RUINS OF FAITH

Black Metal

http://www.myspace.com/ruinsoff

Vakhtang Tskhvitava – Bass, Keyboards

Nikoloz Rukhadze – Drums

Vasil Doiashvili – Vocals, Guitars

You can't talk about the Georgian Metal scene without talking about Vasil Doiashvili. Not only is Vasil one of the most prolific metal musicians in the Caucasus, performing with numerous bands like IM NEBEL or ILLUMINATED, he's also THE pioneer when it comes to the evolution of Black Metal in the Caucasus in the early 1990s. Today the "father of Georgian Black Metal" is the mainman of the Symphonic Black Metal outfit RUINS OF FAITH from Tbilisi, who released the formidable album "To the Shrines of Ancestors" in 2006. But let’s start at the beginning. Vasil, you were one of the first musicians to play Metal in Georgia. You already started in the late 1980s with your first band DARK HEAVEN. Could you please introduce DARK HEAVEN to us?

DARK HEAVEN formed in 1988. This band was in fact the first Melodic Death Metal band in Georgia. Regarding the line-up it was pretty standard: we had three guitars, bass, vocals and drums. We were young and not really professional. After about one year of rehearsing we recorded a mini album titled “Dark Heaven” in the Marjanishvili Theater music studio.

Is there a chance to still listen to it? Maybe soundfiles?

No. It was recorded in four hours, because we didn’t have the money to pay the studio. The songs were recorded on magnetic tapes. Unfortunately all sound files are lost today.

Did the studio owners have experience with Extreme Metal back then in the late 1980s?

No, the studio was very old. I think the equipment was from the 1960s or 1970s. And of course it was no Metal studio. There were no studios and producers who had any experience with Heavy Metal in Tbilisi at that time.

When you started with Dark Heaven it was still in the Soviet Era, before Georgia became independent on the 9th of April 1991. What was it like playing Metal in the Soviet Union? Where did you buy albums, for example? How did you find out about Heavy Metal in the Soviet Union? 

Playing Death Metal in the Soviet era was a disaster: horrible instruments, bad rehearsal spaces, no stage experience whatsoever … Also this style of metal was something which was shockingly new. 

Not even the Georgian Hard’n’Heavy musicians of that time did understand what we were trying to achieve with growling vocals. But I can say it’s not a big difference to today, haha… Anyway, metal music is not popular in Georgia and I think this situation will still last for a long time. Bands must emigrate to Europe for a normal existence in my opinion.

Were there any other Metal bands around in Georgia in the 1980s/early 1990s, besides Dark Heaven?

Yes, there were a couple of thrash and hard’n’heavy metal bands: MORYTUR, DOUBLE CROSS, CORRUPTION, WEEKEND, MEMENTO MORI …

Cool, I never heard about any of those. Can you tell us more about them?

I can’t tell you much, we weren’t really in contact with them. I just watched some live shows these bands were playing. MORYTUR was a Death/Thrash Metal band. They recorded an album and emigrated to Russia in 1989. A few months later I got the news from an old friend that they were in jail. And now they’re all dead. I don’t know what really happened to them. I’m sure someone knows more about all these bands, unfortunately I don’t.

Promo shooting for PERGAMO (1995)

In the early 1990s you started the Black Metal Pioneers PERGAMO. What happened to DARK HEAVEN? Who were your main influences to start PERGAMO?

In the 1990s I heard about Black Metal while browsing through radio channels. I found the frequency of a Russian radio station, which was playing music by bands like IMMORTAL, BAL-SAGOTH, DIMMU BORGIR and EMPEROR.

I was impressed very much, haha… especially after I found some pictures and interviews in magazines which came to Georgia with a delay of about one year after they were published in Europe, haha…  In 1993 I went to Turkey. Turkey was more open for metal music around that time. I also met more metalheads from Europe there. And I found a couple of metal shops and recording studios in Ankara. I also played in a Turkish Black Metal band called SARCOPHAGUS. After I returned to Tbilisi in 1994 I met the guys from my old band DARK HEAVEN and told them about my experiences in Turkey. I also tried to convince them to change DARK HEAVEN’s style to Black Metal. They weren’t really happy with my idea and told me I really was out of my mind, hehe… So Black Metal didn’t really fit to the Georgian mentality at that time …

After a couple of months, I met a person in Tbilisi who understood my thoughts and my taste in music. Together we decided to do some kind of experiment. We recorded our own Black Metal compositions at home. We experimented to become interesting and we took these home recordings to a famous radio station around. We never had any hope to get airplay, but we succeeded! Our songs were the first Black Metal music broadcasted on air in Georgian radio stations!

