JINJER – Pisces (Live Session) | Napalm Records

A Studio Performance With New Pulse

Jinjer’s live session of Pisces, released through Napalm Records, reframes one of the pivotal tracks from the album King of Everything with a taut, unvarnished intensity. Captured at Istok Studio in Kiev, the performance documents the band recalibrating its dynamics around drummer Vlad Ulasevich, whose arrival injected a distinct rhythmic character into a song already celebrated for its dramatic contrasts.

The band initially conceived this version after first rehearsing Pisces with Ulasevich. With a window of free time in winter, they tracked the piece live and filmed the session, later adding a handful of supporting vocal lines and guitar touches. The final mix by Max at Morton Studio preserves the immediacy of the room while sharpening fine detail, pushing the arrangement toward a clarity that spotlights interplay rather than studio gloss.

Contours, Contrast and Control

Pisces remains a study in duality. The arrangement opens in quiet waters, then pivots into a surge of weight and texture. Clean vocals hover over a silvery, chorus-kissed guitar figure, with bass and drums moving in a slow, tidal sway. When the music lunges into its heavier passages, the shift is pronounced but deliberate, built on syncopated downstrokes, sudden harmonic density and a vocal turn that trades porcelain clarity for a cavernous growl.

This push and pull is not a simple soft-loud formula. Jinjer uses space and articulation to stretch tension. Rests arrive like quick intakes of breath. Cymbals bloom and cut. Guitars draw tight geometric lines, then dissolve them into open chords with lingering reverb. The live setting heightens those contrasts, and it also underlines the band’s control. Transitions land with clean edges, and the heaviest moments still breathe.

Rhythm as Architecture

Ulasevich’s drumming anchors the song with an emphasis on movement across the bar, not just within it. Ghost notes and light snare drags lift verses without crowding them, while accents on toms and cymbals mark pivots into the heavier sections. In the mid-song peak, lockstep guitar-and-kick patterns make every downbeat feel like a step into deeper current. The performance never swamps the vocals, which is critical to Pisces. Rhythm here is the thread that allows the song to change temperament without losing its center.

Bass functions as both ballast and counterpoint. In the verses it sketches melodic outlines, leaning into slides and sustained notes that mirror the vocal phrases. Under distortion, it joins the guitars in a percussive body that reinforces the groove. That blend of elastic low end and clipped chug is part of why Pisces reads as progressive and modern, yet communicates with the directness of classic groove metal.

Guitars and Harmonic Color

Jinjer favors clarity in the clean passages, with a tone that emphasizes upper-mid chime and subtle modulation. Those lines leave room for vocal nuance and lyrical articulation. When the distortion arrives, it does not chase sheer saturation. The attack remains articulate, picking patterns come through, and chords stack in a way that keeps the arrangement wide rather than congested. Strategic use of palm muting and staccato phrasing sculpts the heavier parts into shapes that feel architectural rather than messy.

Small overdubs added after the initial live take help widen the stereo field and reinforce pivotal cadences, but the core is the band in a room, captured with a focus on separation and depth. The guitars carve, they do not blur.

Voice and Lyrical Undercurrents

Vocals are the axis of Pisces. Clean lines carry the verses with a controlled delicacy, and the timbre sits forward in the mix so that enunciation and melodic contour read clearly. In the heavier sections, extreme vocals cut with a low-centered resonance that complements the guitars rather than riding on top of them. The jump between the two is startling by design, yet never feels like a gimmick. Timing, phrasing and breath control make the transitions feel earned.

Lyrically, Pisces engages ideas of dual nature and fluid identity, a thematic echo of its title. Words trace inner tides and the collision of gentleness with ferocity. The live session’s proximity brings that internal dialogue closer to the listener, stripping away production sheen and turning the narrative into something tactile. It is less an act of theatre than a display of emotional range constrained within a tight compositional frame.

