COUNTRY: Russia
YEAR: 1993
Русская Зима was one of the very first Russian bands to incorporate black metal elements in their music. They're even believed to be one of the pioneers of black metal in Russia along with Преисподняя.
In 1990, a demo called OРЗ was also recorded, but was lost.
Text down below and all photos in this post are all courtesy of Arcane Archivist Zine
In the late 80s, before the dissolution of the USSR, a disgusting noise began to rise from the western city of Yekaterinburg. This sardonic clamor was Русская Зима, or Russian Winter in English. Russia has, by far, the most interesting history of metal music in my opinion, with hundreds upon hundreds of bands forming in the late 80s - 90s that are completely unknown to the west. Thrash Metal and Doom Metal were especially popular, with the latter being on showcase today. Русская Зима only released a handful of cult demo tapes between 1989 and 1995 when they broke up, but the material on those tapes was incredible. Shitty Russian guitars with single coils, unknown amps, mysterious analog recording and of course - stage theatrics. Many of the bands recordings are so dirty and dirge filled, that they share more sonic characteristics with noise, rather than traditional metal. Русская Зима were also one of the first bands in Russia to implement elements of black metal into their music, no doubt an influence from the great Bathory, as seen by the guitarist’s homemade shirt.
OPINION: If you’re like me, love to discover obscure metal from all the corners around the globe. Then check out Русская Зима (Russian Winter). Especially this one, the bands tape from 1993 "В плену зимы”, that you can listen to further down this page. I only hope for a good retro label to release this on vinyl, then I’ll be first in line.
