Amatory
Amatory (commonly stylized as [AMATORY], to fit their logo) is a Russian metalcore band from Saint Petersburg, formed in 1998 by Denis [DENVER] Zhivotovsky and Daniil [STEWART] Svetlov.
[AMATORY] | |
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 [AMATORY] performing in Saint Petersburg in November 2019. From left to right: Ilya Borisov, Sergei Raev, Daniil Svetlov, Denis Zhivotovsky, Dmitriy Muzychenko. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | St. Petersburg, Russia |
| Genres | |
| Years active | Since 2001 (1998) |
| Labels |
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| Associated acts | Animal Jazz, ATL, RAM |
| Website | www |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Later in 1998, they were joined by Eugene PJ Potekhin, but the official birthday of the band is April 1st, 2001, when Sergey [GANG] Osechkin joined and the trio became a quartet.[1]
They are considered to be among the pioneers of Russian alternative metal [2], but their musical approach changed over the years [3].
Despite relatively little media exposure, Amatory has gained a huge following in a short time through their live performances in Russia, Eastern and Northern Europe, and Central Asia.
The band's current lineup comprises lead vocalist Sergei Raev, bassist Denis [DENVER] Zhivotovsky, rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Dmitriy [HELLDIMM] Muzychenko, lead guitarist/vocalist Ilya [IL] Borisov and drummer Daniil [STEWART] Svetlov.
At the moment they have released 7 full-length studio albums, 2 instrumental albums and 4 EPs.
History
1998–2001
[AMATORY] founders Denis [DENVER] Zhivotovsky (Russian: Денис Животовский) and Daniil [STEWART] Svetlov (Russian: Даниил Светлов) met as teenagers in the spring of 1998. They have been hanging out and skateboarding in the courtyard of the block of flats where they both were living at the time.
They started to rehearse in Svetlov's apartment at the age of 13 – Daniil played the drums, and Denis played the acoustic guitar. In the autumn of 1998, they met Eugene PJ Potekhin (Russian: Евгений Потехин), who became the long-awaited vocalist and the « real » guitarist of the newborn band. Zhivotovsky then left the guitar in favor of the bass. A little later, the rehearsals were held in his apartment.
The trio began performing live by covering Nirvana songs in a nearby school. In 1999, Potekhin and Zhivotovsky got carried away with Korn, but at the same time Svetlov became "addicted" to black metal and grindcore. He started to distance himself from his bandmates, therefore they did a little trick to get their drummer back - they began to write music in the grindcore style, but little by little introduced the elements of alternative metal. [4]
In 1999, PJ came up with the name for the band - he called it Amatory. The name itself is said to have come from an English - Russian dictionary and was chosen because it was in tune with Crematory (band), Obituary and Cemetery (band). [5] With the new name they started to regularly play concerts in schools and underground clubs. In June, 2000, Amatory performed at the Summer Bike Festival in Krasnoye Selo. Later in the same year, their first demo was recorded.
Gradually, they realized that they needed a second guitarist, and after a short search they found Sergey [GANG] Osechkin (Russian: Сергей Осечкин). The first rehearsal with him took place on April 1, 2001 - that day became the band's official birth date.[6]
With this new line-up the band played several concerts until June, when unexpectedly for all of them Potekhin was drafted into the military service for two years. After losing their vocalist and songwriter, they decided to move on. [DENVER] took the vocals and the writing of the lyrics, and music writing was gradually assigned to [GANG]. This new team composed a new demo called « I Will Not Survive ».
2001-2004
After the demo was recorded, Amatory decided to experiment with innovative musical approach. In September, 2001, Alexey [LEXUS] Ovchinnikov (Russian: Алексей Овчинников), the school mate of [DENVER], joined the band and became their rapper. His recruitment played a large role in shaping the band’s new sound.
In the spring of 2002, they also recruited Alexey Liolik Skornyakov, who had AKAI S1100 - a professional sampler from the late eighties. It diversified their new rap/metal approach with electronic sound.
