Artist Spotlight
In this month’s artist spotlight we bring to you Vyr Muk...
War Torn/ Metal Sworn: An Interview with Vyr Muk
By Edward Crossman
When he's not dodging suicide drones and mortar shells on the way to the corner store, Ukrainian native Vladyslav Blisniuk pours his soul out in the form of 'Vyr Muk', some of the blackest metal to come out of this war torn nation. With his backyard a battle zone, Blisniuk's heavy, melodic guitar, backed by thunderous drums, and overlaid with guttural vocals seeping with emotion, is fueled by themes of death, war, and torment - things he deals with on a daily basis. Through the amazing feats of computer technology, I was able to ask this phenomenal artist a series of questions regarding his life and his music.
Enjoy and support.
Edward Crossman: Your government name is Vladyslav Blizniuk, but you release brutal, melodic black metal, as well as other music, as Vyr Muk. What is Vyr Muk and what does it mean?
Vladyslav Blizniuk: I created this name as the name for the music project itself. It's two Ukrainian words that are translated as “whirlpool of torment” and it represents the sense, theme, and concept of the project.
EC: Vyr Muk is pretty technical, with intricate guitar riffs and solos, nasty blastbeats, and atmospheric synth and ambient music. Tell us a bit about your musical background and training.
VB: Before Vyr Muk I didn’t have experience in writing music. I was just playing guitar and recording covers for the songs I like. I also don’t have any music education, never had a lesson related to music in my life. I acquired all my skills thanks to the Internet and my musical taste. My main instrument is the guitar, I just try to play in my free time, but I don't consider myself a good musician.
EC: You are a very talented musician, both on the guitar and piano, along with amazing vocal skills. Do you play all the actual instruments on the albums, or do you use drum machines or synthesizers for backing tracks?
VB: Guitars, bass, and vocals are live recorded, drums and orchestra are midi. I have never played drums in my life and recording an orchestra's stuff live is very problematic and expensive for me at this point. I hope one day I will be able to record everything live and invite session musicians to play their parts.
EC: What inspired you to start Vyr Muk?
VB: Since I started playing guitar I always wanted to write my own music, but I was afraid to make the first step. Almost two years ago, my good friend suggested to me to make my first try in music writing, that`s how Vyr Muk appeared. General inspiration for me is the current situation in Ukraine and my emotions related to all these horrible events that happen on an everyday basis. Music is my tool to describe my emotions and feelings and share my views with my listeners.
EC: Is Vyr Muk a one man project from start to finish, with you doing everything from creating and playing the music to recording, mixing, and mastering? Or do you get any outside help?
VB: I write and record all the music and vocal parts by myself. Previously I asked sound engineers like Alex Sedin and Antisocial Redeem Studious to help me with mixing and mastering, but my songs on the latest EP split with 1310M “Cold Silence of Stars” were mixed and mastered by myself.
EC: You record, mix, and master your own work. What kind of equipment do you have? How difficult is it to obtain quality recording equipment due to the war?
VB: I don’t have much equipment and the quality of it varies from middle to low. My guitar is a budget version of a Dean ML79 and is 12 years old already and it never fell into the hands of a guitar master for restoration. At the least, frets need to be removed because they are in pretty bad condition. I have an Ibanez SR300EB and I`m not the first owner. It also needs some love and a fix. I borrowed a midi keyboard from my girlfriend. It's a Studiologic vmk-88 and this is the only instrument in my arsenal that doesn’t need any fixing. For vocal recordings, I use a Behringer C-1, which is also a very budget type of studio microphone. I have never been in a professional recording studio and I don’t know if there are any openings in Kharkiv at this moment, but I think there should be some. I don't think the war is a big problem to obtain quality recording/equipment, the biggest problem here is money,
EC: Can you express how living in a sovereign nation that's been at war since 2014, with escalations and foreign invasion in February 2022, have had an effect on you and your music?
VB: It has had a direct impact and it was one of the main reasons why I decided to make music in the black/death metal genre. The war in Ukraine is also the main topic for my previous releases “Shadows Falling on the Dead Cities” and “Crimson Fields of Sorrow”.
EC: Having your homeland unjustly invaded, with the frontline so close, living day to day must be a harrowing experience. Can you share with our readers what your daily life is like and your feelings on what has happened to Ukraine?
VB: Lots of sleepless nights because of the shelling. It can be anything like shaheeds and smaller drones, air gliding bombs, rockets of various types. I can’t say that I totally got used to it but, I don't react as sharply as I did at the beginning of the war. You just do what you used to do in your usual life but with a monitoring of all that bullshit flying around you and going into a basement if it comes too close.
EC: Your latest full length album is called 'Crimson Fields of Sorrow" and deals with themes of, "war, existential decay, and inner torment". How personal is this album and how prevalent are these themes in your life?
VB: I would say it is very personal, I live in the Kharkiv region, 30 kilometers from the front line. The war is around me 24/7. Four members of my family serve in the Ukrainian army, and I myself am going through the recruitment process for a military unit.
EC: What is the recruitment process for joining the Ukrainian Army like?
VB: Well, I’m a volunteer, so I just applied for my documents and am waiting for an answer. After that, there will be training and that's it,
EC: You recently dropped a split EP with fellow black metal artist 1310M. How did that come about and why collaborate with 1310M specifically?
VB: A 1310M band member is my good friend and we planned to make a split in February 2025, it took some time to prepare the material but we finally made it and we are very happy that our intentions came to life. We have never seen each other in real life but we have strong connections and similar views on life.
EC: In 2024 you released 'Piano Works Vol 2', which is a beautiful EP showcasing your fantastic talent on the piano, and then in 2025 you released 'Dreadmarch of the Hollow Knight', an album of other worldly, ambient sounds. Both albums are somber, poignant, impassioned, and emotional; yet light, which is in stark contrast to your other heavier works. Why release such haunting, sentimental albums?
VB: I’m not always in the mood to only create aggressive music;l so at some point I collected some material that I wrote and decided to release it. I also like to experiment, so these were my experiments that I decided to share with my listeners.
EC: As an American, I have absolutely no idea how the rest of the world really is. Can you describe what the metal scene is like in Ukraine and how the war has affected it?
VB: We have many great metal artists here, but unfortunately a very big number of bands are on a very underground level. I wish the Ukrainian metal community gave more attention and support to our artists because we do have very poor support. Lots of people like to listen to music for free. For example, on Telegram or download it from torrents and at the same time they demand from musicians high quality sound. In my opinion, the war has influenced people to share their thoughts and feelings through music, so we have lots of new interesting projects and bands that appeared in recent years.
EC: I'm always looking out for new, awesome music. What are three bands that you love that I should check out and why?
VB: I'll name some bands from Ukraine that I have listened to a lot for the last few months, these are: Floscule, Svrm, Labyrinthus Stellarum. All of the bands play in different subgenres of black metal and have great, unique features and sound.
EC: What can an individual reader, sympathetic to your plight, do to help you, your scene, and your country?
VB: If a reader wants to help me directly he/she can buy my release on Bandcamp or order some merch through my Instagram account. To help Ukraine, there is an official foundation called 'United24', where people can donate and help Ukraine protect itself.
EC: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions and talk to the readers here at Black Noise Magazine. Are there any last words or final thoughts you would like to share with everybody out there?
VB: Thank you for having me as a guest, it was a pleasure to answer these questions! Wish you all the best!