"The independent DIY punk-scene appeared in Belarus at the ending of the 90s. First of all it started up in two Belarusian cities: Grodno and Minsk. Grodno is a city that's located near the Polish border and all independent information had come from there. The first punk-rock band that became the generator of all the anarchist ideas was Deviation. By the way, this band still exists. Minsk is the capital of Belarus, therefore independent punk-rock appeared there quickly too, mostly with the help of a band called Hate to State; the bassist from this band was also busy with No Manipulation distro and published Don't Panic fanzine. And it's not surprising that these things helped to develop and extend new DIY ideas in the country.
In the beginning of the 00s a set of different punk-hardcore bands appeared. But in almost every case, these were bands which existed for a really short time, played just 1-2 gigs and then broke up in less than a year. Sometimes they made recordings. There were many of them, but now almost everyone has broken up.
From the outset of the DIY scene development there were attempts at squatting. Sometimes guys just rented a flat for a really miserable price and lived there. One of the most famous places, which was evicted few years ago, is a squat called Masterskaya, which was active for a few months in 2008.
(eng.subs) Masterskaja / Workshop - The Film (2009) from Anti Copyright on Vimeo.
Today we don't have as many bands as for example on the period of 2003-2008. In that time bands were created even in the small towns. But some bands still exist, we have gigs and it’s excellent! Probably, now small towns have many bands too, but they're absolutely underground and we cannot hear anything about them. So, here is the list of the most active bands at the moment with short descriptions:
Deviation (Grodno) – formed in 1995. As we wrote, one of the first bands. They are playing punk rock sometimes mixed with folk elements. They have a clear anarchist position and really politicised lyrics. 4 full albums were recorded.
Partiya (Minsk) – was formed in 2000 and is also one of the oldest bands of the Belarusian scene. They started to play middle tempo punk rock, but gradually sped up and began to play harder. As a result, they are playing powerful and fast crust punk. The band have played lots of gigs in Belorussia, during 2007-2010 made 5 tours for Europe, and also gave concerts in neighbouring countries. For the more detailed information, discography and for the downloading of records you should check their myspace or Primitive Distro. Their split CD with Agathocles Crust’N’Grind Protest! is available now...info here.
Destroyers (Minsk) – was formed in 2003 and is playing punk-hardcore. It’s one of the UK82 style bands, that are still playing. The band has 3 good albums. Now they are recording a new album. And they visited near and distant foreign countries several times.
Bagna (Grodno) – the band appeared in 2005 after the legendary Grodno band Contra La Contra's breaking up. They are playing melodic d-beat/crust punk with nice politized lyrics. It’s one of the best bands in Belarus at the moment. They have 2 splits (split CD w/I Know from Minsk and split 7” EP w/Skarpetter from Denmark) + unreleased tracks. They visited Europe with tours too.
I Know (Minsk) – the band appeared in 2005 and plays melodic crust-punk with anarcho-lyrics. Several times they visited Europe with tours and they’re known enough there. Discography: split CD w/Bagna, split CD w/Stagnation is Death from Poland, and also 10” and 7”. Now they’re preparing to release a split CD w/ E123 from Russia.
Brud Krou (Minsk) – another band from the capital city. They’re playing something similar to crust-hardcore with elements of the Swedish old-school hardcore. Also, as many Belarusian bands of this genre, they have very politicised lyrics. They have one demo and split 7” w/Zorka from Russia. At the moment the group is not playing...
I Hope You Die (Grodno) – the band was formed in 2006, and is playing melodic hardcore/crust. They recorded two demos and one EP. It's said that band has broken up, but it’s not a fact. The band is doing well, playing music and lyrics of good quality.
All Day Night (Minsk) – young enough, but already quite famous band, they were the first, who started playing neo-crust/dark hardcore here. Excellent sound and excellent lyrics. They recorded their debut album and visited Russia with a mini-tour. Now they’re very active, often have gigs, and I hope that in future they’ll get success.
Kawakami Nightmare (Gomel/Kiev, Ukraine) – the band with the members from different cities. They’re playing noise and filthy d-beat with influence of Disclose. Young enough band, have played some gigs and have recorded one demo and split CD w/Disgod from Indonesia.
Disharmonia (Gomel) – the first Belarusian band, which started to play d-beat/punk here. Young band, but they have perspective. They have recorded one album.
Too Much Brains (Minsk) – another young band (2009), which play punk-hardcore. Sometimes they play gigs. Have recorded a split with the next band:
Damages (from Minsk too) – at the moment they’re in the process of recording songs for split with Ukrainian band Ne Zlamaty!
Vsio Vranyo (Mogilev) – was formed by some ex-members of Sin Puesto – the first D.I.Y. punk-hardcore band in Mogilev. They’re playing crust/hardcore with two male vocalists.
Absurd (from the Belorussian hinterland) – they've been in existence from 2004 and play punk-rock. They have some recordings and some splits.
Monday Suicide (Grodno) – was formed at the end of 2010. They have one 5-song demo of cool garage punk-rock.
Other band you read about on their myspace accounts:
Pull Out An Eye (Minsk)
Face Forward (Minsk)
Sorta (Gomel)
These are not all bands which are playing at the moment. Only those bands that we could remember. Many bands (as stated above) sometimes have formed, sometimes have broken up. We can’t keep track of all events here!
At his moment the more or less active distros/labels (most of sites in Russian):
Primitive distro | label:
okpunkrock@gmail.com
Crimechords distro | label:
syrtrudmai@yandex.ru
Road to Freedom distro | label:
roadtofreedom32@gmail.com
www.roadtofreedom.ru
Revive! distro | label:
revivedistro@mail.ru
Evil Punk Records distro | label:
evil-distrex@yandex.ru
Podpol Revolt distro | label:
absurdity_86@mail.ru
Some zines can be viewed at Primitive.
Thank for your attention! If you have some questions, propositions or just desire to communicate – write to us.
Eugenio (squatyourself@gmail.com)
Mysh (okpunkrock@gmail.com | www.primitive-distro.blogspot.com)
