S.C.A.L.P. is an underground Doom Metal band from Russia. The project was formed in 1991, but this is only their third full-length album. In Russia there are many interesting Doom Metal bands, because in the twenty-first century interesting projects are beginning to grow like mushrooms. “Чужая Война” is not one of those great Doom Metal releases – it has really annoying vocal parts, too primitive guitars, normal mood, but it is not involving enough. You can’t find great variety, well there are acoustic guitars in songs here… For the most part it is boring, but sometimes better than average.
The album begins with an instrumental song, which sounds like Progressive or instrumental Rock, all the music is constantly changing – one second the song sounds like Heavy/Doom, later it gets darker and more atmospheric colors. That’s why in the beginning I want to talk about the instrumental side. Despite the fact that everything is full of diversity, the technical side sucks. The first idea is that these are people from school, those who have a guitar for only one month in their hands and now try to play everything that I write, no matter that you bumble everywhere. The composition is not bad, and sometimes gives something really interesting it’s just that the technical side is poor and not professional. Is this typical to underground music scene? Probably, yes. But here it doesn’t create something dark, raw and grim atmosphere. It just shows us how bad it could be played. The drums are okay, there is nothing that I want to mention, no feeling, good and it’s all.
Vocally this is terrible. If you have heard drunken Russian people singing with no ear, it is a really similar view, just add second class Doom Metal music and here we have S.C.A.L.P.. It is difficult to say how bad the vocals are. Try to imagine a great introduction of the song, normal first accord, and then suddenly your song is destroyed by some outside noise – your neighbor shouting at his dog – why he is not pooping and pissing. Every atmospheric insertion, every wonderful instrumental song is damaged by this type of voice. And this is not normal singing – if you say some tensioning vowel with some annoying melody, you can sing like that, if you’re drunk and you feel fun, but this is an album, not a table in a bar, this is supposed to be music, not a party.
In the end I leave a good point for the album. It’s the solos, yes, they play solos and that sounds great. Okay, I probably re-value their technical side, on the second part of the album the situation changes a bit and we have nice solos reminiscent of good Heavy Metal bands like Accept or Iron Maiden. The worst thing is that the solos are found in only one or two songs, and end too fast.
“Чужая Война” is a really poor album, it has some nice insertions and songs, but the bad vocals and non-technical guitarist made listening to this album torturous. The band is old, their vocalist is dead, and they probably had to split-up. The question is why they decided to continue since they are just one of a thousand.

Author: Bloodie

S.C.A.L.P. has been categorized as doom/gothic, but that’s definitely not what you’ll find here. Going between thrash, black metal, and a few other genres, Чужая война provides a variety of sounds. The guitar hooks come off with a distinct, Russian quality while occasionally pulling out hardcore punk with more traditional thrash. The title of the album is hard to translate, coming off as ‘A Foreign War’ but it’s almost impossible to put into English properly. The bardic quality of the vocals brings it together for some awesome Russianness, but you won’t understand that aspect unless you’re familiar with the language and musicians like Okudzhava. Чужая война paints a picture of the vastness of the steppes with Cossacks jumping over running horses, but if you’re a foreigner with little knowledge of Russian culture, it’s going to push you away.

Author: Arkus

Es lo primero que escucho de esta banda rusa y puede que sea lo último. No tanto porque sea una patata, el tema es que no me dicen gran cosa.

Practican un Metal con parecidos a algunos discos de Paradise Lost, a los fineses Sentenced (no cuando hacían Death Metal), guitarras potentes, otras veces acústicas, algo de melodía, teclados Góticos y un guitarreo que llegó a recordarme a Pantera, no tanto por la manera de escribir riffs, más que nada por la potencia de la guitarra.

No acaba de convencerme la voz, no es que el tio cante mal, tampoco es que lo haga muy bien, pero es normalito y corriente y si a eso sumamos que canta en ruso con esa sonoridad tan “rara” que tiene pues hace que no tenga suficiente atractivo para mí.

La sensación que me queda tras escuchar el disco unas cuantas veces es que no destacan ni para lo bueno ni para lo malo, no hay ningún tema que llame la atención, es todo bastante similar y no sorprenden para nada.

Quienes disfruten a tope con estilos como estos pueden encontrarles más cosas positivas que yo, aún así, repito, es un disco muy corriente y moliente.

Author: Luctus

J’ai laissé S.C.A.L.P. sur un Through Eternity en demi-teinte : un bon potentiel mal utilisé selon moi. C’est donc aujourd’hui que je m’attaque à Chuzhava Voina avec une envie d’être surpris !

