A Ukrainian modern oriental metal band IGNEA has released an official video for its brand new single ‘Queen Dies’.Visually, the video is a blend of original shootings and striking animation. In terms of plot, it mostly reflects the lyrical content of this song: the Queen’s court wizard is having a dream that she would die by hand of a ‘power-hungry twin’. Therefore, she orders to kill all the twins in the kingdom, including her sister. In this bloody process, she starts to understand that she likes it, and then she’s captured by a demon. All in all, she doesn’t die herself, but the Queen in her Dies. “Almost all of our previous songs were very serious in terms of messages. ‘Queen Dies’ is a phantom of imagination, a synergy of our idea and our director’s vision,” says Helle Bogdanova, the vocalist of IGNEA. “The video was made by a talented Ukrainian director Masha Goruliova. This is already the third time we’re cooperating with her, she has also created our 2 lyric videos — ’Seytanu Akbar’ and ‘How I hate the night’. The best way to work with Masha is to give her the main idea and the total freedom. The shootings of this video were made in February, and we haven’t seen a second of it until now. It was totally impossible to predict the result because Masha is always very authentic and original in her work, and I like that she doesn’t make boring usual metal videos. And I must say, the video we have now is beyond any expectations…” In May 2018, IGNEA has toured in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands, together with Illdisposed, Shade Empire, and Soulline, as well as performed in Slovakia, Czech Republic, and at the RockMetalCampFest in France. In summer 2018 IGNEA has performed at Kilkim Žaibu (LT) and Faine Misto (UA) festivals. In October 2018, the band toured 9 European countrieswithin the Female Metal Voices Tour 2018 headlined by Butcher Babies and Kobra and the Lotus. Currently, IGNEA is working on the second full-length album.
IGNEA was started in Kiev, Ukraine, back in 2011 under name Parallax. Intentionally, it was the first Ukrainian band to play oriental metal. The band, however, didn't limit itself to strict boundaries of oriental metal, and included elements from symphonic, industrial, modern, progressive and other modern subgenres of metal. The activity of the band started though in 2013 when the band entered Morton Studio, well-known rock and metal studio in Ukraine, to record its debut EP, titled Sputnik.
In 2014, the band prepared a follow-up single titled Petrichor, featuring bouzoukitara playing and a guitar solo from Yossi Sassi, at that moment the guitarist of oriental metal fathers band, Orphaned Land.
In 2015, the band finally changed its name to IGNEA and released a new work called Alga, named after a war call of Crimean Tatar people. This song is contributed to Crimeans who are defending their land.
Alga is the first ever original song from a Ukrainian band, recorded with a full symphonic orchestra. The video was shot unintentionally and on low budget as the band wanted to use orchestra sessions footage in something bigger, than video diary. Over the year, the video gathered over million views on YouTube.
Late 2016, IGNEA opened the show of Orphaned Land, fathers of oriental metal, in Kiev, Ukraine.
February 16th, 2017, the band releases its first full-length album called The Sign of Faith, consisting of 10 songs. The album has heavier sound, with lots of growls and authentic middle-eastern melodies, common for oriental metal genre. However, the music keeps melodic fundamentals and OST feeling.
IGNEA also released an anti-terrorism video for Şeytanu Akbar from the new album. Despite provocative title of the song, the band’s intention is to carry the idea of peace. According to the band’s words: “What we want to say is that there is no reasonable cause to kill other people, be it regime, faith or moral principles. We mainly speak about islamic terrorism in this song, as one of the social plagues of 21st century, taking lots of innocent lives. However, this applies to every human on Earth, regardless of their religion.”
Over 2017, IGNEA has been promoting the new album through solo shows and festivals in Ukraine within ‘The Tour of Faith’. The band has released 4 live videos in summer. In December, IGNEA has been nominated for The Best Ukrainian Metal Act awards and has entered the top 3 best metal bands in the country. January 2018, IGNEA has released an official live experience video for Şeytanu Akbar recorded at the BUMA awards and has signed a management & booking deal with The Flaming Arts Agency.
In May 2018, IGNEA has toured in Germany, Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands, together with Illdisposed, Shade Empire, and Soulline, as well as performed in Slovakia, Czech Republic, and at the RockMetalCampFest in France. In summer 2018 IGNEA has performed at Kilkim Žaibu (LT) and Faine Misto (UA) festivals.
September 2018, IGNEA released a new single “Queen Dies” with a respective art video directed by Maria Goruliova.
In October 2018, the band toured 9 European countries within the Female Metal Voices Tour 2018 headlined by Butcher Babies and Kobra and the Lotus. Currently, IGNEA is working on the second full-length album.
Over just a couple of active years and just one full-length album, IGNEA has managed to grow quite a big fanbase:
20,000+ followers on Facebook33,000+ subscribers and nearly 4 million views on YouTube20,000+ monthly listeners on Spotify
Discography
2013 — “Sputnik” (EP) 2014 — “Petrichor” feat. Yossi Sassi (Single) 2015 — “Alga” (Single) 2017 — “The Sign of Faith” (LP) 2018 — “Queen Dies” (Single)
コメント