Ukrainian/Portuguese duo IMAGICA have honed a fascinating sound that refuses to be constrained to specific styles or genres. IMAGICA is as much a band as it is an art, filmmaking and storytelling project with a strong visual base that they intriguingly describe as “surrealistic cinematic arena dance metal.”
Imagica began when Ukrainian film director, musician and songwriter Victor Maslyaev, who’d been in various other musical projects that didn’t quite match the creative ideas he was coming up with, relocated to Portugal with his family in 2019. He started looking for a place to rehearse and a guitar coach to improve his skills – and the stars aligned and he met guitarist David Uricchio, who also has a background in the creative industry.
As Vic explains: “I would say that IMAGICA is more than a band or a project for both of us. Both David and I were developing our skills over the years and all that we’ve been through, is being summed up and put to work in what we’re doing now.
“We see it more like a creative, art-driven narrative platform, where each song is a storytelling, combining all our musical and filmmaking experiences and blending all the variety of styles and genres which have been influencing us.”
The project came to life when the pandemic hit in 2020, and Vic describes the approach they’ve honed since as: “Sound-wise, we always prefer to be heavy and atmospheric. We combine riffs with catchy hooks and melodies, a lot of synths, samples and symphonic soundscapes, blending different genres of metal like melodeath, modern metal, prog with EDM, AOR, industrial and elements of pop, punk and film score like interludes.
“The core thing for us is drive, energy and storytelling when you put your headphones on and fly away into the IMAGICA metaverse. Sometimes it’s a stadium anthem, sometimes an emotional ballad or a moshpit slammer), when the full album is out you’ll have it all there for sure. Heavy and melodic.”
Intriguingly, Vic also drills down into those four words he uses to describe the band – cinematic arena dance metal – as following:
“Cinematic – we strive to be musically visual – each song represents a certain plot-line, with the cinematic script written and ready to shoot. We’ve always been fascinated by the approach of Rammstein, Mylene Farmer and even Meat Loaf, where every music video is a short film telling a story in an artistic metaphoric way. And at the same time, we’re not going to mimic what’s been done already in the past, but, put it into modern-era music and visual standards.
“Arena – let’s be honest. If you want to play as a garage band, you can enjoy that kind of activity with a bunch of friends and there’s nothing wrong with that. But if you want to be a professional musician and see your music as a dream of fulfilling your Life Mission – then you must raise arenas and write music that both the people and yourself would enjoy!
“Dance – the riffs and the melodies we write must be fun to play and enjoyable to listen to. Sometimes it’s a jumper, sometimes a sentimental ballad, sometimes a mosh pit slam, or an anthemic club raiser, but we’d like people to be able to have fun and move, releasing their feelings in a positive way, even if the reality is ugly enough to make you cry.
“Metal – oh, yeah – we are metal! Raised up on multiple metal influences from Melodeath, Doom, Death, Sympho Black to Industrial, Metalcore, Progressive, Modern Metal, Alternative, AOR and Pop, we combine riffing with melodies, clean singing with all sorts of growls and screams. Metal for us is a therapy and a way to release aggression, sadness, despair, hate and anger positively.”
Our most recent taste of this is their debut EP Number One, which was released in February. It opens up in earnest with Better You, which starts with stabbing synth sounds that drop into whispery vocals that explode into life with heavy guitars supported by the synths. That feeds into a more melodic chorus before the funky synths return through a more upbeat second verse. More intense vocals take over and drop into another engaging chorus. The pace drops before a powerful conclusion with the edgy synth sounds and driving drums.
Next up is the EP’s title track, which also starts out with light synth sounds before dropping into chugging guitar chords. Light vocals take over and feed into an engaging chorus, which gives way to more heavy guitars. The track builds in intensity as stabbing guitars support heavier vocals, which give way to choral vocals that drop into light synths. Then out of nowhere comes a big guitar solo, which feds into a final blast of the chorus.
