1. From Darkness
2. Servants Of Death
3. To Bleed
4. Christ
https://vaginavangi.bandcamp.com/album/benighted-unitedRecorded within the halls of HOLY CHURCH studio.
Vocals on "Servants Of Death" by Ann G.; on "Christ" by me:)
Cover art by Eduardo Caudillo http://eduardocaudillo.tumblr.com/
In friendly memory of Leonid Kuklin (28.04.1981 - 30.12.2010)
Originally released on Soundcloud here, then in Feb 2011 re-released on Bandcamp, this debut EP from Vagina Vangi, alongside ~▲†▲~ album put Russia on the WH map for good. "Benighted United" is quite amazing - slow, brooding, dark, versatile and captivating. It aged beautifully, and sounds fresh after 12 years. Fans of Lorn or Tri Angle artists should totally check this. "To Bleed" with its minimal juke-inspired beat is so rad, it also makes me think of Hype Williams stuff, but it's less abstract and more melodic.
I also found this writeup from Mishka about VV and this release:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110114004 ... he-future/
Much of the music coming out of the Unicode Cvlt lately is mired in imperfection. It has always been my contention that this is, for the most part, purely intentional. Our new crop of artists tend to collect their influence (and samples) from sources where sonic quality is not the primary goal. Recently, the Grave Wave group on Last.FM (which was neither started, nor maintained by Мишка or anyone here at The Bloglin) survived an attack from Odin’s Army. A few retroactive minimal synth Nazis seem to be insulted to be lumped in with our brand of “American Mediocrity.” These same bootboi fashionistas painfully attempt to recreate a sound that was birthed, thirty years ago, out of cheap synths, bad EQ-ing, missed notes and amateur vocals. Past imperfections dictate their aesthetic, while we create ours.
Russia’s ▼▲▼Vagina Vangi have dropped an EP that makes this debate entirely moot. Neither American, nor mediocre, Benighted United is almost textbook Witch House in the fact that it finds its inspiration in the more polished sounds of Salem. This would usually elicit a Promethazine yawn from my mouth, but the music of ▼▲▼Vagina Vangi is really good. Motherfucking good, in fact. Named after a blind Russian soothsayer, this one man project has a vision. Formerly involved in Black Metal, he carefully studied the music of the aforementioned Witch House superstars and set forth to create his own.
Benighted United by Vagina Vangi
Like Odin’s Army, ▼▲▼Vagina Vangi claims no solidarity with the current scene, which he feels has missed the big picture. Although polite, it is obvious that he is not satisfied with the idea of taking only specific elements and trying to create a new sound. Instead, ▼▲▼Vagina Vangi strives to create a “perfect Russian Witch House.” Benighted United is just that. Dark drag at its finest. Stillborn beats and flawlessly brooding synths. It is orchestral and cinematic. Simply chilling in it’s vestal adoration.
- Nattymari
