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致命一击 - 乌克兰Death / Funeral Doom Metal乐队Mental Torment专访

今天采访到的是一支来自乌克兰的Death / Funeral Doom Metal乐队Mental Torment，组建于2009年的Mental Torment在成立不久之后发行了第一张Demo作品“Promo Tracks 2009”，这张作品包含了9首歌曲，长度达到了1个小时，其中包含了3首乐队现场录制的歌曲，残暴的Death Metal加上凄凉，缓慢的Doom，Mental Torment乐队营造出一种独特的氛围，2013年乐队的第一张正式专辑“On the Verge...”在俄罗斯厂牌Solitude Productions发行，引起了当时广泛个关注，在第一张正式专辑发行之后，2015年乐队突然宣布解散，直到2019年才重新组建并且在2021年发行了他们的第二张正式专辑“Ego:genesis”，这张专辑依旧是一张高水准的作品，今年乐队也刚刚发布了他们的第三张正式专辑“Dead Shot Revival”，新专辑发行之际乐队的吉他手Mykhailo，歌手Roman，吉他手Maria也与杂志取得联系进行了一次专访！

（V: 代表笔者 M: 代表Mykhailo M: 代表Maria R: 代表Roman）

Today's interview is with Ukrainian Death / Funeral Doom Metal band Mental Torment, formed in 2009, Mental Torment released their first demo ‘Promo Tracks 2009’, a 9 track album that is 1 hour long and contains 3 tracks recorded live. ‘Promo Tracks 2009’, a nine-song, hour-long project featuring three songs recorded live by the band, brutal Death Metal and bleak, slow Doom, Mental Torment created a unique atmosphere, and in 2013 the band's first official album ‘On the Verge...’ Released on the Russian label Solitude Productions in 2013, the band attracted a lot of attention at the time. After the release of their first official album, the band suddenly disbanded in 2015, only to reform in 2019 and release their second official album ‘Ego:genesis’ in 2021. ‘The album is still of a high standard and this year the band has just released their third album ‘Dead Shot Revival’, which was accompanied by an interview with Mykhailo, Roman and Maria. The band also got in touch with the magazine for an interview!

(V: for the author M: for Mykhailo M: for Maria R: for Roman)

采访对象：Mykhailo（Mental Torment乐队吉他手）

采访时间：2024.11.15

V: 你好朋友很高兴认识你，非常感谢你接受采访。我想这是你们乐队第一次接受中国杂志的采访吧。先向中国的乐迷们问好吧。Mental Torment是2009年的一支历史悠久的老乐队。谁提议组建这个乐队的？

Hello, brother. Nice to meet you and thank you very much for being interviewed by me. I think this is the first time for your band to be interviewed by China magazine. First of all, I would like to say hello to the fans in China. Mental Torment is an old band with a long history in 2009. Who proposed to form this band?

M: 大家好，谢谢你的邀请。这确实是我们第一次接受来自如此遥远地方的采访，这对我们来说确实是一种荣幸。在2010年代当我们开始做音乐时，我们甚至不敢想我们现在有如此多的听众。我们的故事始于2009年我与第一位吉他手、前Anatolii Doroshenko的会面，当时我正迈出音乐的第一步，那时我刚毕业（17岁）我在当地的音乐论坛上寻找二手电吉他的销售话题，其中之一成为了我成为音乐家的起点。Anatolii Doroshenko在卖他的蓝色IbanezGRG270，这是我的第一个乐器。交易结束后我回到了我的家乡，但我们之后在网上交流，因为我住在另一个地方（2009年初）就在我们聊天的时候，我收到了加入Mental Torment的邀请。所以说Mental Torment成立日期是2009年9月，当时第一批阵容进行了第一次排练。那时候只有我，键盘手Yaroslav Mosiiyevsky（我儿时的朋友），第一个主唱Madman（lvan）和Anatolii。

