Jinjer

Pouring the struggles of life in a war-torn industrial town into a chaotic, highly emotional storm of growling, sonic-shifting metal mayhem, Ukrainian favourites Jinjer stand as one of the most unique bands to find a home on the European heavy metal circuit. Growing up in the 1990s in the small Eastern city of Horlivka in Doneskt, front woman Tatiana Shmailyuk discovered extreme Russian rock, US nu-metal and classic punk in her teens and began dreaming of a way out of a region struggling with economic hardship and the lingering effects of the downfall of the Soviet Union. Guitarist Dmitry Oksen had already formed Jinjer in 2009, but when Tatiana Shmailyuk and guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov joined the following year, they began honing their thunderous sound in local bars, before moving to the country's capital Kiev together in 2012. With bass player Eugene Abdiukhanov managing the group, things really took off when they won a national talent contest held by music store Muztorg and used their reward of free studio time to record the EP Inhale, Don't Breathe. The following year they were named Best Ukrainian Metal Act at an award ceremony held by record company InshaMuzyka and their album Cloud Factory was a collision of groove metal and intense, explosive metalcore breakdowns. They sang about the industrial pollution in their hometown caused by chemical factories on the album's title track and discussed their country's political divides on "When Two Empires Collide", soon landing a deal with leading Austrian metal label Napalm Records. Their sophomore album King of Everything in 2016 included their fan anthem "Pisces" and the band found an international audience after touring with Cradle of Filth and Arch Enemy. Oksen departed from the band and drummer Vladislav Ulasevich also joined in 2016, but they remained a rampant and a viscerally emotive force when they returned with EP Micro, followed by the more progressive metal album Macro in 2019. Forced to cancel several tours due to the the Covid-19 pandemic, Jinjer instead released the live album Alive in Melbourne (2020), then returned to the studio to record the highly acclaimed Wallflowers (2021). The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 allowed them to leave the country and record their fifth album Duél abroad, released in 2025.