A high point of the EP is undoubtedly the more industrial fifth track Insanity, which opens up with chunky guitars and a bouncy synth. Edgy vocals and stabbing guitars take over and feed into a huge chorus supported by dramatic synths. Big orchestral sounds come in under a movie excerpt, then a piercing synth kicks in and drops into another big chorus. Check it out in the stream below:
On the EP, David told us: “The reception for Number One is great! One of the tracks, Insanity, the first one to be produced actually, is making people go crazy (in the good sense obviously). Now IMAGICA songs are on air in many countries – the US, Canada, UK, Australia, South Africa, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Netherlands, Ukraine, Portugal and this list is growing. The responses are amazing, especially from industry professionals, other bands and songwriters.”
And Vic adds: “We’re happy that each song is different and is liked by diverse audiences. We never meant it like “please them all” it’s just because we like different music and blend our influences in the way we like it. After all, we always write music WE want to hear, we lack or have an urge to write.
“In these post-pandemic days, the music industry is more single, playlists oriented, and as a rising band we chose the strategy of putting out single by single, then merging it into an EP. But the whole picture is still in our heads and the album was written and composed before that. So although now it might seem like a compilation of singles, when we put out all 12 tracks of the full album I’m convinced our fans and listeners will see the integrity of the album and the scale we wanted to present from the start. For those who haven’t listened to the NUMBER ONE EP, yet, I dare say one thing – it’s not gonna be boring!”
The IMAGICA sound has been inspired by a long list of genres and artists, from metal bands and EDM artists to Ukrainian folk songs, film scores and classical composers. And Vic and David provide a list of bands including everything from In Flames, Rammstein, Linkin Park, Metallica, Bring Me The Horizon, Rise Against and Green Day to Miles Davis, A-ha, Roxette, Adele, Sting, Scooter, Rush, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Chemical Brothers and Enya.
And on what inspires them to write music, you’d be right in thinking it’s not a short list. As David explains: “An ant trying to cross to the other side of a highway, leaves falling from the tree, gentle gestures, pain, love, joy… The questions of the Universe can also turn into a song! My sources of inspiration have always been musicians, movies, movie soundtracks, colors and not only music. Sound Design is something that fascinates me too.”
While Vic provides intriguing insight into what specifically drove their inspiration for the EP, telling us:
North From Heaven: “In our heads, it’s a cinematic show opener, which meaning-wise is closely connected with the next song. The sound landscape puts us in the setting of a frozen arctic post-apocalyptic world. Ethereal, pure and deathly in its primeval nature.”
Better You: “A story of two rivals in deadly snow wilderness. Fighting for the resources and means to provide for their families, they clash in a deadly duel. The protagonist wins the toughest fight in his life and kills his opponent, but at the same time he understands he must have killed the only person who might have understood him like no one else on earth. Under other circumstances they might have been best friends, but not in this life… not now… not here…”
Number One: “The title track of the album. From early childhood, no one except fortunately just a few closest people believes in us. The world owes you nothing and pushes you to either become a NUMBER ONE or tolerate and accept your role among the mediocrity. In a constant fight for supremacy, we forget how it is to be happy and enjoy life. The poppy choruses are a contradiction to the overall dark meaning behind. The laughter through tears.”
‘Bout Myself: “An emotional ballad, a striving to overcome the phantoms of the past, which is dedicated to a departed friend, showing how important it is to share your pain with the others – friends and beloved ones, otherwise it may kill you and devour you from the inside.”
Insanity: “At some point, insanity is your defense mechanism. In an inherently insane world, a madman can be the only sane. The main conflict of the song is whether it’s bad or good to be insane. Being sane, you follow the rules and whims of the society. Your reaction to all the rules is a silent agreement. Insanity makes you unique, think out of the box. It’s something that no one can take from you. Your weapon and your armor. Maybe in this world of pain you are the only sane? But this question remains open, everyone must decide by himself.”
There’s plenty more to come from IMAGICA as they continue work on recording more tracks to complete their full 12-track debut album. The duo are also working on rehearsing their live show, searching for booking agents, venues and festivals, prepping fundraising for shooting music videos in the form of cinematic short films and developing their social media. They also have more than 30 new demo songs already written, so you can bet on new IMAGICA music soon.
You can follow IMAGICA on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Bandcamp, Apple Music, Soundcloud and YouTube.
Listen to IMAGICA on our Spotify playlists GigRadar Electro and GigRadar Metal
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