Down The Rabbit Hole #1: Floscule (Ukrainian Black Metal)

Earlier this year I reflected on where to take this blog. Reviewing music has been my bread and butter for a long time now but I feel it has taken away from why I started this blog in the first place. It was a tool to discover new bands and explore far-flung music scenes, thanks in large to the Internet. I'm constantly discovering new bands and releases but I feel that (through time and the burden of pressure I've put on myself), I haven't been able to appreciate and immerse myself in the way I should have.

I have decided that now is the time to change that, subtly. Picking a starting point has been hard but I have finally found one. On this sticky summer evening in the UK, I bring you an introduction to Ukrainian black metal band Floscule. Members play or have previously played in bands including White Ward, Silvern and Waidelotte amongst many others.

Floscule formed in the Mykolaiv Oblast region of Ukraine in 2022 (according to Metal Archives). They consist of guitarist Serhii Kovalenko, bassist Anton Pelyanskii, Drummer Petro Buday, as well as vocalists Andrii Pechatkin and Vitalii Chelovenko. This line-up was responsible for creating and releasing their debut album Ї in 2024 via the very well-respected German label Vendetta Records.

Forming a band at a time of such turmoil for a country must have been tough but there’s a steadfast resilience that Ukranian bands embody. The cover-art of their debut album highlights only too well the plight that they have been through and continue to face at the hands of a deranged foreign dictator. 

If you’re wondering what they sound like, I’ll try and summarise as best I can. They’re a mix of more traditional crust/black metal and modern melodic/groovy black metal, without venturing into the realms of blackgaze. If you’re not one for the raw, icy black metal championed by Scandinavia, this will be a good half-way house for you.

Alongside wanting to share Floscule with you, I also wanted to use this post to help share emerging online music platform Ampwall. With Spotify becoming somewhat of a cesspit when it comes to supporting emerging bands/artists and Bandcamp upsetting it’s artist base by changing it’s payment methods, Ampwall offers bands/artists a way to grow organically while offering fans a genuine mechanism in which to support them.

You can stream and purchase Ї digitally via Floscule's Ampwall profile here - 

Floscule Linktree - https://linktr.ee/floscule_band

Mo'ynoq - A Place For Ash

Labels: Self-Released

Formats: Vinyl/CD/Tape/Digital

Formats: 23 Sep 2022

Tracklist: 

1. Penance

2. Throes Of Ardent Disposition

3. Effigies Adorned In Fire

4. Sychromysticisim

5. The Beast That Mourned At The Heart Of The Mountain

Last year I read about a new online platform called Ampwall. At the time, it was still in development (as it still is today) but wanted to offer something more to musicians at a time when bandcamp was being taken over by new owners. I signed up to it's newsletter to keep updated on progress and more recently, the site has invited a small number of bands and artists to upload their music to the platform, while also offering merch options too. 

Ampwall is spearheaded by Chris Grigg, also of US black metal band Woe. With that in mind, I wanted to write about a band using the platform as a way to promote both them further and also Ampwall, for those who are unfamiliar. I've featured Mo'ynoq here before, when I wrote about their 2019 full-length Dreaming In a Dead Language. A Place For Ash was independently by the band in 2022 on all formats.

As somebody who mainly consumes music (for review purposes) on either bandcamp of iTunes, having a new platform like Ampwall is exciting. The current and future state of music consumption is something that really fascinates me, as a heavy music fan and as a supporter of physical formats (weirdly). Mo’ynoq may seem like an unlikely starting point when it comes to exploring new digital platforms but they are an early adopter, having been invited to join by Ampwall’s founder. The US black metallers tear straight into opener ‘Penance’. It’s raw and chaotic to begin with before Mo’ynoq settle into a rhythm of sorts, all the while guided by blasting drums. The metallic guitars and rumbling bass shroud the percussion, leaving it bathed in hellish growls and bellows. 

‘Throes Of Ardent Disposition’ is a cross between ice-cold black metal and groove-laden, martial rhythmic intensity. It seems to draw influence from war metal, teutonic thrash and a mix of both Appalachian/Scandinavian black metal. From the previous barrage comes the musically atmospheric ‘Effigies Adorned In Fire’. I’ve drawn special attention to the instrumentation here but it plays a very significant role in the song, whilst being held up against the intense vocals, themselves drawing from post-metal at times. It’s bloody brilliant!

Penultimate song ‘Synchromysticism’ is an amalgamation of cascading riffs and catchy musicianship in general. Whatever your thoughts are on black metal as a sub-genre, it’s hard to ignore that it delivers now more than ever. Mo’ynoq prove that here and then some! For anybody who digs Twilight Fauna, ‘The Beast That Mourned At The Heart Of The Mountain’ comes close to that band’s musical approach initially before Mo’ynoq unleashes their true black metal might one final time. It’s an utterly engrossing song with an incredible mid-section filled with dramatic melody. It’s equally as dramatic as it draws the album to a close.

This is an expansive album filled with so much depth. It shows off the best of Mo’ynoq and their song-writing skill. Fantastic work. Promoting this release as well as previous releases here can only be a bonus for Mo’ynoq. Being able to spread the word about it fills me with joy. 

You can stream A Place For Ash and discover more about what Ampwall offers both bands and fans below:-

Mo'ynoq - https://www.facebook.com/moynoq

Ampwall - https://ampwall.com