Ah, it’s been a long time since we had new articles on RockHit… And this situation could have remained unchanged for a long time if not for a letter from the MYOMY project. It contained an offer to review the singles “Venomous Taste” and “God’s Pressure”, released in September and October 2018.
After familiarizing myself with the music MYOMY makes, there was no doubt – a review to be had! I can’t say that this is a revolution in rock music. But this is definitely a fresh vibe – chaotic, experimental, touching the soul from the first seconds. You just can’t go past it. For despite the fact that there are only three tracks in total on two releases, you want to listen to them again and again.
But before we start looking at the mentioned singles, let’s get to know MYOMY a little bit.
How MYOMY was forged
The starting point in the creation of the band was a chance meeting of Alexey Kuritsyn (drums) and Alexander Kotenkov (vocals) in the subway in 2010. The presence of common musical interests resulted in the first rehearsals a few weeks later. A little later the guys were joined by Elena Rapinchuk (bass), who became the third permanent member of the band.
During the years of the band’s formation there were other members – guitarists. But somehow it did not get along with them. According to Alexei, they often “tormented” their guitarists with long sessions of sound design, wanting to translate what they had conceived into reality. Eventually, in early 2017, the last guitarist gave up, unable to bear the burden of creative work in the band. And it turned out that this event was not an obstacle for MYOMY, but quite the opposite – a breath of fresh air.
On reflection the band came to a conclusion that the guitar as an instrument nowadays has lost its relevance. Their music sounds just as good without it. And even better.
They approached the problem of filling the sound niche creatively by “plugging” bassist Lena into two guitar cabinets through a pedalboard, thus getting the missing middle sound. Other parts were added by starting to experiment with synths and backing tracks.
Obsessed with pain.
The band first came out relatively loud in 2016, recording a cover of the song “Sucker for Pain,” which was one of the OSTs of “Suicide Squad,” a hype movie project from DC about “not so good” superheroes.
Despite the fact that the music video for the cover was only released a month after the movie was released, it was still a successful move to draw attention to itself. Especially since the recording was done on a fairly professional level.
And I’ll be honest – I like MYOMY’s alt-metal cover of “Sucker for Pain” much more than the original.
About the meaning of the band name
There are quite a few interpretations of the name of the group. The main meaning inherent in the name is dualism. In this case, MYOMY comes from the English phrase “My Or My? (the letter “r” is omitted in the pronunciation). This question displays the problem of a person’s choice of one or the other. It is quite relevant, because there is black and white in all of us, and we are often faced with the need to do this or that – good or bad.
Also in the name MYOMY there is a reference to the mysteriously disappeared Mayan civilization.
Another variant of origin of the name of the band that I know is based on the phrase “My own mind”, which perfectly conveys the attitude of MYOMY to the musical creativity and their predisposition for individualism.
I should note that this is by no means an exhaustive list of interpretations of MYOMY’s name and the references it contains. This is only a list of the variants I know, but there are more, actually.
Genre boundaries? This is not about MYOMY!
When making their music, MYOMY was inspired mainly by bands in the nu-metal, alternative and industrial genres, such as Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Soulfly, Limp Bizkit, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Nine Inch Nails, Muse….
At the same time the guys were not trying to be similar to these groups. From the very beginning they decided to work diligently to find their own sound. To make high quality rocking music. Not to force themselves into certain genre frames. MYOMY wanted their music to be multifaceted and interesting. And getting ahead of the curve, I want to say that they succeeded.
In their work the band talks about inner feelings, consequences of decisions made and the surrounding society. The key idea in MYOMY’s works is:
Live in spite of everything, fight not against the system, but against yourself.
Well, it’s time to get down to what this article is about – the review of the recently released singles of the band.
MYOMY – Venomous Taste
The single was released on September 5th this year and consists of two tracks – the track with the same title and “Pseudo Reality”.
The first thing we’d like to mention is a 30-second intro to “Venomous Taste” which strangely enough combines drums, bass, scratch damaged vocals (or rather, even reading), synths flying off into space and background electric guitar (still present). It all sounds a bit muddled, but original at the same time. And by the end of the song, when fragments from the intro are repeated, there is no surprise anymore, there is only aesthetic pleasure.
The next thing that comes to mind while listening to “Venomous Taste” is that the band’s vocalist Alexander Kotenkov has a rather peculiar timbre. A timbre that you can feel, that is recognizable, that is well remembered. It is a little gloomy, lingering, sweet, mesmerizing, and in some places it is overpowering. In short, unique and multifaceted.
I am sure that Alexander’s voice will become a peculiar chip, by which, along with the sound of MYOMY, the band will be recognized by ear in the future. Like Manson, Placebo or Muse, for example. Alexander’s appearance, by the way, is also quite recognizable. Sometimes it seems to be Jesse Eisenberg’s twin brother, only with straight hair. And in the “Sucker for Pain” music video, he looks a lot like Mark Wahlberg’s character from Rock Star. Though I’m sure these coincidences are coincidental and Alexander’s image is quite original.
Despite the contradictory first impressions of the unusual introduction in the end the track is perceived as quite integral. In this merit, of course, of all participants of group, not only vocalist – Elena on bass and Alexey on drums perfectly cope with their tasks. The backing tracks perfectly complete Alexander’s voice. About mixing there is no sense to speak in general as it is distinctly heard, that professionals did the work here.
Finally, the picture becomes a complete puzzle if you listen to “Venomous Taste” looking at the dynamic cover of the single, which slightly hypnotizes and complements the atmosphere created by the track.
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