Not bad at all! It was just you two guys back then, right?

Yes, but soon after we talked about turning the project into a real live band. At the beginning of 1994 PERGAMO was finally formed: Three guitars, drums and keyboards. This was also the reason for me to leave DARK HEAVEN, ‘cause I didn’t have the time for two bands and my interest for DARK HEAVEN was exhausted.

I remember you telling me about the legendary first gig of PERGAMO with Corpsepaint, candles , etc. Can you please tell us more about this show?

The first ever PERGAMO live show took place in 1995. The show was in some basement in the center of Tbilisi. It was the only place where you could perform underground music. We made everything for our live concert ourselves: collecting equipment, making nail-spiked gauntlets, drawing the tickets, making the corpsepaint …  

Black Metal conquering the Caucasus - The legendary first PERGAMO gig in 1995.

That’s the Do-it-yourself underground spirit!

Yeah! When we finally started playing, we were already tired, hahaha… But for the audience our first Black Metal show was like a bomb exploding from the stage. I remember, before we were starting to play, the staring faces of the metalheads for the first five seconds, not understanding what was going on. Anyway the show went great, there were about 300 metalheads, also the press. PERGAMO became quite famous in Tbilisi, but it wasn’t good for the band and also personally for the band members. The press reacted in a very negative way, like: we were Satanists, and Black Metal was no music. And society must punish us for such deeds. Also PERGAMO’s quick popularity stirred some hatred from other Georgian metal bands towards us.

Oh dear… What happened?

After our first live show most of the metal scene and the society was against us. They thought that Black Metal was a shame for the Georgian Metal scene, that it was unprofessional, that Black Metal was not music and Black Metal shows are not acceptable for Georgians.

We got a message telling us we must go to church and be baptized to help ourselves. We were laughing so much about this message, hahaha. We didn’t have any problems with the police though. But nevertheless the police really was a problem for metalheads. The police arrested them for nothing, just because of their long hair. And then they shaved their hair, that was pure sadism…

Fuck, that’s bad…

After this we played one last live show in the same place in 1996 and then stopped playing live altogether.

The 1990s were a pretty hard time for Georgia. There was a lot of chaos, crime and problems with electricity and stuff. How did this affect the development of the metal scene in Georgia? When you look at the development of the metal scene in Georgia, I think it really starts around 2002/2003. A lot of new bands were forming, the scene was getting bigger. What happened around that time? What were the main reasons for the scene to expand in these years?

Indeed, it was a terrible time for the whole country. But the metal scene continued existing deep underground or on undercover parties.

Undercover parties? Really?

Yeah, parties where metal was played unplugged in some of our friends homes. As you can see the history of metal in Georgia in the 1990s is even more terrible than what happened in Norway during that time, hahaha...

Hahaha, awesome!

Anyway, there was no chance to develop and promote metal outside of Georgia, to show the world that there are interesting metal bands in Georgia. The only way was to leave the country, because of these problems. This was an inner conflict for many musicians playing in bands. Realizing that our music had no future in Georgia we stopped rehearsing and disbanded. In 2000 in Georgia happened big political and economic changes. I think this was the main reason why the Metal scene in Tbilisi got bigger. And this is not just about metal, all underground scenes are much more bigger now.

But I’m sure the internet played a part in this evolution as well, right?

Sure, the internet was very important for Georgia. It already arrived in the first half of the 1990s, but at that time probably only 10 % of the people owned a computer. After 2000 the internet was available for 100% of the people in Tbilisi. I think the internet helped to show the world what was happening in the Georgian metal scene. Also the people here discovered foreign bands and metal music styles that they didn’t know before. 

In 2001 you started RUINS OF FAITH.  Can you tell us a little more about RUINS OF FAITH?