Hi there, thanks for the invite. It's the first time we have given an interview to such distant lands and it's an honor for us for sure. Back in the 2010s, when we started our journey, we could’ve even imagined having such a wide geography of listeners. Our story begins with my meeting with the first guitarist and former Anatolii Doroshenko in 2009 when I was making my first steps in music. I just finished school at the time (I was 17 years old). I was looking at local music forums sell-topics for used electric guitars. And one of them became a starting point for me as a musician. Anatolii was selling his blue Ibanez GRG270, which became my first instrument. After the deal, I returned to my home city, but we continued to communicate online as I lived in another region (beginning of 2009). And while we were chatting, I received an invitation to join Mental Torment. The official birth date of Mental Torment is September 2009, when the first rehearsals with the first lineup were performed. There was only me, keyboardist Yaroslav Mosiiyevsky (my childhood friend), the first vocalist Madman (Ivan), and Anatolii.

V: 你们在2023-2024年更换了歌手和吉他手，为什么原始成员退出了乐队？新成员如何加入乐队？你对新成员的演出满意吗？

You changed singers and guitarists in 2023-2024. Why did the first-generation members quit the band? How do new members join the band? Are you satisfied with the work of the new members?

M: 其实在你说的这之前，原始阵容就以及开始变化了。2015年之后乐队停止了活动，一些音乐人（包括我）加入了其他项目。Mental Torment直到2019年才又开始活动，Yaroslav和我重逢并决定重新组合Mental Torment，因为当时乐队有几首未发行的歌曲，我们想把它们带给观众。我给每个成员写了一个Demo，基本上大家都觉得这个挺不错的，但在人声和鼓方面还有些问题。原来的鼓手Andrii Avramets把他的乐器换成了低音吉他，主唱Madman因为个人原因没有加入我们。经过短暂的搜索，我们完成了我们的阵容，当Artur Myrvoda作为鼓手和Roman Sagajdachnyj作为主唱加入乐队。在他们的帮助下，我们开始了“Ego:genesis”专辑的制作。而上次阵容变动是因为个人原因，我们失去了第二位吉他手和键盘手。但现在我可以说，目前的阵容Mental Torment都是非常优秀，有抱负的乐手。每个人给我们现在的作品带来了独特的东西。我们最新的“Dead Shot Revival”LP的歌词，由Roman Kostiuchenko创作，就这件事情我感到很自豪。而Maria Vynohradska不仅是一位才华横溢的吉他手，也是一位优秀的歌手。所以我们肯定会让我们未来的歌曲有更多的声音，就像老乐队November Doom或Shape Of Despair。此外我们决定停止寻找新的键盘手并在现场演出时使用程序。如果你想来，我们肯定愿意接受你。

The changes to the original lineup began before that. After 2015, the band stopped its activities, and some musicians (including me) joined other projects. MT was inactive till in 2019 Yaroslav and I met and decided to try to reunite the Mental Torment because back then the band had several unreleased tracks and we wanted to bring them to the audience. I wrote a DM for each member, and almost everyone accepted this idea, but there were problems with vocals and drums. Original drummer Andrii Avramets changed his instrument to a bass guitar, and the vocalist Madman refused to join us for personal reasons. After a short search, we completed our lineup, when Artur Myrvoda joined the band as drummer and Roman Sagajdachnyj as a vocalist. With this set of musicians, we started our work on “ego:genesis” album. The last lineup change happened due to personal reasons, we lost 2nd guitar player and keyboard. But now I can say that the current lineup of Mental Torment is very ambitious and strong musicians. And everyone has brought something unique to our current sound. Our lyrics in the latest “Dead Shot Revival” LP, written by Roman Kostiuchenko, is that thing, which I am proud of. And Maria Vynohradska is not only a talented guitar player but also a good singer. So we will make our future songs multi-voiced for sure, like good old Novembers Doom or Shape Of Despair. Also we decided to stop looking for a new keyboard player and use playback during live shows. But we always opened for offers, if such would appear.

V: 你的乐队在2015年宣布解散，直到2019年才重组。是什么让你们宣布解散，又是什么让你们又走到了一起？

Your band announced its dissolution in 2015 and didn't reform until 2019. What made you announce your dissolution and what made you get together again?

