Pogreb - Live (Album Review)

Release Date: June 13th 2025. Record Label: Riff Dealers. Formats: DD

Live - Tracklisting

1.Каждый день 11:02

2.Ты нужна мне 09:13

3.Ельни вий 11:38

4.Погреб 14:20

Members

Ilya Kovalsky – vocals/guitar,

Vladislav Strakovsky – guitar

Evgeny Klachkov – bass

Nikita Tatarintsev – drums

Review

Live is the debut album from Doom/Stoner Metallers Pogreb who arrive from Minsk, Belarus and who are given their chance to shine within the underground scene courtesy of great label Riff Dealers Records. As the title suggests, this is a LIVE ALBUM that is spread across four lengthy tracks with the album running around forty five minutes in length. 

If you’ve grown up on a steady diet of riffs provided by the likes of SLEEP, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath and BELZEBONG then here’s another superb band to check out. Throw in vast amounts of AMPLIFIER FEEDBACK, Seedy Proto-Doom Metal sounds and a blatant disregard for modern day recording techniques. As this album is raw, loud, mean and nasty as they come. The music is put through a ton of reverb and down-tuned distortion which rarely allows the Psychedelic soundscapes to grow organically. Pogreb feel like they're playing their instruments with a HAMMER and I wouldn’t be surprised if their instruments were completely unusable after this epic live performance.

I have to give credit to the band as they do play superb melodic surroundings along the way which reminds me of SLEEP and COUGH in places especially on the standout tracks of Каждый день, Ельни вий and Погреб. The vocals are quite sparse throughout the album and only appear when they need to appear but Ilya Kovalsky’s style and delivery is what you expect for a raw sounding album such as this. They’re delivered with absolute conviction but with a pure PUNK ROCK energy and PRIMAL essence which could be considered CAVEMAN based but Ilya fully delivers on all fronts.

Pogreb’s record label (Riff Dealers) previously released the stunning and similarly raw live album from Sludge/Stoner Metallers Doūsk where I stated within my review for them - I’m looking forward to hearing a proper “STUDIO” recording from Doūsk in the future but LIVE is one hell of a record that demands your full and undivided attention. The same goes for Pogreb where I would love to hear a proper studio recording of these tracks to hear what they sound like in a studio environment. 

I perhaps prefer Pogreb’s “Live” album to Doūsk as it’s heavier and has more intense and evil sounding grooves that adds a brilliantly morbid style of AMPLIFIER DISTORTION to the mix.

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Links

BandCamp | Instagram

Doūsk - Live! (Album Review)

Release Date: May 01st 2025. Record Label: Riff Dealers. Formats: DD

LIVE! - Tracklisting

Sludge Dredd

Whisky Robot Dance

Over9000

Running On The Roof

5

Blueprint

Dark Materials

Members:

Igor Shaminsky – bass guitar

Dmitry Vashkov – drums, synthesizers

Review

Live! is the debut album from Instrumental Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metallers Doūsk who are primarily a Drums and Bass duo who specialize in LOW & SLOW and HEAVILY DISTORTED grooves with a mighty raw and aggressive sound. The album was recorded live On March 21, 2025at at "Reactor" club in Minsk, Belarus. Quite a ballsy and brave move releasing a live album as your debut release but Doūsk’s music speaks for itself with a level of SONIC distortion and manipulation which adds real weight to Igor Shaminsky’s pummelling bass and Dimitry Vashkov’s intense drumming. 

The musical notes are quite long and drawn out in places with the rough sounding production values giving Doūsk a real muscular presence especially in the first few tracks with Sludge Dredd and Whisky Robot Dance setting the scene. Doūsk have a real CHAINSAW style effect to their music with the glitchy noises and sounds that feels like KARMA TO BURN jamming with BONGRIPPER, SUNN 0))) and The Melvins at times. Being a purely instrumental band works to Doūsk’s favour as they focus upon primarily developing a harsh Sludge/Stoner Metal sound with freakish amounts of noise inducing and amplifying heavy surroundings to a highly appreciative audience in attendance. 

Doūsk generates a bleak sounding atmosphere throughout the album with flashes of Proggy Spaced Out Doom on tracks such as Over9000, Running On The Roof and Blueprint. With the lo-fi trappings of the record and some intense moments of screeching instrumental passages, the album can also be highly melodic and progressive on the later stages of the record. Doūsk perhaps rely on too much FEEDBACK and HEAVY REVERB at times but this allows the record to have quite an organic and dangerous industrial based energy which I wouldn’t expect on a LIVE album such as this. However, Doūsk prove what a highly talented band they really are. 

This is the type of album that could see Doūsk obtain a loyal and dedicated cult following within the underground scene. I’m looking forward to hearing a proper “STUDIO” recording from Doūsk in the future but LIVE is one hell of a record that demands your full and undivided attention. 

Excellent and Highly Recommended.

Words by Steve Howe

Thanks to Riff Dealers for the promo.

LIVE! will be available to buy Digitally via Riff Dealers from Thursday May 01st 2025.

Links

BandCamp | Instagram