Moderate Rock

Despite living halfway around the world from each other, Minsk and Zatokrev make perfect bedfellows. Both play dark and doom-infused post-metal, but both have been bold enough to step outside the confines of their genre, and yet both are sorely underappreciated. The former are even among the inspirations for the latter to start kicking out their extended jams. ‘Bigod’ sees them collaborate, indulging their epic sides and sharing vocalists. Each band contributes just two tracks but there’s almost 40 minutes of music to explore, and it’s well worth the trip. Zatokrev’s 13-minute ‘Silent Gods’ and its mammoth mid-section might be the standout but elsewhere there are clouds of gloom, dynamic melodies, shifting riffs and eerie samples, and it’s all essential, earth-shattering listening.