The Kirbi: Death-Metal versus a Baby Girl

A couple of months ago we covered the small electronic outfit from Barnaul, Siberia known as The Kirbi.  The project now centers primarily on the solo efforts of Denis Fomenko, shown below.  In that earlier post we focused on the recent leanings of Fomenko towards a more ambient sound, something he actively advertises to local art galleries and exhibition halls.

Together with his own light-shows or the commissioned work on display, he aims to merge a sonic backdrop with other art forms, rather than showcase his music in a more traditional format - i.e., on a stage and directed towards an audience.  He doesn't seem that keen on socializing, in any case.

This multimedia approach has attracted some local newspapers, who write positively of their experiences.  The Kirbi's music has been defined as having a "clean, pure sound, in fact it's discernibly chilly!  These are distinct, attractive, and unusual melodies, which - let's face it! - are something of a rarity today.  It'll remind you right away of retro-electronica - the kind of material that was used as background music.  It's the sort of music that 'swerves' in and out of various styles."

Later we read that "Fomenko writes polished, catchy tunes that are sometimes beefed up with some pretty lively ethno drum-beats, the emotional tones of which change from time to time.  One track might sound a bit gloomy or heavyweight (along the lines of dark ambient), whereas another will get you dreaming (like something that's new age-ish).  The tracks include spoken sound bites from various movies, noises taken from nature, and industrial drone, too.  Every now and then you'll here one of the author's own texts."

There's a good reason why Fomenko, who is now 31 and a native of Western Siberia, makes use of these differing styles.  A brief overview of his career shows that he used to play some very different music.  Back in 1993 he was busy penning instrumentals in the styles of grind-core, death-metal, and "death-doom."  Two albums were released by the middle of the 90s and apparently enjoyed a good local following, at least among Siberian lovers of "heavy and miserable music"!

By 1997 he had entered into a three-man ensemble and made the switch towards a somewhat less frightening aesthetic; within a couple of years, however, the freedom of solo composition again seemed attractive and Fomenko went off on his own, committing himself only to the occasional joint venture.  Since 2006 he has worked exclusively on one-man endeavors.

Though there seems to be a second presence somewhere...

It doesn't sound as if he was losing much by leaving those earlier projects; they were hardly blessed by great amenities.  Early rehearsals, for example, were conducted in Siberian apartments (the neighbors must have loved that!), in the wooden bath-house at a family dacha, and an empty local hall.

Fomenko would later graduate to an abandoned bomb shelter(!), but this and similar efforts slowly led to both regular night-club appearances and even local sponsors.  We imagine at that point his diet took a turn for the better, too.

These changes in venue, financial status, and genre were conducted with a lot of cut and pasting.  As Fomenko inched his way towards the light, syncopated style that we have in this post, he relied upon "serious ethno-beats, sounds from a Polivox analog synthesizer, a sampled flute, vocals, and keyboards."  Everything was put together and performed during practice sessions in the basement of Barnaul State Pedagogical University.  It seems that most of Fomenko's career has been driven by the need to get out of cellars and bombed-out civic structures.

Nowadays he - as we can hear - has moved far away from the gloom and doom of his earliest efforts.  Today he lists his current passions in a series of capitalized categories (plus an exclamation mark): AMBIENT, LOUNGE, CHILL OUT, DOWN TEMPO, IDM, EASY LISTENING, INSTRUMENTAL, INDUSTRIAL, TECHNO, TRANCE & HARD  TRANCE MUSIC!  And indeed, of all the multiple venues where he music can be found, PromoDJ is now the best and most representative.

What has been the reason for this extreme shift from death-metal to the dancefloor?  A recent post gives us one possible answer.  Fomenko is now proud father to a little girl, Dasha.  He has just uploaded his image of her favorite soft toy by way of celebration.

According to the cultural and artistic values of Western Siberia, it would seem that the devil's music is no match for a new-born baby and a fluffy elephant.

Barnual must be a nice place to live.