In a cramped rehearsal studio, a band start to play. Gentle guitar picking meets skittering drums and soft bass tones as a woman sings softly into a mic. Amid the warm glow of fairy lights, it all feels very safe and comfortable. But then the illusion is shattered. A clanging riff kicks in and the vocalist goes from a demure croon to guttural howls, letting loose a growl that makes the world’s meanest bulldog look like a kitten.
It’s a huge stylistic twist, and for millions of people around the world, it’s how they were introduced to Ukrainian metal sensation Jinjer. By 2017, the band were onto the third single from their second album, watching the world politely overlook them time and again. But within 24 hours of their live session of Pisces being uploaded to YouTube, it had gone viral.
Dumbstruck viewers left comments on the video as they shared en masse, and so many professional vocal coaches made ‘reaction’ videos to vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk’s singing prowess you can watch compilations for hours. Finally, Jinjer had gone international.
It was just as well: by bassist Eugene Abdukhanov’s reckoning, it was the band’s last chance at making their second album – and Napalm debut – King Of Everything a success. “King Of Everything had to work, no matter what,” he explains. “We’d been working so hard to get recognised, touring constantly, and suddenly we were given this amazing opportunity to sign to Napalm. At that point we were just a small band playing for tiny crowds, and we were given this life-changing record deal. There was a lot of pressure to succeed.”
Homegrown heroes in Ukraine, Jinjer had bagged awards such as ‘Best Ukrainian Metal Act’ from Kyiv-based music label InshaMuzyka, but King Of Everything was their chance to break out on an international scale. It was crucial that they didn’t fumble the opportunity. Stylistically, they were aiming high. With the glorious technical groove of Captain Clock, to the meticulous instrumentals of Prologue and epic jazz-fused closer Beggar’s Dance, the band were pushing themselves beyond the Killswitch Engage-like metalcore they had embraced on their 2012 debut, Inhale, Do Not Breathe.
However, King Of Everything’s first two singles – Words Of Wisdom and I Speak Astronomy – had failed to ignite interest. Though fine demonstrations of Jinjer’s newfound djent-adjacent technical prowess and prog sensibilities, the songs didn’t quite have the same suckerpunching qualities that Pisces ultimately packed. Even when they decided on using Pisces as the album’s last single, Tatiana admits that the group “weren’t really expecting much” from the release. “We didn’t record the live session with a business plan to ‘impress the masses’,” she asserts. “We recorded it because it was a beautiful song that we loved and we wanted to put out into the world.”
Jinjer had already gone all-in budget-wise with the video for I Speak Astronomy, toying with special effects and futuristic costume design, so the Pisces video was made on a shoestring budget. “We’d just taken on Vladi [Ulasevich] as our new drummer, and were rehearsing Pisces when we decided we should record a live video,” Eugene explains. “We rented the space for €150, then had friends film us. We posted it and then went to bed. Imagine our surprise the next morning; we woke up and it was already viral.”
“We didn’t know what the future would hold,” Tatiana says. “But sometimes, when you don’t expect anything, that’s when magic happens.”
Jinjer were overdue a touch of magic. Sorrow is etched into their history, the band forced to flee their hometown of Horlivka (Gorlovka) in 2014 to escape the Russo-Ukrainian war. They left family behind and lived in spartan squats. But Tatiana’s spirituality, a sense of optimism and magic, remained intact. Lyrically, every Jinjer track is sprinkled with talk of the cosmos, fate and manifestation.
Pisces is no exception. When working on King Of Everything, Tatiana knew that she wanted to write a song that could explain exactly who she was - a deeply spiritual Pisces. “I just had this idea to write about how I relate to the Pisces constellation - I was in this trance, just thinking ‘Pisces, Pisces, Pisces’,” she laughs. The original draft would end up becoming I Speak Astronomy, however. “The lyrics took their own course. I got so lost in the depths of space!”
But, when she sat down for take two, she was totally focused on the Pisces mission. The duality of Pisces, embracing the effortless grace of Tatiana’s smooth vocals before plummeting into guttural depths, is reflective of Tatiana’s personality. “I am a dreamer, I am selfless, I can be very emotional and introverted,” she admits. “The rest of the band aren’t super into spiritual stuff, but I’m a Pisces 200%, and that’s why I believe in it - I’m living proof.”
While Eugene admits he is sceptical about zodiac signs, raising an eyebrow here and there, he is also a Pisces. So, it felt fitting for Tatiana to get him to help finish the track. “I needed to meet the recording deadline and was banging my head against the wall,” Tatiana recalls with a sigh. “I was completely drained, so I asked Eugene to write some lyrics. I didn’t show him anything I had written, but I think his closing section works perfectly.”
Despite not seeing the existing lyrics, Eugene knew the title of the track and had an idea of what Pisces was about. “I knew Pisces would be personal for Tati, so I wrote about her,” he explains. His words would end the song on a poignant cry of strength and persistence: ‘Pisces swimming through the river / all their life against the stream’, despite the hardships they may face.
“I think I subconsciously might have written about myself too, because I found myself relating a lot,” he admits. “Whether you believe in star signs or not, I feel like some of the ideas in Pisces, of perseverance and compassion, are very universal.”
“Pisces and even I Speak Astronomy are just so romantic to me,” Tatiana reflects. “What’s more romantic than your identity being determined by something so astronomical, so out of our hands, like the positioning of the planets? We’re all connected to the universe, written in the stars. There’s so much division in the world, but we’re all made of the same material.”
Pisces’ sense of universal connection in spite of struggles served as a perfect summation of Jinjer’s career to that point. But the online response to the song was only the tip of the iceberg. As the band continued to tour, they found themselves selling out shows across Europe, and by the time they arrived at Germany’s Wacken festival in 2019, they were attracting thousands of curious fans. “It was utterly insane, especially considering it was 11am!” Eugene told Hammer that year. “I couldn’t see where the crowd ended.”
Despite being a crowd favourite, Jinjer haven’t played Pisces at all their shows. In 2023, they made their main stage debut at Download Festival – and the song was nowhere to be found in their performance. “We’ve cut it from the set before, because we wanted to give other tracks the chance to shine,” Tatiana explains.
“Absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Eugene adds. “I believe that too much popularity can spoil something. It can make a track lose its value, its peculiarity. I’m glad we didn’t play it for a while. Returning to Pisces after a short break has really reminded me how proud I am of it.”
Pisces entirely changed the course of Jinjer’s career. Not only did the track bring in millions of new supporters, it pushed the band to focus on what made the song so special - that daring, awe-inspiring sonic contrast. 2019’s Macro album would traverse an even broader scope of textures than King Of Everything, delving into loftier prog heights as well as more brutal djent depths.
It’s not lost on Tatiana that one of her most personal, spiritual tracks helped catapult Jinjer into the metal stratosphere. “I’m good at manifesting,” she says. “It’s something that has defined my life. When I was 11 I drew myself onstage with a guitar - from then, I just knew I was going to become a musician. I’ve overcome a lot of thorns, a lot of sorrow, a lot of hardship. But I believe that my spirituality will help the pay-off be sweet.”
While the band have continued to evolve sonically and play bigger and bigger stages, even playing arenas alongside Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin in 2023, Jinjer acknowledge the role Pisces has had in helping them break internationally. “Pisces is timeless,” Tatiana insists. “It’s not about a war or current event. People will always be able to listen to it and relate to it. It’s about human nature. Anybody can hear themselves in it, or recognise the traits of someone they love. It comes from the heart.”
Live In Los Angeles is out now via Napalm. Jinjer play Louder Than Life and Aftershock Festivals this Autumn, and support Sepultura in the UK in November.