The team recorded an EP called « The Bread » (Russian: Хлеб) together with SPERMADONARZ (a joint project of the musicians from the bands Кирпичи and Animal Jazz). It was released on double-sided cassettes by the independent record label Caravan Records in November, 2002, with Amatory at the A-side and SPERMADONARZ at the B-side.
The concert in support of "The Bread" was scheduled on November 26, 2002, in a new club "Orlandina". All the bandmates were there on time except of Liolik who had mysteriously disappeared. Later they found out that Liolik was on his way to the club when he was stopped by a police patrol to verify his documents and unexpectedly was drafted into the military service for two years following PJ. In this way Amatory lost their second musician because of the Russian armed forces.[7]
In April, 2003, the band released the single « Fragments » (Russian: Осколки).
Their first full-length studio album titled « Fortune's Always Hiding » (Russian: Вечно Прячется Судьба) with [DENVER] and [LEXUS] on vocals, was released on November 14, 2003. The album was named after one of the songs that was inspired by Irvine Welsh's novella « Fortune's Always Hiding » from his trilogy Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance.[8]
Shortly before its release, Alexander [ALEX] Pavlov (Russian: Александр Павлов) became the second guitarist of the band.
2004—2007
In 2004, [LEXUS] left the band, and his place was taken by the guitarist of Stigmata (Russian band) - Igor [IGOR] Kapranov (Russian: Игорь Капранов). The team immediately took up work on the new album with [DENVER] and [IGOR] on vocals, it was recorded with Danish producer Jacob Hansen. Through working with Jacob, [AMATORY] began to play "in a western manner”. Their second studio album titled « Inevitability » (Russian: Неизбежность) was released on October 14, 2004, and shortly thereafter [IGOR], according to the statement of the FUZZ magazine, became the voice of a generation.
In November, 2004, "Inevitability" entered the top five of the best-selling rock albums in Russia.
The album received the FUZZ People's Choice Award 2005. After such a resounding success the band was invited to perform at major Russian festivals.
In 2004, Amatory together with the bands Psychea and Jane Air, formed the « Spb (short for Saint Petersburg) Music » coalition. In the following years they were also performing on joint tours with some other bands from Saint Petersburg.
On February 6, 2005 the band released the single "Black and White Days" (Russian: Черно-Белые Дни) which was dedicated to the guitarist Dimebag Darrell of the bands Pantera and Damageplan, who was shot and killed on stage by a deranged fan during a concert in December 2004. "Black and White Days" won RAMP 2005 (Russian Alternative Music Prize) for "Best Music Video", and [AMATORY] won the "Best Band" category.
In early 2005, the band released their first DVD titled [P]ost [S]criptum, consisted of home videos recorded by themselves and their crew and friends during the tour in support of the album "Inevetability". It provided an insight into the band's tour and concert life, their experiences and adventures on the road and during the shows.
In September 2005, [AMATORY] supported Korn in Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
In the spring of 2006, during the "Rock 5 Tour", Sergey [GANG] Osechkin suddenly felt severe pain in his right side. In the summer of 2006, when the band was working on their third album with the same producer Jacob Hansen, he felt unwell.
[AMATORY] released their third album titled « Book of the Dead » (Russian: Книга Мертвых) on Friday the 13th, in October 2006.
Five days later [GANG] was diagnosed with liver cancer. He passed away at the age of 23 on March 15, 2007. On the album "6" (2015) there is a song dedicated to him, titled "15/03".
2007—2010
On April 26, 2007, the band did a sold-out show at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg as a part of the second leg of their Live Evil Tour. It was filmed and later released as the concert DVD+CD "Live Evil".
Also in 2007 [AMATORY] released their second DVD "EVol.01" made of home videos filmed during their tours since May 2005.
