WITCHCRAFT
Dark Power Rising From Russia’s Alternative Metal Underground
By Bill Samaras
In a global metal scene often dominated by Western bands, powerful new voices continue to emerge from unexpected places. One of the most compelling of these is the Russian alternative metal band Witchcraft—a group whose music fuses atmosphere, aggression, and haunting emotional depth into something uniquely their own.
Built from the shadows of Russia’s underground metal community, Witchcraft has steadily gained attention from listeners around the world. Their sound combines crushing guitar riffs, cinematic arrangements, and a brooding intensity that gives their music a powerful sense of drama.
It’s metal with mood.
Heavy music with soul.
Witchcraft formed among musicians who shared a deep passion for pushing metal beyond its usual boundaries. Drawing from gothic rock, alternative metal and industrial meyahem, the band created a sound that is raw and powerful.
Unlike many metal acts that rely on technical showmanship alone, Witchcraft focuses on atmosphere and storytelling. Their songs often unfold slowly, building tension before exploding into massive choruses and walls of sound.
Witchcraft includes Lyudmila Angel onlead vocals and primary founder of the bands. Yuliana Savchenkohas added vocals since 2019; Vladimir Ptashnik bass guitar since 2010, Ekaterina ‘Kate Noir’ Alexandrova on violin and keyboards and Andrey Borisenko on drums. Former members included Mikhail Sobin on guitars, Maxim Gusakov on drums and Boris Nikolaev on bass.
The band is part of the Russian gothic/alternative metal scene and is known for blending dark theatrical aesthetics with modern metal production and melodic female-fronted vocals.
For many fans, Witchcraft’s music feels less like entertainment and more like a shared emotional experience.
“It all actually happened back in 2004, when I moved from Siberia to Moscow, said Lyudmila Angel. I wanted to form my own rock band, but I had no idea how. Moreover, good internet was simply unheard of in my country back then, so I looked for like-minded people on forums that guaranteed up-to-the-minute internet at internet cafes where people played online games.
Much time has passed since then, and our lineup has changed several times, but we’re still on our way.
It’s very simple: I wrote down a few names I thought might be interesting on a piece of paper, one of them was Witchcraft, and started searching for bands like that online. At the time, nothing had been heard of the Swedish band Witchcraft; they’d just formed and weren’t making any noise. I decided the name was available. I wanted to do something beautiful and dark, while some of the other band members wanted to play progressive metal. Since we’re playing beautiful and dark stuff now, I ultimately won.”
Ludmilla said of the music scene at the time, “Everyone listened to music on cassettes and, a little later, on CD players; music was available from record stores, and streaming services didn’t exist at all. Back then, young people in Russia were heavily into American bands, and to a lesser extent, European ones, and we were constantly having bands touring in Moscow. I witnessed the heyday of gothic culture in Russia, which was from 2005 to 2007, and then everything went into decline.”
As for inspiration, the band drew to female fronted dark metal bands.
“Now, I don’t know any specific ones, but at the very beginning of my journey, I really wanted to create something similar to Evanescence or Nightwish.”
“I’ve always believed that the most important thing in music is melody. You should remember it and hum it, you should want to sing along with the performer. And the darkness adds to the atmosphere; our songs are very metaphorical, talking about love, loneliness, revenge, fear, and self-discovery.”
“I’ll say this: a lot of what’s sung about in songs is relatable to everyone. Each of us has felt this pain inside, been betrayed by someone, been lonely, had our hearts broken. Everyone has at least once in their life felt darkness fill their heart, hated someone, or searched for a kindred spirit in a crowd. That’s what our songs are about. Man as an element, man as the universe. So this can be called both a personal experience and an appeal to the inspiring world of cinema, art and nature.”
“For me, music is a universal language, spoken by everyone in the world. I can convey a message through music, and someone on the other side of the world can understand me. For me, Witchcraft songs are personal experiences that I clothe in metaphors. But you can understand me if you think in the same terms. For me, music isn’t politics; it’s a small world in which you can hide.”
Ludmilla has been the driving force behind the creative process. “It used to be a collective effort, but then I came to the conclusion that I’m the main driving force behind this spaceship. Of course, the musicians like what we do, and they can contribute their ideas in some ways—for example, our violinist often writes lyrical compositions that we ultimately use—but the main vision still comes from me, it just happened that way. I was the founder of this group, and I’m its only original member. Yes, it’s not quite democratic, but I’m surrounded by people who share my ideas. We pay a lot of attention to the visual component; the band has a recognizable style that many, even European bands, have begun to copy. We also shoot a lot of videos to convey the visual atmosphere of our music, and even if you don’t understand the language, the video should tell a visual story.”
When it comes to the live performance Angel strives that the show involves the audience fully. “Thank you, we want everyone to be a part of this celebration, so that our viewers understand that they are a part of this, and not just random people, many of our listeners support us, donate money for recording or filming videos, for us our fans are our family!”
“There are many interesting, distinctive bands in Russia, many bands that are indistinguishable from the usual European ones. The level of Russian bands is high, their creativity is also extremely high, considering that all this is done out of pure enthusiasm. There is still no money in the Russian underground, nor is there any media, labels, or radio. There are only streaming and the internet. I think it’s time to pay attention to these courageous musicians. We’ve also passed a bunch of stupid laws in our country that make life difficult for all the dark-style groups. But that’s a long story. I think we’ll stick to our chosen path, but we’re not averse to experimentation. So I hope you enjoy our new album, STORM. Listen to our music, add it to yours, and share it. Music knows no bounds!”
WitchCraft unleash their latest music this spring with a 13 track LP, Storm. Russian gothic metal act Witchcraft return with Storm, a darkly melodic and emotionally charged album that blends gothic atmosphere, alternative metal heaviness, and modern female-fronted metal into one of the band’s strongest releases yet. Released independently in spring 2026, the Moscow-based group’s sixth studio album expands their sound with cinematic keyboards, crushing guitar textures, haunting vocal arrangements, and a deep sense of emotional vulnerability.
The 13-track album runs just over 41 minutes and keeps a strong flow between aggressive modern metal and melancholic gothic balladry. Instrumental intro/outro pieces (“Ритуал” and “Мантра”) help create the album’s ritualistic and atmospheric vibe.
One of the strongest aspects of Storm is its production. The guitars are heavy without overpowering the vocals, while the synths and ambient layers create a cold, nocturnal atmosphere throughout the record. The Russian-language lyrics also add authenticity and emotional depth, especially on slower tracks like “Спи, моя боль…” (“Sleep, My Pain…”).
The album has started gaining attention in underground gothic and symphonic metal circles online, especially among fans looking for modern female-fronted metal outside the mainstream European scene.
You can hear the album on the band’s official Bandcamp page here:
WitchcrafT Bandcamp – STORM
Be sure to catch the Storm that Witchcraft is stirring up with their authentic sounds and music that will have you coming back for more!
