Interview: Uratsakidogi

Moscow pioneers Uratsakidogi shamefully only came to our attention a few months ago with their latest musical offering, Black Hop. A brutal 9-track album drawing on Black Metal and Hip Hop, smashing together two powerhouse genres into what turned out to be one of our favourite releases of 2018. With bands like What We Feel and Moscow Death Brigade, Russia is no stranger to bands breaking the boundaries of traditional genres but in Uratsakidogi we have a different beast altogether. Eager to know more about these mythical creatures seen prowling the forests clad in corpse paint and three stripe tracksuits Moral Decay crew member Gareth decided to throw them a few questions to find out more. So here is what band members Gogenator and Karl had to say.

Gareth: What’s the story behind Uratsakidogi?

Gogenator:
In March 1997, I met Dr’On and Karl. The guys plaid in a band called the Evil Worship, it was a blend lf death metal and industrial.

We made friends and started hanging out at Karl’s home recording studio – the Genital Records. After a while, it was around mid-May, I invited the guys to record several ‘parody grind core’ tracks. The result turned out to be quite fun, and we decided to go on.

Soon the boundaries of the genre became to tight for us. We began introducing various unexpected stuff into our songs, e.g. bayan parts (‘bayan/button accordion’ – the Russian version of accordion with buttons instead of keys). That’s basically how the group was born.

Gareth: What topics do your lyrics discuss?
Gogenator:
Our lyrics have always been full of absurdity, irony, wordplay, equivoques, and paradoxes.
We experimented with depriving our songs of any meaning – there were peculiar- and emotional-sounding phrases making absolutely no sense.
Nowadays, our Balck-Hop lyrics is a symbiosis of cliché’s characteristic for Black Metal, one the one hand, and for Russian Gangsta Rap, on the other.

Gareth: Who is the best rapper of all time and why?
Gogenator: Among the global stars, it’s B-Real. He has a very easily identifiable voice and performance style. In the early 1990’s the Cypress Hill blew my mind. I mostly listened to metal and punk-rock, back then, I believed rap to be total crap.However, Insane in the brain, as well as the entire Black Sunday album made me change my mind and widen the range of my preferences.
On the Russian rap stage, I believe Shilo from the Krovostok band to be very cool. Personally I dig his stoned, monotonous, and cynical way of rapping, combined with spiteful and naturalistic lyrics very much.

Karl:
Busta Rhymes. He has a fantastic timbre of voice and he masterfully uses it. His sense of rhythm is outstanding.
He is extremely charismatic and creates a powerful image – those two things mix very well. Since his childhood he’s had a purpose and has been pursuing it ever since! As a result, he has a whole lot of mind-blowing hits, a clothing brand, and a recording studio..

Gareth: Have you met with any hostility from the black metal community or support?
Gogenator:
Yes, we have. We have faced both support and hostility, including from the Black Metal community. Sometimes, orthodox metalhead weirdos post negative comments full of hatred and damnations.
Such comments are funny to read. 

Gareth: I see you’re planning some European tour dates – when? Where? How? When you hitting the UK?
Gogenator:
Yes, in March, we are going to have small tour in Europe. If in summer or autumn we’ll have an opportunity to have a concert in the UK, we’ll definitely come.

Gareth: Are you worried some people might see you as a ‘novelty act?’ or do you not give a fuck?
Gogenator:
The band’ve existed for over 20 years. In this time, we’ve been through a lot… But no, we do not give a fuck. We simply do what we like. We’ll be on the stage for as long as it keeps us interested. So far, it does. )

Karl:
We’re something special. And we don’t give a slightest fuck!

Gareth: Are there any similar bands in your ilk who you’d care to recommend?
Gogenator:
In Russia, there are no bands similar to us. We’re second to none. However, there are many artists playing the music we like. Russia is full of gifted artists. Mentioning them all will take too long.

Gareth: Do have any merchandise available?
Gogenator:
Yes, we do.
You can see the catalogue here:
vk.com/ura_merch
To order something, e-mail here:
uratsakidogi@gmail.com

Gareth: Is Russia absolutely mental?
Karl:
Not more mental than the rest of the world.

Gareth: Any final words?
Gogenator:
People, try to be happy. It requires hard work and strength – no one will do it for you. Thank you for your questions.

 –END INTERVIEW–

Cheers lads! We can’t wait to hear more of this beast from the east. Black Hop is available now and you’d be daft to not track down a copy for yourself. If you live in or fancy taking a trip to the Baltic, Poland or Germany then you can catch them on their Black Hop Beat Tour in March. After a phenomenal 2018 Uratsakidogi will certainly be one to keep an eye out for this coming year.

Black Hop Beat Tour 2019

01.03 St.Petersburg (RU) / The Place
02.03 Tallinn (EST) / Rockstars
03.03 Riga (LV) / Depo
04.03 Kaunas (LT) / Lemmy
05.03 Warsaw (PL) / Poglos 
06.03 Torun (PL) / Dwa Światy
07.03 Wroclaw (PL) / DK Luksus
08.03 Dresden (D) / Louise
09.03 Berlin (D) / TBA