In the beginning of 2008, ESP Guitars together with the band's guitarist Alexander [ALEX] Pavlov created a signature guitar named ESP LTD [A - 600] - it became the first signature guitar awarded to a Russian guitarist.[9]
On April 5, 2008, [AMATORY] received the FUZZ Award in the "Best Alternative Band" category. [10]
In September 2008, their session guitarist Dmitry [JAY] Rubanovsky became the band's new guitarist and principal music writer. In November, [AMATORY] released the single « Breathe with Me » (Russian: Дыши Со Мной) and signed a contract with the music label FG Nikitin. This single was widely played on the radio and video music channels in Russia and the near abroad. In 2009, it won the Rock Alternative Music Prize for "Best Song".
On December 18, 2008, Amatory released their fourth studio album titled « VII », which was recorded with Danish producer Tue Madsen. It became their first album with the new guitarist [JAY] and caused mixed reactions and excitement from the fans.
In 2009, Daniil Svetlov became "The Drummer Of The Year" ("Musician" magazine awards) [11]
On October 27, 2009, the band introduced the internet single « Crimson Dawn » (Russian: Багровый Рассвет), mixed by American producer Chris Zeuss Harris.[12]
2010—2012
In March 2010, the book "Black and White Days. The truth about [AMATORY]" by Aleksey Kuzovlev was published, it contains many exclusive interviews with the members of the band taken over the years.
On July 28, 2010, Igor Kapranov announced that he is leaving the band and going to devote himself to religion. For the band and the fans this was a complete surprise which caused a storm in the music media and among the fans, and a large number of discussions. After that Igor stayed in the Valaam Monastery (Russian: Валаамский монастырь) for some time. He was replaced by Vyacheslav [SLAVA] Sokolov (ex- Such A Beautiful Day, The Wheels Of Sorrow). The fifth studio album « Instinct of the Doomed » (Russian: Инстинкт Обреченных) with [DENVER] and [SLAVA] on vocals was released on October 24 of the same year. It was also produced by Tue Madsen.
In June 2011, [AMATORY] joined Slipknot (band) as the special guest at their show at the Olympic Stadium (Moscow). Then, on the occasion of the band's tenth anniversary, the band goes on the "X Anniversary Tour" with their new vocalist [SLAVA] and former vocalist [IGOR] as the special guest. Before the tour, they released the internet single « Fragments 2.011 » (Russian: Осколки 2.011). Later in the same year, Dmitry [JAY] Rubanovsky left the band.
In 2012, Ilya [K] Kukhin (ex - Such A Beautiful Day, The Wheels Of Sorrrow) was officially announced as the new guitarist. Also in 2012, Alexander [ALEX] Pavlov left the band and was replaced for the tour by the session guitarist Ilya [IL] Borisov (Russian: Илья Борисов), who later became a permanent member of the band. Shortly afterwards in 2012, [AMATORY] announced the suspension of its activities, saying this on the official website where the band explained this decision by the fact that the musicians were not able to go on long tours. In the same news, they announced a tour called « The Last Concert? » (Russian: Последний Концерт?).
On September 8, 2012, the band released their second concert DVD "The X-Files: Live In Saint-P & On The Road 2011–2012".
After the end of "The Last Concert?" tour in December 2012, [AMATORY] went on hiatus.
2014—2018
In the beginning of 2013, [STEWART] got carried away with electronic music. He co-founded a trap music (EDM)/bass electronic project called "FatSound Brothers" together with Dmitriy Muzychenko (Russian: Дмитрий Музыченко), ex-Naily, and Taras Umansky (Russian: Тарас Уманский) from Stigmata.[13] Under this project Muzychenko wrote some music compositions that later laid a basis for a new [AMATORY]'s album.[14]
In 2014 the band performed a few concerts at festivals without official return from their hiatus.
In the beginning of 2015 [AMATORY] resumed its activities after Dmitriy [HELLDIMM] Muzychenko replaced Ilya [K] Kukhin and became the principal music writer in the band. With his arrival their music got a more electronic-oriented sound.
On January 30, 2015, the team performed a new song called "Stop The Time" (Russian: Остановить Время) at the Stars Fucktory Festival, it was released as a single on June 15, 2015. Four days later a music video for this song was premiered on the official Amatorytube YouTube channel.
