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| Bio of the Artist |
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The band Mortifer was formed in July 1988 in Kostroma (Russia) by Sergey Novikov (guitar & vocals) and his pal Anatoly Chebotarj (drums). Two years earlier, they used to appear at parties in a local Medical college with pop songs and even covers of AC/DC and Alice Cooper. It was rather venturesome to play this dangerous stuff in those times... The risk was concerned with the anti-Western policy of the former USSR. After Sergeys return from the military service, the guys decided to form a band, which would play exceptionally heavy kinda music. Within a month the band's line-up was completed. Sergeys College classmate Alexander Kamenschikov joined on bass. On the first demo tape there was Valeriy Mukhin as a lead guitar player, but he has abandoned the band in half a year, having preferred to play in restaurants and take care of his family. At that time the band name was Kniaz Serebriany (The Silver Knight) and they played mostly covers of Savatage, DIO, Loudness, OZZY, Saxon, etc., but they also started writing their own material in the hard'n'heavy vein. The lyrics were all in Russian then. But in 1991 they have switched into English lyrics, playing radical (for those times) style - brutal thrash metal. All the new material was recorded as a demo-version in 1992 and has been re-recorded and released later as their debut LP "Euthanasia" in 1993 by BIZ Enterprises (Death City Records). It was considered as a breakthrough event at that time. But having succumbed to the demand of the market, BIZ Enterprises (at that time BIZ became the POLYGRAM branch in Russia) has re-orientated into pop field and has abrogated all the contracts with bands that played heavy stuff. During the existence, Mortifer appeared on stage with various bands from Russia and Belarus, such as Hellraiser, Black Obelisk, Korrozia Metalla, Trizna, Abadonna, Exhumator, Tornado etc. at many fests and gigs. By the time, Mortifer has already written and recorded its new material for the next album, which appeared on MC format under the title "Blind Faith". From 1995 to 1999 the band members were concentrated on their families and hardly ever worked together. However, the new material was prepared and the album "If Tomorrow Comes" secured them a deal with Metalagen Records. The CDs have reached the shops early in February 2000. On March, 5th 2000 Mortifer played as a supporting act for Kreator in Moscow. Almost simultaneously Sergey Novikov has released a solo project (X Factor), which combined different songs in Russian, which have been written even during 1988-1989 period. The album also included three covers: "Fly Away" by Mad Max, "Breaking The Law" by Judas Priest and "Belladonna" by U.F.O.. All the instruments have been played by Sergey Novikov alone, including the drum programming. The year 2000 saw the first change in the line-up since 1988. The bassist younger brother, Konstantin Kamenschikov, replaced the original drummer. And also the second guitar player, Alexander Kukin, was added into the band. In May 2001 Mortifer played at Metalagen Fest together with Gods Tower, Nordream, T.H.R.O.N., Izakaron. Early in 2002 the band gathered in studio for recording of the album "Blind Faith". One month later Mortifer has appeared as a special guests at Sodom live show in Moscow. In parallel they have worked under the new material for the brand new album Total Darkness. On September, 29th 2003 Mortifer together with Mind Eclipse has opened the show of Austrian legend Pungent Stench in "Partizan" club (Yaroslavl). On October, 26th 2003 the band appeared at Thrash Metal Festival in Moscow together with Manic Depression, Stalwart, Diversia and Factura. During February - mid April 2004 the band was recording the new album "Total Darkness" in Sergey Novikov's own studio (SPN studio). In December 2004 the album of 10 brand new tracks as well as four cover bonuses of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, AC/DC and The Beatles, has been released by well-known Russian label CD-Maximum. Shortly after completion of "Total Darkness", the band continued to work under their next, 5th album. Presently, the new 9 track material is ready and its recording is scheduled for December. According to the band intention, the work will be continued until spring 2006. |
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