Based out of Belarus, Molchat Doma is a band that has taken aspects from former Soviet new wave groups like Kino and inter blended it with western post punk and industrial groups such as Depeche Mode, Joy Division, New Order, and others. And the sign of the band's potential as a future force in the world of post punk came with their 2018 record Etazhi (or Floors in English). Floors is a record that absolutely captures the essence of 1980s post punk without being derivative of the predecessors the band looked up to, capturing the essence of the genre while adding a Soviet/Belarusian flavor to the music. From songs like "Sudno" (Bedpan), which takes its lyrics from a poem by Soviet poet Boris Rhyzy, to songs such as "Volny" (Waves), "Kommersanty" (Businessman), and others, the album really provides songs with a catchy beat and darksome mood, with lyrics to match. Egor Shkuto did excellent with the vocals on the album and has drawn comparisons with Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan, the bass work from Pavel Kozlov was fantastic and set a good tempo, especially when complimented by Roman Komogortsev's drum work and guitars, as well as great synthesizer beats from all three men in the band. Even if you don't speak Russian, many fans of the band overseas have provided translations of the lyrics so you can follow the themes of the songs. Although I would argue the musicianship is so good that they could be singing in Klingon and I would be grooving to it. Give Molchat Doma a try, you won't regret it.