On October 6, 2015, [AMATORY] released their sixth studio album simply titled « 6 », with [SLAVA] on vocals. The band had been working on new material for two years, experimenting with different sounds until they felt they are onto something worthwhile.[15] This album received very mixed reactions from the fans because the band had changed its musical style and at the same time it became their first record without [DENVER] on vocals. However at the moment it stands as [AMATORY]'s most commercially successful album.
On March 15, 2016, they released a studio music video for the song "15/03" dedicated to Sergey [GANG] Osechkin, the band's guitarist and music writer on the albums « Fortune's Always Hiding », « Inevitability » and « Book of the Dead », who died of liver cancer at the age of 23 on March 15, 2007.
A week later the band premiered a neo-noir music video for the song "The First" (Russian: Первый).
On October 12, 2016, [AMATORY] released their third EP « Fire » (Russian: Огонь). It consisted of three tracks, one of which was recorded with Russian rapper ATL.
Since the summer of 2017, the band toured through Russia with a new approach - the fans could suggest a song and vote for a concert set list.
In December 2017, [AMATORY] collaborated with Russian rapper Bumble Beezy at the Jager Music Awards. This collaboration resulted in a maxi single “Original Go Getter/Original Go Getter (Rock Version)” released in March 2018.
On March 11, 2018, Vyacheslav Sokolov was dismissed from the band because of his unprofessional behaviour and heavy drinking problem. The last straw was the participation of Slava in TV project « The Songs on TNT » (Russian: Песни на ТНТ) where he did not act correctly towards the band.
2019 — present
On March 29, 2019, [AMATORY] unexpectedly released the single « Space Kamikaze » (Russian: Космо-камикадзе) with a new incognito vocalist, whose face was covered by a mask. The inspiration behind this song arose from their discontent with the political climate in Russia.[16]
On July 5, the second single "The Knife" (Russian: Нож), recorded together with Russian rapper Dirty "RAM" Ramirez, was released, and a lyrics video for this song appeared on the official Amatorytube YouTube channel. A few days later, the band announced a live broadcast on VKontakte and posted another photo with the new singer, now without a mask. Many guesses were confirmed - Sergei Raev (a member of Obscure of Acacia, Triumphant, Celestial Meridian, and also known for working with Shokran and Sumatra) became the new vocalist of the band.
The seventh studio album « DOOM » with Sergei Raev and Ilya [IL] Borisov on vocals was released on October 18, 2019.
Some of the songs on this album deal with sensitive topics: Cherno (Russian: Черно) is dedicated to the Chernobyl disaster, it was inspired by Chernobyl (miniseries); Locusts (Russian: Саранча) was inspired by the major wildfires in Russia and across the globe that have shaken the world in 2019; Angel 141 (Russian: Ангел 141) is dedicated to the Russian submarine Kursk (K-141) (Russian: Атомная Подводная Лодка "Курск") that sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, killing all 118 personnel on board.[17]
The music video for the song « Star Dust » was filmed with the participation of the fans of the band, it was released on November 5, 2019.
After the "DOOM tour" Amatory announced two concerts with guest musicians on the occasion of the band's 19th anniversary - on March 22 and April 3, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic they were moved to September 2020.
On April 17, 2020, the band released 2 instrumental albums: "The Unvoiced Pt. I (6 Instrumental)", "The Unvoiced Pt. III (DOOM Instrumental)", and an instrumental EP "The Unvoiced Pt. II ( Fire Instrumental)".
On June 26 of the same year, a single "Motherland" (Russian: Родина) under ONErpm's project "DDT Territory - a tribute to DDT (band)" was released.
