Heh, could be, if he's got a sort of link towards the Russian 90s scene... maybe he had a penpal from here back then

It's really funny, especially when you see it in the description of a Six Feet Under cover of an Iron Maiden song. "Doom-style vocals".

But the site is great and it actually inspired me to collect all the functioning Web 1.0 links I've got bookmarked. Gonna open a thread in The Tavern.

On topic: Kruiz has always been my favorite among the Russian bands. I'm talking about the two most prominent albums, never heard the rest. That kind of speed metal is not even something I normally like too much, but I have to say they were easily as good as most "Western" bands with a similar style.

I guess my biggest problem with the local scene is that it's by definition derivative and can't seem to break out of this copycat mold. We have lots of bands, lots of them can play very well, quite a few can write good music, some can handle lyrics well... but there hasn't been a single Russian band that became truly influential abroad, and there's no "RuDeath" or a similar subscene that would sound distinctly different from whatever their peers are/were doing in the "Western" world.

Maybe the atmo/black folks would disagree and say that "RuBlack" is distinct enough... but I can't tell those bands apart regardless of the country they're from, unfortunately

Аспид, which I posted on the first page, is the only band I've heard a non-Russian musician mention among their biggest influences. Actually this is how I discovered them.

Just found this gem on the home page: https://smycka.bandcamp.com

Also forgot to mention Internal Cold, a good DSBM band, and Fragile Edge, an impressive Jazz/Metal hybrid project.

I think it's becoming my favorite country for (Post) Metal.

Gotta agree that RuBlack isn't really distinctive enough (at least for me) to give it its own unique... uh, thing. I certainly couldn't tell a Russian atmo-black band from an American one, assuming the vocals are both in English.