Angel NeBes (Ангел НеБес) is one of the most popular Russian rock bands that has come out of Saint Petersburg. The band is known for their combination of psychedelic, philosophical, and experimental elements in their music. The group was founded in the city of Novomoskosvsk, in the Tula region, in 2006. Within the first two years […]

Nervy (Нервы; “nerves”) is a Ukrainian alternative-rock band led by singer and pianist Zhenya Milkovskiy (Женя Мильковский). He formed the band in 2010 after his solo career, which he had begun several years earlier, didn’t yield the results he wanted. The original members of the band were Milkovskiy (vocals, guitar), Dmitry Dudka (Дмитрий Дудка; bass guitar), […]

Louna (in Russian Луна, though they actually go by the Roman spelling—it means “moon”) is a pretty recently established Russian rock group. The name comes from the nickname of one of the founders, Lu (Лу; actually Lusine Gevorkyan, Лусинэ Геворкян), an ethnic Armenian. The group was founded in 2009 by two of the members of […]

Skalpel (Skaльпель) is a Russian ska band hailing from Moscow. They are one of Russia’s best known bands playing old-school ska. Skalpel have made a mark on the international scene as well, playing shows with seminal bands like Bad Manners, The Beat, The Toasters, Be Nuts, Dr. Ring-Ding, Valkyrians, and others. They have released material […]

Male Factors is a Russian ska-punk band with a strong chanson influence. Their lyrics generally deal with criminality and drinking, and they were signed to Hobgoblin Records, a label notoriously owned by a former hacker and black marketer. They sang in Russian, English, Spanish, and German. They use the English name consistently. The band started […]

Elizium (Элизиум) is a Russian ska-punk band from Nizhny Novgorod. Elizium plays across a number of genres, including ska, reggae, and metal, from which they have derived their own genre, which they call “space-rock” (“космос-рок”). Their name is taken from an ancient Greek conception of the afterlife. Elizium has  played with a number of well-known […]

Distemper is a Russian ska-punk band known for their combination of straightforward punk rhythms with danceable ska parts. Starting out in 1989 as a hardcore punk band, Distemper transitioned to their current ska sound around 1995. They consistently use a version of their name written in Latin characters. The band was formed in 1989 in […]

Lumen is a Russian rock, alt rock, and punk band formed on February 12, 1998 in Ufa, Russia. Lumen means “light” in Latin. The band consistently uses the English “Lumen” although occasionally some media use the Russified “Люмен.” Current members include Rustem Bulatov (Рустем «Тэм» Булатов), Igor Mamaev (Игорь «Гарик» Мамаев), Yevgeni Trishin (Евгений «Шмель» […]

Iva Nova (Ива Нова; the name translates to “new willow”) is a Russian experimental folk-punk group. They combine elements of punk, blues, tango, and other styles with Russian folk music, creating a sound that has been hailed by rock journalists as radically innovative and interesting.  Their band website proclaims that they’re an “alternative ethno-extreme that […]