L’artwork est pas mal, on retrouve des photos des trois protagonistes, les décors sont sympas, peut être plus professionnels que sur Through Eternity.

L’album débute avec un dialogue subtil entre deux guitares. C’est très beau, c’est planant et j’ai de suite une lueur d’espoir dans les yeux. Malheureusement, cette lueur sera de courte durée. Puisque dès la fin de l’intro, on se retrouve sur une musique très (trop) éloignée du Doom/Death pour que je puisse m’y retrouver. La musique et les mélodies sont de qualité, assez proches du Heavy métal, mais dès l’entrée de la voix, je me retrouve toujours face à ce problème : apprécier la musique malgré cette voix “saturée” de mauvaise facture. Entre Through Eternity et Chuzhava Voina, 12 ans se sont écoulés et le groupe reste trop fidèle à ce qu’il faisait. Aucune évolution et du coup, toujours autant de mal à pénétrer le monde de S.C.A.L.P.

N’accrochant pas du tout la voix, un sentiment de gâchis m’envahit. Les idées ne sont pas mauvaises, pas très originales, mais les mélodies sont là, accrocheuses. Des morceaux tirent même leur épingle du jeu comme Teni (Tvoi Mir…) avec une voix “saturée” moins présente, ou Za Gorizont I où la voix est complètement absente. Mais même là, la démonstration entre les guitares devient vite sans intérêt. Za Gorizont II est quant à lui plus recherché, la voix se fait plus claire, plus maîtrisée et on commence à apprécier la musique de S.C.A.L.P. mais bien trop tard.

Avec de bonnes mélodies, des idées qui pourraient être plus exploitées, S.C.A.L.P. montre une nouvelle fois son potentiel. Mais pour un groupe existant depuis 1991, il serait temps de concrétiser ! Les fans de Heavy s’y retrouveront peut être, mais pas moi. Pour la première fois, je peux dire que je préfère la voix claire à la voix dite “saturée”, beaucoup plus maîtrisée !

Déçu donc par cet album, par ce groupe qui par un mauvais choix de voix (pas de chanteur) gâche toute sa musique. Concept à revoir !

Author: dark.pimousse, aujourd’hui

Chuzhaya Voina brings together a mostly doom style that erupts into more aggressive moments, then then goes into some rock ballad-esque numbers. The music is never bad, but never rises above a level of generically good.

What’s really hurting this album, though, is the vocals, and, more importantly, the role that they play. The vocals are largely in that kind of delivery common to countries formerly part of the U.S.S.R., a delivery that evokes a rabid dog barking: hoarse, mean, and not particularly musical. Here, the dog barks attempt to be semi-melodic, or try to go off and do their own solo thing while the music does what it’s doing, which results in consistently achieving the opposite of musicality. It’s ludicrous, especially considering how prominent the dorky vocals are placed in the mix, telling the listener that we should believe these vocals are a seriously viable anchor to hold the songs together. They are not.

Chuzhaya Voina would have been an average album, but the implementation of the terrible vocals make it an increasing drag to listen to.

