siLLy puPPy
OMUT is a folk metal band that started out in the southern Brest Region city of Drahichyn, Belarus but has since found a brighter future in the cosmopolitan capital city of Minsk. This band has been around since 2004 playing its unique mix of traditional Belarusian folk music and heavy metal but in that time has only released one EP and one full length album which came out first.
One of those bands that features its band name in the Latin script and the release titles in the Cyrillic, OMUT debuted in 2014 with Дзесяць шляхоў праз дрыгву ( Ten Ways Through A Quagmire in Belarusian) which refers to the region the band is from as the southern part of Belarus is known for its swamps and peat bogs. The band’s name OMUT means ‘whirlpool’ in the Belarusian language and all the titles are in the Belarusian language (more similar to Ukrainian) and not Russian giving it more of a nationalistic pride sort of feel.
This album features 10 tracks and clocks in at 36 minutes and 22 minutes. A very authentic folk metal album for sure. In fact the entire near 2-minute opening “Iорданская вода” is the traditional vocal styles performed by vocalist Elvira Stelmashuk and she is the main vocalist throughout the album however the album features the beauty and beast effect with vocalist Alles Maksimovič adding some cookie monster growls. They trade off and also sing together.
Slavic folk music is so distinct and OMUT does a great job at keeping it traditional. The female vocals are based completely in the traditional vocal styles of the regional folk music and the addition of the bayan (the Russian accordian) adds an extra layer of authenticity however the band does a great job adapting it to the world of metal music as well with excellent guitar riffs, bass and drumming that walks the fine line between the sensual folk music and the more aggressive metal. The metal vocals are sort of aiming at death metal but aren’t quite there. They are growly shouts.
Most of the tracks are on the speedier side of the folk music equation and sound like danceable Irish jigs only clearly derived from Eastern European traditional styles. While many folk metal bands simply use folk traditions to add some spice to their style of metal whether it be black, power or doom, OMUT is more based in the folk music and uses the metal as an accent as the folk aspects are never abandoned but the metal often drops out leaving just folk music performances. Slavic folk is addictive so it’s hard not to like this and the band does a great job adapting it to the metal universe. Pretty good actually.