M: 正如我所提到的，主要原因是乐手之间的内部分歧。有些人想同时参与多个项目，有些人则觉得力不从心。2013年Yaroslav和我决定离开乐队。后来我们参加了Endlesshade项目，这是一个非常好的经历，让我们实现了在Mental Torment里面无法实现的想法。伴随着我们离开的是丑闻，而不是最美好的回忆。但当2014年战争开始时（俄罗斯入侵乌克兰东部地区）我们所有人都有强烈的公民立场。为了不成为旁观者，我决定组织一场慈善音乐会并邀请MT的原始阵容和其他很优秀的乐队一起演出，为战斗医务人员筹集资金。也许这就是我们团结起来的原因，最重要的是，我们和解了。

As I mentioned, the main reason was internal disagreements among the musicians. Some wanted to play in parallel projects, others felt some pressure. Yaroslav and I decided to leave the band in 2013. Later, we took part in the Endlesshade project, which was a very good experience and allowed us to realize ideas that the situation at the time did not allow us to realize within MT. Scandals, not the best memories, accompanied our leaving. But when the war started in 2014 (russia's invasion of the eastern regions of Ukraine), all of us had a strong citizen position. In order not to stand on the sidelines, I decided to organize a charity concert and invited the original MT lineup along with other cool bands to play the show and raise funds for combat medics. Perhaps this is what united us and, most importantly, reconciled us.

V: 你们乐队的每张专辑都有很好的录音效果。你是在哪个录音室录制这张专辑的？谁为你制作的专辑？新专辑的录制过程顺利吗？

Every album of your band has excellent recording effect. In which studio did you record the album? Who produced the album for you? Did the recording process of the new album go smoothly?

M: 我们在基辅当地的工作室录制了我们的首张“On The Verge”，但可惜这个工作室现在已经不存在了。但这是一次很棒的经历，让我个人想要学习声音工程和录音的知识。在2018-2019年期间，我在和老师的吉他练习中获得了最初的录音经验，之后我决定自己录制歌曲和混音，在做这个决定的时候，我已经有了必要的录音设备和软件。而COVID-19的爆发说明我的决定是正确的，“ego:genesis”和“Dead Shot Revival”的录音，都是在我的家庭录音室里录制的。我也做了混音和母带。总的来说所有的吉他部分都是由我来录制的，因为在录制第二张专辑的时候，Anatolii有了一个孩子，他把大部分的空闲时间都花在了家庭上，在录制第三张专辑的时候他离开了乐队。除此之外一切都进行得很顺利很有趣。特别是在录制人声的过程中，当新的想法诞生并立即付诸实践时。现在的主要困难是战争和俄罗斯军队对民用能源基础设施的炮击，“Dead Shot Revival”的最后几首歌是在没有电的黑暗中录制的。但是我们成功地完成了这项工作，我对结果感到非常自豪。

We recorded our debut “On The Verge” at the local Kyiv studio that unfortunately no longer exists now. But it was a great experience that personally made me want to learn the art of sound engineering and recording. When I gained initial recording experience during guitar practices with my teacher during 2018-2019, I decided that I would record and mix songs on my own. At the time of this decision, I already had the necessary equipment and software for recording. And the outbreak of Covid-19 only confirmed the correctness of my decision. So, the recording of “ego:genesis” and “Dead Shot Revival” performed, let's say, in my home studio. I also did the mixing and mastering. In general, it happened so that all guitar parts were recorded mainly by me, because during the recording of the 2nd album, Anatolii had a child born, and he devoted most of his free time to his family, and during the recording of the 3rd album, he left the band. Other than that, everything went smoothly and interesting. Especially during the recording of the vocals, when new ideas were born and immediately put into practice. Now the main difficulty is the war and the shelling of civilian energy infrastructure by the russian army. The last tracks for “Dead Shot Revival” were recorded in the darkness with no electricity. But we managed to finish the job, and I'm very proud of the results.