Members
Current
- Daniil [STEWART] Svetlov – drums (since 1998), samples, programming (2001–2012)
- Denis [DENVER] Zhivotovsky – bass (since 1998), unclean vocals, clean vocals (since 2001)
- Ilya [IL] Borisov – guitars (since 2012), additional vocals (since 2015), keyboards, programming, samples (since 2019)
- Dmitriy [HELLDIMM] Muzychenko – guitars, keyboards, programming, samples (since 2015)
- Sergei Raev – lead vocals (since 2019)
Past
- Eugene PJ Potekhin – guitars, lead vocals (1998-2001)
- Aleksey Liolik Skornyakov – samples (2002)
- Aleksey [LEXUS] Ovchinnikov – rapping vocals (2001–2004)
- Sergey [GANG] Osechkin – guitars ( 2001–2007 † )
- Igor [IGOR] Kapranov – unclean vocals, rapping vocals (2004–2010, 2011–2012 as a special guest on tour), samples (2004)
- Dmitriy [JAY] Rubanovskiy – guitars (2008–2011)
- Aleksandr [ALEX] Pavlov – guitars, keyboards, programming, samples (2003–2012)
- Ilya [K] Kukhin – guitars (2011–2014)
- Vyacheslav [SLAVA] Sokolov – lead vocals (2010–2018)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
- 2003 – Вечно Прячется Судьба (Fortune's Always Hiding)
- 2004 – Неизбежность (Inevitability)
- 2006 – Книга Мёртвых (Book of The Dead)
- 2008 – VII
- 2010 – Инстинкт Обречённых (Instinct of the Doomed)
- 2015 – 6
- 2019 – DOOM
- 2020 - The Unvoiced Pt. I ("6" Instrumental)
- 2020 - The Unvoiced Pt. III ("DOOM" Instrumental)
Singles
- 2003 – Осколки (Fragments)
- 2004 – Две Жизни (Two Lives)
- 2005 – Чёрно-Белые Дни (Black and White Days)
- 2006 – Преступление Против Времени (Crime Against Time)
- 2007 – Слишком Поздно (Too Late)
- 2008 – Вы Все Лишены Своей Жизни (The All of You are Deprived of Your Lives)
- 2008 – Дыши Со Мной (Breathe with Me)
- 2009 – Багровый Рассвет (Crimson Dawn)
- 2010 – Сквозь Закрытые Веки (Through Closed Eyelids)
- 2011 – Осколки 2.011 (Fragments 2.011)
- 2012 – Три Полоски (The Three Stripes) (featuring Animal Jazz)
- 2012 – Верь Мне (Believe Me)
- 2012 – Момент Истины (Moment of Truth)
- 2015 – Остановить Время (Stop The Time)
- 2018 - Original Go Getter/Original Go Getter (Rock Version) (featuring Bumble Beezy)
- 2019 - Космо-камикадзе (Space Kamikadze)
- 2019 - Нож (The Knife) (featuring RAM)
- 2020 - Родина (Motherland), a tribute to DDT (band)
Live Albums
- 2008 – Live Evil
- 2012 – The X-Files
EP
- 2002 – Хлеб (The Bread) feat. SPERMADONARZ
- 2006 – Discovery
- 2009 – We Play – You Sing
- 2010 – We Play – You Sing Pt. 2
- 2011 – We Play – You Sing Pt. 3
- 2016 – Огонь (Fire)
- 2020 - The Unvoiced Pt. II ("Fire" Instrumental)
DVD
- 2005 – [P]OST [S]CRIPTUM
- 2007 – Home Video EVol. 01
- 2008 – Live Evil
- 2012 – The X-Files: Live In Saint-P & On The Road 2011–2012
Videos
Russian
- 2003: Осколки (Fragments)
- 2004: Чёрно-Белые Дни (Black and White Days)
- 2006: Преступление Против Времени (Crime Against Time)
- 2006: Преступление Против Времени (Alternative Version) (Crime Against Time (Alternative Version))
- 2007: Эффект Бабочки (Butterfly Effect)
- 2009: Дыши Со Мной (Breathe With Me)
- 2009: Багровый Рассвет (Crimson Dawn)
- 2011: Стеклянные Люди (Glass People)
- 2011: Сквозь Закрытые Веки (Through Closed Eyelids)
- 2011: Осколки 2.011 (Fragments 2.011)
- 2015: Остановить Время (Stop The Time)
