnaya.

This is instrumental post rock, which is majestic in its style, with the strings adding wonderful depth. There is a grace and tranquillity, yet also a great feeling of mass and it makes me think of a decadent luxurious ocean liner cutting through the waves. There is no rush, but rather a knowledge that this is an unstoppable force which contains a beauty within. The drums and cymbals cut through what is sometimes a solid wall of sound with the bass and guitars at one with the cello and violin, which combine to create something which is solid and real. Consequently, when the music takes a different turn with picked acoustic guitar against the strings (such as on "Waiting for the Disaster") the change in approach ensures it has even great impact. The use of dynamics is very powerful indeed, and as with all good post rock we are transported away into a different time and space.

The last three songs were recorded when the band was a quartet with no use of strings and shows them moving in a more progressive direction with the keyboards being much more strident and dominant, but with the guitars still very much in the post rock vein, and the CD allows us to understand how they were musically changing. Overall, this is a really interesting debut.

This album was originally released in 2015 by Long Arms Records on CD and vinyl, and then in 2019 the addicted label made it available digitally. IWKC, or I Will Kill Chita, do sometimes work under the name of Evil Bear Boris. In fact, different versions of some of these songs can be found on the Evil Bear Boris live 2013 album 'Boris In Action', while they also released an EP 'Das ist Boris'. This is the second album I have come across from IWKC, as I have already reviewed 2017's 'Hladikarna', but this is quite different again. Although it features the same core quartet of Nikita Samarin (drums, percussion), Nick Samarin (keyboards, bass), Andrey Silin (keyboards, theremin) and Artem Litvakoskiy (cello) they have added many more additional musicians this time on strings and brass.

The result is a post rock album quite like anything I have previously come across, as it definitely contains many elements of modern classical music while the band themselves describe it as sympho-punk with turbobass or bearcore. We have enough sub genres of sub genres and I am not really sure if the world is ready for something called bearcore, but post rock with avant tendencies and a desire to include some elements of Art Zoyd is how I would best describe this. Mostly instrumental, this veers between times when it is almost unlistenable to others when it is distinctly melodic, often with the same bass line underneath which keeps it all together. The Addicted label are doing a great job continuing to make albums like this available in a digital format, and there is no reason for not discovering some of the great music coming out of Russia with all these being made available on Bandcamp. The label state they support all types of psychedelic music, and tag themselves with forward-thinking, psych, frogressive, stoner, doom, sludge, experimental, jazz, punk, hard rock, noise rock, avant, ambient, improv, hip hop, post rock\metal, powerviolence, funk, electronic, nevermind, and IWKC certainly tick a lot of those boxes.

This Russian band sometimes release material under their full name, I Will Kill Chita, and sometimes under the abbreviation IWKC, and this 2017 album was the fourth full length under either version. The band are a quartet, comprising Nikita Samarin (drums), Andrew Silin (keyboards), Artyom Litvakovskiy (bass, cello, noises and samples) Nick Samarin (guitars, keyboards, vocals) plus numerous other singers and a tabla player. Musically this is all over the place and it took me quite a while to get a handle on it, as while krautrock is very much the obvious starting point there are also elements of punk, avant garde and melodic prog to boot. At times it is pleasant, while at others it is quite disturbing. The bass may be taking a backseat or can be a distorted fuzzed out monster, while the guitar may be gently picking or riffing as if the band are at CBGB's.

Mostly instrumental, just when the listener feels they are getting a handle on it they come up with the introduction to "Five Big Chillums" and it feels like a different band altogether, well up to when the guitar and bass joins in. Although there are a number of singers mentioned this is mostly an instrumental album, from a band who have a real edge and drive. It is incredibly intense, and then they throw in "Youth" which is a power pop number with harmonies which sounds as if it could have come from another band altogether, right up until the bridge when you know that they are still there as it gets dirty, filthy and full of grunge. This is certainly not going to be for everyone, and definitely not for anyone who wants their prog to be clean and enjoyable throughout, but if you want an album that is pushing boundaries, and is quite definitely outside the mainstream then this may be for you.