V: 悲剧，悲伤，厄运，孤独是你们乐队的音乐主题。为什么选择这样一个音乐主题？你想通过这样一个音乐主题表达什么？你们还写了歌词，这些歌词是谁写的，又是什么给了他灵感？

Tragedies, Sorrow, Doom, Solitude are the music themes of your band. Why did you choose such a music theme? What do you want to express through such a musical theme? You also wrote the lyrics. Who wrote these lyrics and what inspired him?

M: 说实话，从我小时候起，我的音乐品味就和现在大不相同。我喜欢各种各样的另类音乐和金属乐。相当时髦的体裁。然而Anatolii引导我让我接触到了古典音乐类型，Doom Metal也是他介绍的。这种音乐的氛围吸引了我，因为我在看似悲伤的音乐中感受到某种光明。当我第一次听到Nadja的现场表演时（并且确实进入了Drone的世界）这种印象刻在了我的脑海里。此外还有一些古老的蓝调，由于它的声音不具侵略性，如果你从各个方面看这些歌曲，可能会提出相当感性的主题。我承认我的特殊生活经历（痛苦的失去和艰难的童年）给我留下了深刻的印象，这种印象与这种类型的一般概念产生了共鸣，我可以把它变成音乐，我也这样做。

To be honest, since my childhood, my musical tastes were very different from what I have now. I liked all kinds of alternative and nu-metal. Quite fashionable genres. However, Anatolii introduced me to classical music genres, and Doom Metal was one of them. That music catches me by its atmosphere because I feel a certain light through the seemingly sad music. This impression was completed when I heard Nadja live for the first time(and did step into the Drone world). In addition, there are references to the good old blues, which, due to its non-aggressive sound, could raise quite sensual themes if you look at the songs from all sides. I admit that my particular life experience (painful losses and a difficult childhood) impressed me, and this impression resonates with the general concept of the genre, I can turn it into music and I do it as well.

R: 事实上我们歌曲的歌词并不是关于孤独、渴望、绝望、痛苦或任何类似的东西。我们不去探索它们，我们不去了解它们的本质，我们不会爱上他们。我们的歌词，不管听起来多么陈腐，都是关于生活的。它们关乎我们所有人，关乎我们生活的每一天。当我说“我们”时，我指的是所有的人——不分国籍、年龄、性别等。每个人的每一天都充满了恐惧、怀疑、痛苦和焦虑。有时很强烈，有时几乎不引人注意，但我们每个人每天都会经历一些负面情绪和孤独。真正的孤独，是当你意识到无论有多少人试图帮助你（这种情况很少发生）你都必须自己处理所有让你害怕和伤害你的事情。这就是我们要讨论的——在永恒的孤独和绝望的背景下生活。然而我们的歌词有另一个维度，我们乌克兰人生活在战争中。虽然对全世界来说这场战争只持续了三年，但对我们来说它持续的时间要长得多。我说的甚至不是2014年，俄罗斯第一次占领我们的土地，而是在那之前几百年，俄罗斯一直在故意摧毁我们，摧毁我们的身份。仅在19世纪，它就多次正式禁止乌克兰语——这些都是有记录的，在这之前和之后又有多少次。这种威胁、仇恨和杀死你的欲望一直伴随着我们。我们出生，我们结婚，我们组建家庭，我们建立事业，我们不断地知道，我们只是因为做我们自己而被憎恨。因此我们比任何人都了解生活在永恒的孤独和威胁中。我们的歌曲PISOK使用了乌克兰作家Domontovych关于“火灾和爆炸的生活焦虑”的话。100多年前乌克兰因为俄罗斯而发生爆炸时，他写下了这些话。现在他们每天都在经历灾难，也是因为俄罗斯。与此同时俄罗斯从来没有勇气直接和坦率地说出自己的意图。出于某种原因，它一直担心乌克兰人会觉得自己是乌克兰人，他们会有自己的文化，自己的书籍，自己的歌曲。所以她千方百计地毁掉了它。这就是为什么对我们这些艺术家来说，讲述一百年前被俄罗斯杀害的乌克兰作家是很重要的，因为他们用乌克兰语写作，想要生活在一个自由的国家。他们在历史上被称为“被处决的文艺复兴”，因为他们刚开始复兴乌克兰文化就被杀害了。与此同时对我们来说，重要的是要向那些以前用乌克兰语写作的人致敬，因为没有他们，就没有人会追随他们，这就是为什么我们在歌曲中使用这些杰出人物作品的节选。

