Shokran

Beginning of creativity

In 2011, Dmitry Demyanenko, in a fit of desire to realize himself in the music field, created the Shokran instrumental project, which means “Thank you” in Arabic . The name was coined by Dmitry on the basis of the image of the project - the atmosphere of ancient Egypt - which manifested itself in art and music, which included the modern and ethnic sounds of the ancient East with elements of neoclassicism.

When creating the first work of the musician - the Sixth Sense mini-album, the sound engineer advised me to diversify the drums. Then there was an acquaintance with drummer Mikhail Isaev, who subsequently recorded all the drums and joined the project. EP Sixth Sense was released in 2012 and accepted by the public, after which the team began to gain in popularity.

2014: Supreme Truth

Dmitry decided to create a full-fledged team, where, first of all, Mikhail Isaev was invited, who helped to work on drums in EP Sixth Sense . The sound format was also decided to change. The place of the vocalist was taken by Sergey Raev, the place of the second guitarist was taken by a longtime friend of Dmitry - Alexander Burlakov, and Rodion Shevchenko was invited to the bass.

In February 2014, the debut full-length studio album Supreme Truth was released. The release was warmly received by both domestic and foreign audiences. A distinctive feature of the material was oriental flavor and progressive complex guitar and solo parts. Due to the characteristics of the material, a part of the audience was formed that wanted to feel the atmosphere of the instrumental, and actively wrote about it. The group decided to release 2 versions of the album - instrumental and with vocals. In support of the album, Shokran went on a tour in Russia under the name Progressive Guys Tour 2014, as well as a mini-tour as part of the Thalluim Fest from the Booking Machine concert agency with After the Burial , Heart of a Coward , The Algorithm. After the tour, bassist Rodion Shevchenko decided to pause and left the band. Later, Valery Yushkevich was invited to his place.

In 2015, the band released their first video for the song “Collapses” and began work on their second studio album.

2016: EXODUS

In the spring of 2015, the first single "Creatures from the Mud" from the new album was released. However, further in the process of work between Dmitry and Sergey, creative misunderstandings arose. Sergey Raev recorded all his parts for the new album, however Demyanenko wanted to radically change the sound of vocals, so Raev had to leave the band. After a long search for a vocalist, he became Ukrainian Andrei Ivashchenko ^[1] . Vocals were re-recorded. In 2016, the band released their second studio album - EXODUS . The album was recorded for two years and was released in two versions, as well as the previous one. The release was delayed by the situation with the label Sumerian Records , which contacted the group, offering a collaboration contract. During lengthy negotiations on adjusting the clauses of the contract, the group and the administration of the label did not come to a mutual agreement.

Both albums were recorded remotely by musicians. The lyrics of the EXODUS album were based on ten Egyptian executions from the book Exodus. Each track is dedicated to a separate square. In 2016, a video was shot for the song "Creatures from the Mud". After the release of the album, the band broke up with bass player Valery Yushkevich, in whose place Rodion Shevchenko returned.

The album has earned widespread recognition abroad and has been noted by many online publications, having received extremely positive reviews. In support of the album, the group went on two tours in the CIS ^[2] .

Music magazine Heavy Blog Is Heavy has included EXODUS in the list of the best albums of September 2016 along with the albums “22, A Million” Bon Iver ; "The Crypts Of Sleep" Hannes Grossmann; "Act V: Hymns With The Devil In Confessional" The Dear Hunter ^[3] .

Composition of the group

• Dmitry Demyanenko - guitar , musical programming (2012 – present)
• Mikhail Isaev - drums (2012 – present)
• Rodion Shevchenko - bass (2013–2014, 2016 – present)
• Andrey Ivaschenko - vocals (2015 – present)

Former members

• Kirill Andreev - guitar (2013)
• Alexander Burlakov - guitar (2012, 2013–2014)
• Sergey Raev - vocals (2012–2015)
• Valery Yushkevich - bass guitar (2014–2016)

Group Membership Scale

Studio

• Supreme Truth (2014)
• Exodus (2016)
• Ethereal (2019)

Mini Albums

• Sixth Sense (2012)

Singles

• Creatures from the Mud (2015)
• Destiny Crucified (2018)

• Official Shokran Facebook Page
• Shokran on Instagram