In 2001 I had the opportunity to meet some people who made me think about a new beginning: Vakhtang Ckvitava (Guitars), Igor Smichkov (Keyboards) and Giorgi Gogidze (Bass). We became friends and together we made our first metal studio in our home’s basement in 2003. And after inviting Nik Rukhadze (drums) we started rehearsals.

In 2006 you released your debut album „To the shrines of Ancestors“. Did you do it all by yourselves or did you go to a professional studio/producer?

We already started to record our full length album “To The Shrines of Ancestors” in 2004. We did it in our own studio. It was finished in 2005 and released on the famous Russian label “Haarbn Productions” in 2006. It was the big deal for RUINS OF FAITH. CDs were sold in Russia, Europe and Japan. Info about RUINS OF FAITH was spread on European websites and magazines like Dark City or Metal Art …

„To the shrines of ancestors“ reminds me a lot of DARK FUNERAL and SETHERIAL. What were your influences when you were writing the album?

My favorite bands are Emperor, DIMMU BORGIR, BATHORY, MARDUK, DEATH … Actually, when we were working on the album, we tried not to listen to a lot of other music, because we wanted to get rid of all influences. Our mission was to make some music of our own, and our own vision of Black and Death Metal. Really, it was no easy task. I think we created something special. Maybe the music reminds of famous old school and new European Black Metal, but I think this is usual for this genre. The main theme of the lyrics of the album were philosophical and mythological topics.

What do you mean with “philosophical”?

Vasil in the Warsteiner Pub, Vashvlovani St, Tbilisi 2012

We seek answers to the question "what is faith?". „To the Shrines of Ancestors“ and also our next work will deal with this topic. Once great civilizations were lost and there are only archeological evidences about their past. What were the beliefs of these ancient societies? Was their faith leading to their downfall? What did they feel? The ancient Sumerian culture is the main source of inspiration for the next album that will be ready until the end of 2012. We hope that the work will be interesting for different listeners and they will enjoy it's atmospheric components and lyrics.

Ah, now I understand what the bandname is about! And great to hear that you’re working on a new album! By the way, how does society in Georgia react to Black Metal today? Georgia is still a very religious country, the church is still pretty powerful, right? Did you ever have problems because of RUINS OF FAITH?

Yes, we had problems and not only RUINS OF FAITH…  This problem is for all the underground music scenes of Georgia. In the eyes of our Orthodox Church we all are the same shit. As you know, RUINS OF FAITH don’t use satanic lyrics and stuff, but anyway the Church hates us. Also 90% of the society is zombified by the church.

What do you think about the development of Black Metal compared to the early 1990s. I mean, in the 1990s Black Metal was dangerous, now bands like Immortal or Emperor are headlining Wacken. What do you think about it? Is it a good thing that extreme metal reaches the masses or would you prefer it to stay extreme and underground?

I think getting mainstream is normal and usual. I just don’t like radical stylistic changes in some of the legendary Black/Death metal bands, like SATYRICON, ULVER, SAMAEL or ANCIENT.

Being the „father“ of Georgian Black Metal, what do you think about your „sons“, current bands like PSYCHONAUT 4 or DIABOLUS SANCTUS?

Yes!  These guys are heroes! Performing such extreme suicidal shows in Tbilisi! This is really dangerous for them, but think they don’t give a fuck about it, also they already are popular in Europe. And as far as I know PSYCHONAUT 4 are preparing their first Euro trip this autumn, so I wish them a nice fucking trip!

DIABOLUS SANCTUS are my good friends, I’m supporting this band. They are deep into these satanic themes and it is rumoured that they burned some icons and crosses, which is very controversial in such a religious country as Georgia. They also wear corpse paint and inverted crosses on stage. They have released a demo album, titled “Voice Of Satan”. Now DIABOLUS SANCTUS  are working on a new album.

What is your wish for the Georgian scene? Is there anything you’d like to change, if you had the power?

Nothing!

DISCOGRAPHY

To the Shrines of Ancestors

2006

Haarbn Productions

1. To The Shrines Of Ancestors (part 1) 

2. Pagan

3. Father Fire  

4. The Everquest

5. To The Shrines Of Ancestors (part 2)

6. Ruins Of Faith

7. Mournbringer  

8. Solar Eclipse  

9. Murvan Kru