In fact, the lyrics of our songs are not about loneliness, longing, despair, pain, or anything like that. We don't explore them, we don't try to know their essence. We don't fall in love with them. Our lyrics, no matter how trite it may sound, are about life. They are about all of us, about every day that we all live. And when I say “we”, I mean all people - regardless of nationality, age, gender, etc. Every day of every person is full of fears, doubts, pain, anxiety. Sometimes big, sometimes barely noticeable, but every day each of us experiences some negative emotions. And loneliness. Real loneliness, when you realize that no matter how much someone tries to help you (which happens rarely), you will have to deal with everything that scares you and hurts you on your own. And that's what we're talking about - life against the backdrop of eternal loneliness and despair. However, our lyrics have another dimension. We in Ukraine are living in a war. And although for the world this war has been going on for only three years, for us it has been going on much longer. And I'm not even talking about 2014, when Russia first occupied our lands, but about hundreds of years before that, when Russia was constantly deliberately destroying us, destroying our identity. In the 19th century alone, it officially banned the Ukrainian language several times-it's all documented. And how many times before and after that. And this feeling of threat, hatred, and a desire to kill you is always with us. We are born, we get married, we start families, we build careers, and we constantly know that we are hated simply for being us. So we know about living against the backdrop of eternal loneliness and threats like no one else. Our song PISOK uses the words of the Ukrainian writer Domontovych about the “living anxiety of fires and explosions”. He wrote these words when explosions were going off in Ukraine because of Russia more than 100 years ago. And now they are thundering again every day. And again because of Russia. At the same time, Russia has never had the courage to speak directly and frankly about its intentions. And for some reason, it has always been afraid that Ukrainians would feel like Ukrainians, that they would have their own culture, their own books, their own songs. That's why she destroyed it in every possible way. That's why it was important for us as artists to tell about Ukrainian writers whom Russia killed a hundred years ago because they wrote in Ukrainian and wanted to live in a free country. They went down in history as the “Executed Renaissance” because they were killed as soon as they began to revive Ukrainian culture. At the same time, it was important for us to pay tribute to those who had written in the Ukrainian language before because without them there would have been no one who came after them. That's why we use excerpts from the works of these prominent people in our songs.

V: 你能谈谈你的创作过程吗？新专辑的创作过程如何？

Can you talk about your creative process? How did the creative process of the new album go?

M: 关于新专辑的想法在2023年春天左右就有了。当时我们停止了与主唱的合作，我们的音乐会活动也暂停了一段时间。在我们寻找新主唱的时候，我拿着吉他，做了一些即兴演奏，录了一些有趣的片段，然后配上其它的乐器，编成了一首完整的歌曲。在2023年夏天，Roman加入了我们，那时我已经写了3首歌，而且我们正在乐队积极排练。所以Roman可以立即为歌曲增添一些好的片段并实现他的自己对音乐的想法，他成功地做到了，在录制的过程中我们有很多乐趣。我们一完成准备和排练，就在同年秋天回到舞台上，向观众展示了一个新的阵容（我们也有新的贝斯手Andrii加入我们，而暂时取代贝斯手的Yaroslav又回到了关键角色）不幸的是，Anatolii和Yaroslav在2024年离开了我们。但同时他也让我可以尝试不同的声音，包括合成器的声音设计和更多的扩展吉他方法，尽管这些在Doom Metal中并不常用。当Maria加入我们时，她成为了我们错过的一年，她的吉他部分和人声线条完美地发出类似LP声音。