- 2016: Первый (The First)
- 2019: Звёздная Грязь (Star Dust)
English
- 2009: Just One More Day (unofficial)
- 2009: Your Life In My Eyes (unofficial)
Concert tours
- Screamin and Growlin Tour (October 2004 — August 2005)
- We Play You Die Tour (August 2005 — February 2006)
- Discovery Tour (February — April 2006)
- Rock 5 Tour (April — June 2006)
- Escape from the Studio Tour (July — August 2006)
- Live Evil Tour (October 2006 — August 2007)
- Saint Seventh Tour (September 2007 — December 2008)
- Sold Out Tour (February — August 2009)
- Sick&Loud Tour (October — December 2009)
- Инстинкт обречённых Tour (2010—2011)
- X Anniversary Tour (September 2011 — March 2012)
- Never Say Never Tour/The Last Concert? (September — December 2012)
- 6 Tour (September 2015 — January 2016)
- 15 лет вне времени (April — December 2016)
- Best of the Best Show (October — November 2017)
- Doom Tour (November — December 2019)
Awards
Russian Music Awards
- St. Petersburg Alternative Music Awards - 08.04.2005 : "Best music video3 for "Black and White Days"; "Best Album" for "Inevitability"
- FUZZ People's Choice Award - 09.04.2005 : "Best Band"
- SPAM Awards 2005 : "Best Music Video" for "Black and White Days"
- RAMP (Russian Alternative Music Prize) 2005 : "Best Band", "Best Music Video" for "Black and White Days" - 22.09.2005
- FUZZ Award 2008 : "Best Alternative Band"
- Metal Planet Awards - 15.06.2008 : People's Choice "Best Band"
- RAMP 2009 : "Best Song" for "Breathe With Me" - 29.10.2009
Literature
- Алексеев А. С. Кто есть кто в российской рок-музыке. — М. : АСТ : Астрель : Харвест, 2009. — С. 52, 53. — ISBN 978-5-17-048654-0 (АСТ). — ISBN 978-5-271-24160-4 (Астрель). — ISBN 978-985-16-7343-4 (Харвест).
- Кузовлев А. Чёрно-белые дни. Вся правда о группе [Amatory]. — СПб.: «Амфора», 2010. — 512 с. — (Дискография). — 3000 экз. — ISBN 978-5-367-01300-9, printed inside as 978-5-367-01300-1.
References
- Кузовлев А. Чёрно-белые дни. Вся правда о группе [Amatory]. — СПб.: «Амфора», 2010.
- http://fuzz-magazine.ru/event/_AMATORY_JANE_AIR_PSIHEYa_Dolgaya_trudnaya_doroga/
- https://fake-mm.ru/articles/Amatory_interview
- Кузовлев А. Чёрно-белые дни. Вся правда о группе [Amatory]. — СПб.: «Амфора», 2010. - p. 15
- http://headbanger.ru/interviews/1
- Кузовлев А. Чёрно-белые дни. Вся правда о группе [Amatory]. — СПб.: «Амфора», 2010. — 19 с.
- http://drakonenok.narod.ru/fan.html
- Кузовлев А. Чёрно-белые дни. Вся правда о группе [Amatory]. — СПб.: «Амфора», 2010. — 28 с.
- Кузовлев А. Чёрно-белые дни. Вся правда о группе [Amatory]. — СПб.: «Амфора», 2010. — 77 с.
- http://fuzz-magazine.ru/event/Premiya_FUZZ_Den_roka_i_rolla/
- http://www.paiste.com/e/endorser_det.php?page=bio&endorserid=4567
- https://iarex.ru/shownews/1669.html
- https://soundcloud.com/fatsoundbrothers
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-627w0lxy5M
- https://vk.com/doc5003581_437034437?hash=ab3a4e5acb10b1fa1e
- https://radioultra.ru/news/amatory-interview
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D95xnxxEVD0
External links
- Official site (in Russian)
- Semiofficial international fan club. (in English, German, Spanish and Portuguese)
- Fan Club
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