Author: Roberto Martinelli

Come giа anticipato nella recensione di “Through Eternity”, la ristampa del primo album degli S.C.A.L.P. per mano della Bad Mood Man Records, eccoci qui a parlare invece della nuovissima pubblicazione del gruppo, ovvero il terzo disco, “Chuzhaya Voina”, che segue dopo parecchio tempo “Blood And Tears”, dato alle stampe nel 2004.
Dal secondo album, comunque, di cose ne sono successe, in primis la prematura scomparsa del cantante/bassista Evgeny Ryzhenok, che ha reso necessario un cambio di line-up. Cosм oltre a Alexey Kuznetsov alla batteria, abbiamo Pavel Peristiy che, oltre a occuparsi della chitarra come nelle precedenti pubblicazioni, prende posto anche dietro al microfono. Infine il nuovo arrivato, Evgeny Semenov, ricopre il ruolo di bassista.
Il CD che ho tra le mani и ancora una volta ben curato grazie all’ottima Bad Mood Man, che di certo non si accontenta di prodotti amatoriali e quindi abbiamo una copertina pregevole, una registrazione senza sbavature e una buonissima resa sonora; eppure questa volta c’и qualcosa che mi convince meno del solito. Il debutto “Through Eternity” riusciva a convincere anche nella sua ingenuitа (parliamo del 1997) e, anzi, proprio grazie a quella la musica del quartetto (all’epoca c’era anche un tastierista) l’opera risultava fresca e sincera; allo stesso modo “Blood And Tears” convinceva per i suoi progressi verso un contesto piщ professionale sebbene meno spontaneo e il risultato non era inferiore. Invece questa volta qualcosa si inceppa nel cammino degli S.C.A.L.P. e il risultato finale и un album che non и brutto, ma di certo non aggiunge assolutamente niente al percorso della band. Questo, attenzione, non vuol dire che l’album и una fotocopia dei precedenti, anzi, le sonoritа sono cambiate e di parecchio, ma intendo che questa nuova direzione artistica non sembra portare la band a fare un passo avanti.
Oltretutto l’incipit dell’album mi aveva fatto ben sperare: i due minuti di introduzione di “Rassvet” erano un bell’esempio di intreccio chitarristico, con la malinconia di una chitarra solista languida che si appoggia su un leggero arpeggio acustico. Giа dalla seconda “Skvoz Stenu”, invece, la musica si appiattisce su ritmiche pesanti e metalliche che perт mancano di mordente e dinamismo; la sezione ritmica sottolinea i momenti piщ forti senza grande inventiva e anche la voce di Peristiy non и sicuramente un passo avanti rispetto a quella giа non eccezionale del povero Ryzhenok.
Forti cambiamenti si vedono con chiarezza in altri episodi, come nel caso della title-track, che sacrifica l’atmosfera del primo disco in favore di una struttura piщ dondolante e groovy; il taglio della musica si fa nettamente piщ moderno e le chitarre vanno a pescare in certe soluzioni del thrash, senza perт riuscire ad averne la tagliente forza. Restano di tanto in tanto degli episodi interessanti come “Teni (Tvoi Mir…)”, piщ triste e malinconica, o “Za Gorizont II”, dove si vedono buoni spunti melodici. Perт la sensazione generale и quella di avere a che fare con un gruppo che dopo tanti anni vuole cambiare completamente pelle, senza sapere bene come muoversi.
Se quindi non conoscete gli S.C.A.L.P. e volete cercare qualcosa di adatto per scoprirli, il mio consiglio resta quello di puntare sulla ristampa del debutto appena pubblicata, oppure su “Blood And Tears”, che perт и forse un po’ piщ difficile da reperire. Per quanto riguarda il nuovo corso della band, speriamo che il prossimo album chiarisca loro le idee e che riescano a uscire da questo momento di confusione.

Author: Danny Boodman

Ветераны российской дум-метал сцены S.C.A.L.P. уже неоднократно становились гостями наших рубрик DemoZone и CD-Reviews, и вот они снова с нами – на этот раз сразу с двумя релизами: переизданием классического альбома ‘Through Eternity” 1997 года и совершенно новой пластинкой ‘Чужая Война’. О переиздании особо и сказать нечего – тот же трэк-лист, то же оформление, разве что имеет место быть ремастеринг, датированный 2005 годом, но радикальных изменений в звучании (особенно по меркам 2009 года) он не дал. Новый же альбом – это полностью русскоязычная работа, выдержанная в стиле дарк-метал, с надрывным вокалом и прямолинейными риффами. Работа добротная, но, увы, яркой или интересной её никак не назовешь – это, скорее, подарок преданным фэнам S.C.A.L.P., нежели шаг для завоевания новой аудитории.

Author: Ан.К.

Etter å ha lidd meg gjennom debuten til dette bandet, var det ikke særlig enkelt å gi seg i kast med deres siste tilskudd til diskografien. De har bare rukket å gi ut ei skive mellom denne og sin første fullengder, men å kvalitetssikre låtmaterialet sitt det har de neimen ikke klart. Alle de negative tingene som ble påpekt i forbindelse med debuten er også gjeldende her. Lyden og produksjonen er kraftig forbedret, naturlig nok, men der stopper også rosen. Det skal vedgås at denne skiva er marginalt bedre enn debuten og opparbeider seg dermed ett ekstrapoeng, men trioen er blottet for noenting som ligner musikalitet. For min del må bandet gjerne holde seg på de russiske stepper til evig tid, de har iallfall ingenting å gjøre på stereoanlegget…