Ideas for the new album began to emerge around the spring of 2023. At that time, we stopped cooperating with the vocalist, and our concert activities were put on hold for a while. While we looked for a new singer, I sat with my guitar, did some jam, and recorded interesting pieces, which I then arranged with other instruments and composed into a completed song. In the summer of 2023, Roman joined us, and I had already written 3 songs that we were actively rehearsing by the band. So Roman had a great opportunity to immediately breathe life into the songs and implement his ideas, which he successfully did. We had a lot of fun during the recording process. As soon we were done preparation and rehearsals, we returned to the stage in the fall of the same year and presented the audience with a new lineup (we also new bassist Andrii joined us and Yaroslav, who temporarily replaced the bass player, returned to the keys role). Unfortunately, Anatolii and Yaroslav left us in 2024. On the other hand, it kind of freed my hands, and I could experiment with the sound, including the sound design for synthesizers and more extended guitar approaches, which are not commonly used in doom metal. When Maria joined us, she became that missed gear, who makes LP sound perfectly with her guitar parts and vocal lines.

M: 是的，当我加入乐队时有一些部分已经写好了，然后我加入了一些我自己的特点，比如吉他独奏和伴唱。我还想补充一点，我们为其中一首歌曲“PISOK”拍摄了一段全长的音乐视频。这是一个非常酷的创作过程，尽管我们在相当艰苦的地点拍摄。这是乌克兰的一个城市和村庄，在战争开始时就被占领，所以我们设法充分传达了这张专辑的氛围，至少我希望这样。破碎的，废弃的房子，杂草丛生的田地……一切都是我自己拍的

Yeah. I joined the band when some of the parts were already written, so I rather added some of my own features, such as guitar solos and backing vocals. I would also like to add that we shot a full-length music video for one of the songs, "PISOK". It was a super cool creative process, despite the fact that we filmed in fairly difficult locations. This is a city and village in Ukraine that were under occupation at the beginning of the war, so we managed to fully convey the atmosphere of the album, at least I hope so. Broken, abandoned houses, overgrown fields... I filmed everything myself and am now in the process of editing, so follow the updates!

V: 你的Logo设计得很漂亮。谁为你设计的这个Logo？你的每一张专辑都像一件艺术品，谁为你设计了这些艺术品？

Your logo is beautifully designed. Who designed this logo for you? Every album of yours is really like a work of art. Who designed these works of art for you?

M: 很抱歉，关于这个问题的答案很短——我不知道谁是作者...这是我离开乐队时画的。但我也喜欢它，它是过去的遗产，所以我们不会改变它，也不太可能改变它。至于专辑封面“ego:genesis”的所有艺术都是由前主唱Roman创作的（是的在Mental Torment的传记中有两个Romans和两个Andriis，嘿嘿）他是一个非常有才华的纹身艺术家，所以他不仅有歌词，而且有视觉效果，“Dead Shot Revival”的封面是Maria做的，我们一起构思了大致的概念。我想她能告诉你更多。老实说这项工作不是在没有人工智能的帮助下完成的，它有一种悲伤压抑的历史氛围。画布上是诗人和艺术家的黑色剪影，就像幽灵一样。后面的落日更加浓重，象征着这些人的希望和坚韧。背景是乌克兰哈尔科夫20世纪20年代的建筑，指的是我们历史上的进行文艺复兴的时期。

Unfortunately, the answer about the logo will be short - I don't know who is author :) It was drawn when I was out of the band. But I like it too, and it's a legacy of the past, so we don't change it and are unlikely to. As for the Album covers, all the art for “ego:genesis” was created by the former vocalist Roman (yes, there are two Romans and two Andriis in Mental Torment's biography, hehe). He's a very talented tattoo artist, so he had something to say not only by lyrics but also visually. The cover for “Dead Shot Revival” was made by Maria, and we developed the general concept together. I think she can tell you more. Let's be honest, this work was not done without the help of artificial intelligence. It has a sad depressive historical vibe. On the canvas are dark silhouettes of poets and artists, like ghosts. The accentuated sunset behind symbolizes hope and resilience of these people. In the background are Ukrainian, Kharkiv buildings of the 1920s, which refers to the period of the Executed Renaissance in our history.