Mix, Space and Presence

Max’s mix at Morton Studio treats the room as part of the instrument. Ambience rides in parallel with close capture, so transients remain sharp while tones retain air. The kick drum sits deep but defined. The snare is tuned for cut and body rather than crack alone. Overheads are present enough to carry cymbal detail without masking the top end of the guitars. Vocals are layered with restraint, using doubles and harmonies in brief swells rather than as constant padding.

Crucially, the mix resists the temptation to flatten dynamics. Pisces depends on the sensation of moving from glass-smooth surfaces into rougher waters, and this version keeps that swell intact. Listeners can hear the band lean into parts, then pull back, a quality often lost in more processed studio renditions.

Direction and Visual Focus

Directed by Oleg Rooz, the video embraces the discipline of a live studio document. Camera work favors tight framing and clear sightlines to the players’ hands, faces and cues. Cuts track musical structure, highlighting the section changes that define the song. The absence of overt theatrics or narrative inserts turns attention to the musicianship and to the interplay that makes the arrangement work. It is a direct visual corollary to the mix’s priorities: presence over polish, precision over spectacle.

Place Within King of Everything

On King of Everything, Pisces stands out as a piece that unites Jinjer’s progressive instincts with a sharp sense of songcraft. The live session underscores that balance. It shows a band comfortable in contrast, economical in its choices, and keenly aware of how structure can heighten emotion. The performance does not replace the album version so much as it refracts it, revealing how instrumentation, room feel and a different rhythmic engine can open new facets in a familiar track.

Touring in 2017

The live session coincided with extensive European touring. Dates announced at the time included:

30.03.17 DE – Magdeburg / Flowerpower
31.03.17 DK – Copenhagen / Musikforening Riot
01.04.17 DK – Slagelse / Kultur Godset
07.04.17 DE – Aachen / Musikbunker
08.04.17 DE – Mannheim / MS Connexion
12.04.17 PL – Torun / NRD
13.04.17 DE – Berlin / Sage Club
15.04.17 DE – Oberndorf / Easter Cross Festival
16.04.17 DE – Karlsruhe / Alte Hackerei
18.04.17 PL – Bielsko-Biala / RudeBoy Club
21.04.17 DE – Munich / Backstage
22.04.17 AT – Vienna / Viper Room
28.04.17 CH – Baden / Werkk
29.04.17 CH – Moudon / Les Prisons
30.04.17 FR – Puget-Sur-Argens / Le Rats
03.05.17 ES – Bilbao / Sala Azkena
04.05.17 ES – Madrid / Sala Lemon
05.05.17 ES – Castellon / Sala La Burbuja
06.05.17 ES – Barcelona / Sala Razzmatazz 3
07.05.17 ES – Valencia / Sala 16 Toneladas
09.05.17 FR – Paris / Gibus Live
12.05.17 DE – Renchen / Come Inn
13.05.17 IT – Florence / Circus
14.05.17 IT – Rome / Traffic Club
17.05.17 FR – Reims / Freaked Studio
18.05.17 DE – Nuremberg / Der Cult
19.05.17 SI – Ljubljana / Channel Zero
20.05.17 CZ – Ceské Budejovice / Cross Fest
21.05.17 CZ – Valaske Mezirici / M-Klub
22.–25.06.17 FI – Nummijaerventie / Nummirock Metal Festival
11.–16.07.17 HU – Rockmaraton Fesztvál
29.09.–01.10.17 DE – Cologne / Essigfabrik / EUROBLAST FESTIVAL VOL 15

Credits

Song: Pisces
Album Origin: King of Everything
Session: Live recording at Istok Studio, Kiev
Drums: Vlad Ulasevich
Mixing: Max, Morton Studio
Director: Oleg Rooz
Label: Napalm Records

Pisces has long been a gateway into Jinjer’s world, where precision and volatility coexist. This live session strips the song to its essentials and finds new force in the restraint. It is a clear-eyed document of a band evolving in real time, confident in its contrasts and committed to making every change of tide feel purposeful.