Ukrainian modern progressive metallers JINJER will release their fifth studio album, “Duél”, on February 7, 2025 via Napalm Records.
Technical grooves and heavy progressive passages, brutally clear vocals and skillful growls by matchless vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk have garnered the quartet millions of cross-platform streams and views worldwide, as well as revered renown with fans and critics alike. JINJER have traversed glorious paths of tireless touring and extremely successful album releases, including their most recent chart-topping studio album, 2021’s “Wallflowers”. “Duél” showcases the band at the very top of their game and marks yet another matchless milestone in the world of modern metal!
After releasing their breathtaking single and video “Someone’s Daughter”, followed by the heavy-hitting single “Rogue” earlier this year, JINJER now unleash another untamed beast with their new track “Kafka”. Dominated by Tatiana‘s remarkably clear vocals, “Kafka” is a heavy and slow tamper, digging deep under one’s skin just to break right through with venomous growls in the end.
Shmayluk on “Kafka”: “Being an artist is sometimes beautiful but most of the time it’s brutal… as our art is dissected word for word and ripped apart note by note. We’re expected to be on point all the time … and when we aren’t, we are scandalized. A true artist is vulnerable but the crowd is most often plagued with vultures who pick at every single move you make. It’s a slippery slope when music means the world to us but how quickly praise turns into prosecution… We are all Kings and Queens for a day but most of the time it feels like a Kafka novel for a lifetime. It’s exciting but surreal and absurd at the same time.”
While JINJER‘s previous album, “Wallflowers”, was slightly more alluring and contained noticeably more clean vocals, “Duél” now takes on a much more aggressive tone. This is proven by songs like “Rogue”, “Green Serpent” and “Dark Bile”, with their brutal and hefty breakdowns. Fans of Shmayluk‘s clear vocals also get their moments, as tracks such as the opener “Tantrum” show the potential of the frontwoman’s outstanding vocal prowess. “Duél” presents itself way more cruelly — and JINJER are more vicious than ever before. “Fast Draw” is a wild death metal beast with grooving drums from Vlad Ulasevich, Roman Ibramkhalilov‘s one-of-a-kind riffs and Eugene Abdukhanov‘s trademark bass wizardry — showing what this band does best: brilliant state-of the-art modern metal.
On “Duél”, JINJER continue their long-lasting collaboration with accomplished producer Max Morton, who co-produced, mixed and mastered the album. This new masterwork lives up to JINJER‘s reputation as metal visionaries, once more showing that the band refuses to follow any set rules in their genre, but choose their own path of creativity.
Eugene Abdukhanov, JINJER bassist, states about the new album: “First of all, it‘s hard to believe that we’re about to release our fifth full-length album! After all the releases we’ve made, finally having ‘Duél’ in our hands and ready to be shared with the world makes us very proud that our band still hasn’t run out of creativity and inspiration. The fact that we still challenge ourselves to release the best music we have ever made with each new release is what keeps JINJER moving forward.
“This upcoming album was the longest songwriting process we’ve ever had and it took almost two years to complete. We worked very hard with every free minute we weren’t on tour, recording demos over and over again and always searching for the perfect sound for guitars, bass and drums. It was also the first time that Tatiana did vocal pre-productions, so it’s safe to say that none of our releases were so well thought out and calculated as this one. It pulverizes the boundaries of the modern progressive metal genre but still remains sophisticated, exciting and extreme all at the same time. We took up the challenge to expand our musical horizons even wider than before in order to cement Duél to be the next step in JINJER‘s musical growth and hopefully the evolution of metal music in general.”
“Duél” track listing:
01. Tantrum
02. Hedonist
03. Rogue
04. Tumbleweed
05. Green Serpent
06. Kafka
07. Dark Bile
08. Fast Draw
09. Someone’s Daughter
10. A Tongue So Sly
11. Duél
Over the past 15 years, JINJER has attained remarkable milestones, touring globally and captivating millions at prestigious festivals like Wacken Open Air and Download. They’ve headlined sold-out shows across Europe and North America, and have thrilled audiences in destinations like Dubai, Philippines, Turkey, Japan and South Africa. As they continue their journey this year, JINJER is set to make a major impact on the music scene. Having previously shared stages with the likes of ARCH ENEMY and CRADLE OF FILTH, they are ready to kick off as support of SEPULTURA‘s farewell tour in Europe, and conclude their tour with a headline run through Latin America.
Photo credit: Lina Glasir