M: 艺术的灵感来自于专辑的歌词和氛围。它带有一种阴郁、忧郁的历史气氛。这幅油画描绘了诗人和艺术家的黑暗、幽灵般的剪影，就像徘徊的灵魂。他们身后耀眼的夕阳代表着这些人的希望和韧性。在背景中哈尔科夫20世纪20年代的建筑唤起了我们历史上的执行文艺复兴时代。

So, the art was inspired by the lyrics and atmosphere of the album. It carries a somber, melancholic historical atmosphere. The canvas features dark, ghostly silhouettes of poets and artists, like lingering spirits. A prominent sunset behind them represents hope and the resilience of these individuals. In the background, buildings from 1920s Kharkiv evoke the era of the Executed Renaissance in our history.

V: 你们所有的专辑都在Metallurg Music发行，这是一个由波兰和乌克兰共同建立的厂牌。你们是怎么联系到这个厂牌合作的？你对这个厂牌的工作满意吗？

All your albums are released at Metallurg Music, a brand jointly established by Poland and Ukraine. How did you get in touch with this brand to cooperate? Are you satisfied with the work of this brand?

M: 是的，我们很高兴能与Metallurg音乐合作。我认识Volodymir很长时间了，从我们乐队的早期开始。他组织的所有音乐会和推广活动都是非常优秀的并且反馈都很好。当然我们很高兴能继续与Metallurg Music合作并非常感谢他们的支持。

Yes, we are very pleased to be working with Metallurg Music. I have known Volodymir for a long time, since the early years of MT. Everything he organized in terms of concerts and promotion was always very high quality and left only positive emotions. And of course, we are happy to continue to work with Metallurg Music and are very grateful for their support.

V: 首先祝贺你发行了最新专辑，你的作品给我留下了很深刻的印象。你的作品听起来像一个technical death乐队，但doom metal承载了你们的音乐。你偶尔会在你的作品中加入主吉他、钢琴等各种琴键，来调整稳定的重复片段，让你的作品更具表现力。你认为你的工作怎么样？新专辑和旧专辑有什么不同吗？

First of all, congratulations on your latest album. I was deeply impressed by your work. Your work sounds like a technical death band, but there is a slow doom to provide an alternative. Occasionally, lead guitars, pianos and various other keys will be found in your works to adjust the stable repetitive segments and make your works more expressive. What do you think of your work? Is there any change between the new album and the old one?

M: 感谢你在我们的音乐中关注这些细节，我能感受到你对此十分的关心，所以就像在“ego:genesis”发行期间一样，我的目标是为Doom Metal类型带来一些新的东西，当然它现在仍然是一样的。我们尝试将它与其他类型混合在一起来表达这种音乐的情感。因为在我看来，这样的实验让这类游戏得以生存和发展。Doom Metal（尤其是它的欧洲流派）是一种非常不受欢迎的极端音乐类型，至少在我们国家是这样。没什么年轻人愿意听，不幸的是经典Doom Metal的老粉丝正在离开这个世界，所以我认为有必要吸引新一代的听众并激励他们了解这一类型的新乐队，研究历史和深入根源，是的将首张专辑“On the Verge”与我们今天所做的相比，我可以说乐队成长了。成长为作曲家，成长为表演者。这是一个合乎逻辑的过程，也就是成长。当然我不想停下来，希望我们会继续用新专辑来取悦听众。

Thank you for paying attention to such details in our music. I can feel your immersion into the process. So, as it was during the release of “ego:genesis”, it remains the same now - my goal is to bring something new to the Doom Metal genre and try to mix it with other genres to express the emotionality of this music. Because IMHO, such experiments allow the genre to live and evolve. Doom Metal (especially its European school) is a quite unpopular genre among the generally unpopular extreme music. At least in our country. No one is getting younger, and unfortunately, old fans of classic Doom Metal are leaving this world, so I think it's necessary to attract a new generation of listeners and motivate them to get acquainted with both new bands in this genre and study the history and deep to the roots. And yeah, comparing the debut “On The Verge” with what we do today, I can say that the band has grown. Grown as a composer, grown as a performer. And this is a logical process, which is growth. And of course, I don't want to stop and hope that we will continue to delight the listener with new releases.

