Group "Purgen": composition, photo, discography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

One of the veterans of the domestic punk scene, who play their furious music to this day, is the Purgen group. Over the years they have experimented with delivery and styles, but have remained true to the hardcore punk vein. "Purgen" - a group whose photo can shock the layman: defiant clothes, multi-colored mohawks and riveted leather jackets - all this has become the team's hallmark.

Lenin the dildo

At the end of the Soviet Union in our country, few people knew about such a phenomenon as punk rock. At underground sales points, you could find the first recordings of American and English bands. So, in 1989, Ruslan Gvozdev and Gennady Filimonov, inspired by the work of American punks Dead Kennedys and The Exploited, decided to play their own music. Initially, their group received a very provocative name "Lenin-self-tyk." Rusya Purgen and Gena Chikatilo recorded their first album at home, called Brezhnev Lives. As instruments, they used a guitar and drums stolen from a local pioneer house.

Birth titles and first concerts

At that time, Ruslan studied at a technical school and learned the methods of artistic stone processing. In the assembly hall, they, Gena and a new drummer named Accumulator, recorded the second album called "The Great Stink". At this time, an American delegation was supposed to arrive at the school. The participants decided to shock the foreign audience and even changed their name in order to pass the censorship of the institution's management. They chose "Purgen" as it was Ruslan's nickname. The performance did not take place, at the last moment the director canceled the concert, as he was shocked by the appearance of the musicians. They wore studded braids and torn jeans, and frightening mohawks were shaved on their heads. Despite the failure, the band recorded a third album. It was called "It's good where we are not."

The guys were expelled from the school, gave several concerts, soon the group broke up, but the punks were able to get acquainted with other representatives of this subculture. Rusya could not find musicians for a long time. The group fully reconvened only in 1995.

"Purgen": first albums

In 1995, Rusya Purgen met two crazy punks who arrived in the capital from Kaliningrad. Their names were Panama and Dwarf. They took up bass and drums respectively. Soon Chikatilo returned to the team. Later, Gnome Sr. joined the guys, he performed on vocals, he was kept in the group only because he was a relative of the bassist. A few months later, the team leader could not stand it and kicked him outfor excessive drinking right on the eve of the release of a new album. A guitarist named Roberts was taken in his place. The album “Radiation activity from a trash can” was recorded with him

The composition of the Purgen group changed several times, so, a year later, Chikatilo left the team. He decided to give up music and his way of life, starting a family life. In this regard, the founder of the team took the guitar in his hands, a character named Ehansen was invited as the bass player, who, however, did not stay long. Cologne soon took its place. It was with this line-up that the Purgen group recorded one of their most successful albums, Philosophy of Urban Timelessness, for two years.

After 2 years, instead of the Gnome, the cult character of the domestic punk party Bai sat down at the drums. In addition to Purgen, he was known for his work at Distemper. With Bai, the Purgen group recorded the album Toxidermists of Urban Madness.

Ruslan Purgen's side project

The Purgen group, although it remained a priority for its founder, was not the only one. In the late 1990s, Ruslan became interested in cyberpunk and started working on the Toxigen project. He experimented with electronic sound. As a result, an album was recorded and several performances were given. Toxigen became a big thing, and the experiments with electronics influenced the work of the main team: the music accelerated, more and more reminiscent of fast hardcore.

Purgen at its peak of popularity

Rise in popularity occurred in the early 2000s. Grouppublishes another album Destroy for creation. After his presentation, the musicians get acquainted with the Diagens team, who play hard d-beat. After that, a new guitarist named Diagen was invited to the group. The composition of the team changed again in 2004, when Bai, Mokh and Martin left the band, and instead Ruslan invited young punks Platon and Krok.

In this line-up, they recorded "Mechanism Parts Protest". This album includes re-released old hits and one new track. The collection gained great popularity, and its presentation brought together thousands of punks on the stages of big clubs in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

A little later, "Purgen" tries himself in a new incarnation. They are filming a large collection of clips, which they released on DVD in 2006 called 11 Years of Silent Scream. The collection gained great popularity among fans, it included cuts from the band's live performances and clips of the most popular hits.

Reincarnation of "Purgen"

The band's music and style changed in 2005. The new album "Reincarnation" was not so supported by the old fans. Ruslan Gvozdev began to pay more attention to the philosophy of texts. In songs, he began to raise difficult questions of human existence, religion and progress. Even more philosophical was the album of 2007 called "Transformation of Ideals". Not all fans reacted positively to these changes, many old-school punks turned their backs on the band.

Despite this, the punk band "Purgen" acquired new fans. In 2008, the musicians went to the bigtour, during which they visited many cities of Siberia, Russia and Europe. They recorded a new collection of clips, which they released on DVD called 30,000 Years of Punk Hardcore, and even presented it on the alternative music channel O2 TV. Since that time, the group has become desirable at many major festivals, and their songs can be heard in the rotation of Nashe Radio.

Purgen Group today

In 2010, the studio album "God of Slaves" was released. An innovation was the use of folk instruments in the arrangements of some compositions. After that, the rock group "Purgen" takes a short vacation. They no longer write new albums, but are actively touring. Since 2013, the team has been increasingly shining at major European festivals, where it is well received by the foreign audience. In honor of the 20th anniversary of the group, one of its founders, Gena "Chikatilo", performed on stage.

In 2015 in Moscow, the Purgen group celebrated its 25th anniversary on the stage of the large Tochka club. Bai and Alexey Chikhanin took part in the concert. The audience perceived the updated sound of the group perfectly, which once again proved the status of the participants as dinosaurs of domestic punk rock. The Purgen group, whose discography includes 10 albums, is rightfully considered one of the most productive and long-playing teams of the domestic informal scene.