Melnitsa

Melnitsa is a Russian folk-rock band from Moscow . It was founded on October 15, 1999, by musicians from the disbanded band Till Eulenspiegel. The vocalist, harpist, and main songwriter is Hellawes.

History

The band was founded in 1999 by former members of Till Eulenspiegel , which had disbanded by that time. The posters for Melnitsa's first concert, held on October 29, 1999, still listed the band as Till Eulenspiegel, for which Helavisa apologized to the audience. Melnitsa's debut album, " Road of Sleep ," included several songs arranged by Ruslan Komlyakov, the frontman of Till Eulenspiegel.

The band gained popularity in 2005 thanks to Nashe Radio and the Chartova Dyuzhina hit parade . Melnitsa fans organized a flash mob and propelled the song "Nochnaya Kobyla" to the top of the charts. Since then, Melnitsa has been a regular on Nashe Radio's playlist, with their songs frequently topping the charts. That same year, 2005, Melnitsa's lineup underwent changes. Most of the members split off to form the band Silfy (Silphs ). However, in December, four new members joined, two of whom also played in the band NetSlov . A second vocalist, Alevtina Leontyeva , also joined the group and participated in the recording of the album " Zov Krovi " (Call of Blood) (2006). Alevtina left the group in 2007.

In 2009, Melnitsa recorded a new album, " Wild Grasses ." That same year, a hits collection, "Melnitsa: The Best Songs," was released. While working with Melnitsa, Helavisa performed solo, and amateur recordings of her concerts circulated for a long time. Her first "official" solo album, "Leopard in the City," was released in 2009. In 2011, the band released the single "Christmas Songs," which included two new songs, "Take Care of Yourself" and "Sheep." The single was released in a limited edition for attendees of the band's Christmas concerts.

On April 28, 2012, the band released their fifth album, " Angelophrenia ." That same day, Melnitsa presented the new album in Moscow at the Arena Moscow club. A DVD recording of the " Wild Grasses " presentation concert and the box set " Sign of Four, " a reissue of the band's first four albums, were also released. As a bonus, "Sign of Four" included the songs "Take Care of Yourself" and "Sheep," which were included on the 2011 Christmas single. In November, the band filmed their first music video and footage for a second video from their concert in Izhevsk on November 25, 2012.

On January 11, 2013, the Christmas EP My Joy was released, featuring five songs. On September 26, 2014, Melnitsa's first official live album, "Angelofrenia Live," was released, featuring 16 songs from the "Angelofrenia" album presentation at the Arena Moscow club on April 28, 2012. On October 25, 2014, an anniversary concert was held in Moscow, dedicated to the band's fifteenth anniversary and the birth of cellist Alexey Orlov's daughter.

On October 9, 2015, the album Alchemy was released. On September 3, 2016, on Helavisa's birthday, the public was presented with a video for the song "Farewell" from the latest album. On October 15, 2016, the new album "Chimera" was released, conceptually connected to the previous one. In 2017, the band's first two albums, " Road of Sleep " and " Pass ", were reissued. The new edition includes booklets with song lyrics and new illustrations. On September 22, 2019, the band's anniversary collection "2.0 (Vintage Sessions)" was released, released on both CD and vinyl.

On March 12, 2021, the album Manuscript was released.

On October 20, 2023, the band released their new album, "Symbol of the Sun," and on October 31, Halloween, they released a music video for the song "Obereg" from the new album. The song "Tsarevich" from the album entered the "Nashe Radio" chart "Chart Dozen" and stayed there for 43 weeks, becoming the longest-running song in the chart's history. At the end of 2024, "Tsarevich" took first place in the "Chart Dozen".

On September 20, 2024, the album "Live 25" was released, dedicated to the band's twenty-fifth anniversary and including live versions of 25 songs.

Band members

Natalia O'Shea - vocals , Celtic harp , percussion , acoustic guitar , lyrics , music, arrangements , artistic director of the group.
Alexej Kozhanov (since December 2005) – bass guitar , acoustic guitar , arrangements.
Dmitrij Frolov (since December 2005) – drums , arrangements.
Sergej Vishnjakov (since February 2010) – electric guitar , acoustic guitar , solo, backing vocals, music, arrangements, artistic director of the band.
Dmitrij Kargin (since June 2013) – flute , melodica, keyboards, wind arrangements.

Session participants

Vasilisa Vvedenskaya – viola, violin . Leader of the folk-rock band "Vili." Session participant, May 2000.
Sergey Sedykh - guitar, electric guitar. Frontman of the rock band " Severo-Vostok ," a session participant in concerts in 2009-2010, and took part in the recording of the album "Wild Grasses" (2009).
Irina Surina – vocals. Country-folk singer, former member of the group " Kukuruza " (1991–2000). She took part in the recording of the album "Wild Grasses."
Elena Nikitaeva – vocals. She participated in the recording of the album "Wild Herbs" and its presentation at the Olympic Sports Complex (2009).
Sergey Klevensky - brass instruments. He participated in the recording of the album "Wild Grasses."
Max Yorick , electric violin. He participated in the recording of the album "Wild Herbs" and its presentations at the Olympic Sports Complex (Moscow) and the *Yubileiny Sports Palace (St. Petersburg).
Pyotr Nikulin, didgeridoo player , participated in the recording of the album "Wild Herbs."
Nikolai Oorzhak – throat singing. He participated in the recording of the album "Wild Herbs."
Oskar Chuntonov – Hammond organ. Keyboardist for Petr Nalich and Tatyana Zykina's band . He participated in the recording of the album "Wild Grasses." He has been a session player for the band's Moscow concerts since 2010.