V: 除了在2024年发行新专辑，你还有什么工作要做？你能透露一些信息吗？

What other work do you have to do besides releasing a new album in 2024? Can you tell us some information?

M: 是的，我们将于11月16日在基辅举行一场演出，这是一场小型的专辑展示（顺便说一下，你可以在线观看，所以不要忘记订阅我们的社交网络）除了Mental Torment活动，Yaroslav（前键盘手）和我几乎完成了我们的stone - rock项目的专辑录制。所以我希望我们也能完成它，我也希望我们能有机会结合不同类型的项目。

Yes, we will play one show in Kyiv on 16th November, a kind of small presentation of the album (by the way, you can watch the online stream, so don't forget to subscribe to our social networks ). In addition to Mental Torment activities, Yaroslav (ex-keys) and I have almost done album recording for our Stoner-Rock project. So I hope we will finish it as well. And I also hope that we will have the opportunity to mix a couple of projects of different genres.

V: 你们乐队参加过哪些音乐节？哪些音乐节给你留下了深刻的印象？你能告诉我们当时的气氛吗？2024年你还打算参加哪些音乐节？

What music festivals did your band participate in? What music festivals left a deep impression on you? Can you tell us about the atmosphere at that time? What other music festivals are you going to attend in 2024?

M: 不幸的是，由于乌克兰的战争，出于安全考虑，目前没有举行任何重大节日，这些都是在配有防空洞的俱乐部里举行的小规模活动。这是一场有4-5个乐队参加的演出，他们都很不错。说到过去我对我的Brutal Assault之旅印象深刻，这是捷克共和国每年举行的一次。在那里，我看到了很多给我留下音乐印记的乐队（Katatonia, Esoteric, Agaloch, Rosetta, Solstafir, Sun O)))）我喜欢欧洲的组织方式和对细节的关注，这样每个人都会很满意，不会感到无聊。那是一种自由和真正金属的氛围。如果我们谈论我作为音乐家参加的音乐节，那当然是Doom Over Kyiv（Mental Torment和Endlesshade都参加过）。

Unfortunately, because of the war in Ukraine, no major festivals are being held at the moment for safety reasons. These are fairly small-scale events in clubs, equipped with bomb shelters. This is a gig with 4-5 bands and they are quite good. Speaking of the past, I was impressed by my trip to Brutal Assault, which takes place annually in the Czech Republic. There, I saw a lot of bands live that left a musical imprint on me (Katatonia, Esoteric, Agaloch, Rosetta, Solstafir, Sun O)))). I liked the European approach to the organization and attention to detail so that every visitor was satisfied and not bored. It was an atmosphere of freedom and real metal. If we talk about the festivals where I participated as a musician, it's, of course, Doom Over Kyiv (I played within both Mental Torment and Endlesshade).

V: Mental Torment是一支优秀的乐队。我会一直支持和关注你们的乐队。我也希望通过这次采访，让更多的中国乐迷关注和支持你们的乐队。最后你有什么想对中国乐迷说的吗？

Mental Torment is an excellent band. I will always support and pay attention to your band. I also hope that more China fans will pay attention to and support your band through this interview. Do you have anything to say to China fans at the end?

M: 谢谢你的话，我很感激。我们很高兴我们在你们国家有观众，我们鼓励你们了解我们的地下舞台并以各种可能的方式支持它。我们有很多不同风格的有趣乐队，我们的中国听众会喜欢的。当然我们希望当情况改变时，我们将能够访问你的节日，让你了解真正的乌克兰Doom Metal \m/谢谢你的到来。

Thanks for your words, I appreciate it. We are very happy that we have an audience in your country, and we encourage you to get to know our underground scene and support it in every way possible. We have a lot of interesting bands in quite unusual genres that our listeners in China will like. And, of course, we hope that when the situation changes, we will be able to visit your festivals get you into True Ukrainian Doom Metal \m/ Thank you for being with us.