This is the new S.C.A.L.P. album, and boy have they changed since back in the day. Well, I didn’t know of them back then, but since I got the re-release of their debut at the same time as this album I would be a complete moron if I didn’t hear a change of style. While the old material wasn’t really my cup of tea I still felt it was good stuff, but this is even further off my radar and I’m confident I won’t listen to the album again. Not saying it’s all-out horrible, it’s just not for me.
They’ve gone all-out melodic, completely melodic, and with a semi-industrial edge at times. I felt their old stuff was somewhat in the vein of older Tiamat, and to tell you the truth there’s something about Chuzhaya voina that reminds me of said band’s later efforts. You know, when Tiamat suddenly went all gay and left their death metal roots behind, the same way I feel about S.C.A.L.P.. I don’t get this laidback metal that feels almost like rock at times, just heavier. With a track like Teni (tvoi mir…) I’m guessing they’re going for a saddened and melancholic atmosphere, but it backfires horribly. Maybe it’s because the lyrics are in their native tongue this time, but it just sounds awful when the vocalist tries to sound emotional, he doesn’t have the voice for it. But I guess it’s a different vocalist from the Through eternity album, ‘cause it’s not as strong and powerful throughout the remainder of the album either. He goes for the same kind of raspy, yet clean, vocals, but I’m not convinced.
I have no idea what to think of this; there’s nothing wrong with their musicianship, but I don’t like it. A couple of times I even feel it reminds me of Clawfinger, minus the rap vocals and way heavier, or like a heavier Rammstein with a gothic touch. It’s mid-paced to slow music, all the way through, and it lacks any real punch. They go through heavier and more aggressive bits, like Solnce mertvih, but it still sounds like bad heavy metal in my ears. They also go all-out melodic with tracks like Kto, which sounds almost power metal bad. So it’s easy to say this is not my cup of tea. I don’t see any appeal in this type of music; the melodic leads are too melodic, the music in general is too mellow and the vocals aren’t very powerful. But I guess it’s all done with a sense of industrialism and progression, and that’s just not my bag (at least not like this).

К великому сожалению, группа S.C.A.L.P., не только не отошла окончательно, вместе со своим возрождением, от своего названия (имею в виду корней в дэте), но и нашла возможность, сделав перерыв на создание коллектива Инталия, вернуть все прошлое в настоящее, потеряв чувство стиля и испортив зародившееся восхищение от своего дебютного альбома.

На новом альбоме новособранного коллектива, который распространялся по поводу качества записи дебютника, мало того, что вы услышите звук, едва ли не более плохой, чем тогда. Ко всему прочему полностью утеряна нить, по которой вилась эстетика группы, все те чувства и атмосфера, которые были заложены на старте. Теперь, с ватными ударными поддерживающими столь же пещерные гитары, на этот раз выведенные чуть вперед и без эффекта эхо, зато “мясом” звука поедающие все вокруг, в том числе и гнусавую соло гитару, коллектив словно отскочил назад, представляя некую помесь своей собственной дум стилистики с чем-то подобным недо-трешу (“Черный Обелиск”, например). Наибольшее влияние на это оказывают даже не возросшие до дэтовых скорости песен, не неудачная агрессивная подача материала, а вокал – хриплый крик, в духе худших образцов советской тяжелой сцены. Где уж там чувственный хрип или чистый вокал – хорошо, если так получается…

Лишь две композиции вызывают положительные эмоции в процессе прослушивания “Кто” и дилогия “За Горизонт”, которую я позволю себе объединить в моем восприятии. Все остальное настолько бездумно и не интересно, что диву даешься, как можно так снизойти с небес на землю. По большей части придэтованный хеви-треш диссонирует не только с прошлыми работами, но и с хорошей музыкой в целом. Полубаллады в духе “Тени” очень напоминают нечто вроде Лепс meets Paradise Lost – ну разве это дело? А истерические “Жажда” и заглавная вещь, просто вырывают желание слушать с корнем. Лирика похожа на песни раненых, ну или здоровых, солдат у метро, в которой красной линией проходит некая (кажется, даже догадываюсь какая) война, теряющаяся среди стандартных штампов детей на обложках, глаз, смотрящих на тебя и внутренних лабиринтов неясных блужданий, внезапно разрывающих военные нити диска, таящиеся в русскоязычных текстах. Оформление, частично о котором упомянуто в предыдущем предложении, к тому же выполнено на уровне демо-запси, особенно дико странно расположенные строки технической информации, которые в лучшем случае можно прочитать, а не понять.

Отвратительная метаморфоза из красивой, душевной музыки, в балаганные воспоминания прошлых лет. Нужен ли нам такой S.C.A.L.P. большой вопрос… иногда можно просто красиво уйти, а если возвращаться иными, то, забыв и простив себе все сделанное, а, не трогая его одной рукой, и стоя где-то в другом месте.

Author: Maliceth aka Алк.