Former members

Dan Skurida - guitar, percussion, vocals . From the band's founding until July 2002. Member of the group " Vedor Vody ." Maria Skurida – violin, backing vocals . From the band's founding until July 2002. Member of the group " Vedor Vody ." Natalia Filatova - flute. From the group's founding until October 2005. Member of the group " Sylphs ." Alexander Stepanov (Grendel) – guitar, percussion, vocals, music, arrangements. From the formation of Melnitsa in October 1999 to December 1999 and from January 2001 to June 2007. Later in the folk group AnarrimA. Dina Khatsko – second vocals, 1999. Alexandra Nikitina – cello, 1999. Alexey Sapkov (Chus) – from October 1999 to March 2010 : guitar , vocals, percussion, music, lyrics, arrangements. From March 2010 to June 2017 – director of the band. Alexey Danilenko - cello, 2000. Olga Lopina – second vocals, November-December 2000. Dina Nigmatullina - cello. From 2000 to December 2003. Natalia Masevnina – violin. From September 2002 to September 2003. Roman Lutoslawski (Proshchenko) – percussion, drums. From September 2002 to July 2004. Inessa Klubochkina (Burlakova) - violin. From October 2003 to October 2005. Member of the group " Sylphs ". Natalia Kotlova (Khmelevskaya) – cello. From December 2003 to October 2005. Former member of the groups " Silfy " and " Magellanovo Oblako " Evgeny Chesalov – bass guitar. From April 2004 to October 2005. Member of the band " Silfy ". Alexander Leer – drums, percussion. From July 2004 to October 2005. Former member of the band " Sylphs ." Maria Tsodokova (Shanti) – vocals , backing vocals . In November 2004, she performed with the group as a second vocalist. Irina Shiryaeva – vocals , backing vocals . From January to May 2005, she performed with the band as a second vocalist. Sergey Zaslavsky – flute , melodica , zhaleika , saxophone , accordion , jaw harp , arrangements. From December 2005 to May 2013. Alexey Orlov - electric cello , cello , mandolin , arrangements. From December 2005 to June 2017. Alevtina Leontyeva – vocals , backing vocals , lyrics. She performed with the band as a second vocalist from May 27 , 2006. She left Melnitsa on November 24, 2007, and now leads her own projects. Alexey Tarasov (Altar) was the group administrator from May 2005 to November 2010. Alexey Arzhanov (Doctor) – sound engineer (left the group in October 2011). Max Cherepanov - monitor sound engineer (until October 2011) Alexey Denisov – sound engineer (from November 2011 to June 2017). Alexey Pereverzev is a producer and sound engineer.

Discography

Studio albums

2003 — The Road of Sleep
2005 — Pass
2006 — Call of Blood
2009 — Wild Herbs
2012 — Angelophrenia
2015 — Alchemy
2016 — Chimera
2021 — Manuscript
2023 — Son Symbol

Live albums

2014 — "Angelophrenia Live"
2024 — "LIVE 25"

=EPs

2004 — Master of the Mill
2013 — My Joy

Singles

2011 — Christmas Songs
2020 — Manuscripts (included in the album Manuscript in 2021)
2020 — "Dark Lands" (included in the album Manuscript in 2021)
2022 — Kashchei (included in the album Sun Symbol in 2023)
2022 — Heart of the Hawk (included in the album "Sun Symbol" in 2023)
2025 — Nettle
2025 — White Stone Lions

Collections

2002 — "The Doors of Tamerlane"
2007 — "The Best"
2019 — “ 2.0 (Vintage Sessions) ”

Vinyl

2013 — "The Road of Sleep"
2017 — “Alhimeira”
2019 — "2.0"
2021 — “Manuscript”

Videos

The list does not include Lyric video format videos and videos of concert performances.

"Roads" (2012) - director Vadim Shatrov "Ballad of the Struggle" (2014) — directed by Stanislav Dovzhik "Contraband" (2014) - directed by Vadim Shatrov "Farewell" (2016) - directed by Alexander Karpov "Warbringers: Jaina" (2018) is an animated video for the game World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth "Shadowlands" (2020) - official music video based on the game World of Warcraft: Shadowlands "Khamsin" (2021) "Griffin" (2021) — directed by Sergei Akrachkov "Kashchei" (2022) — video by Nikolai Belov Heart of the Hawk (2022) — directed by Ksenia Baskakova "Amulet" (2023) - directed by Aglaya Nabatnikova "Tsarevich" (2024) — directed by Konstantin Suev "White Stone Lions" (2025)

Notes

References

External links

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