Epidemia is a Russian rock band that was created in the mid-1990s. The founder of the group is a talented guitarist Yuri Melisov. The band's first concert took place in 1995. Music critics attribute the tracks of the Epidemic group to the direction of power metal. The theme of most musical compositions is related to fantasy.
The release of the debut album also fell on 1998. The mini-album was called "The Will to Live". The musicians also recorded a demo compilation "Phoenix", which was released in 1995. However, this disc was not sold to the masses.
Only in 1999 the musicians released a full-fledged album "On the Edge of Time". When the group presented a full-fledged disc, it included:
- Yuri Melisov (guitar);
- Roman Zakharov (guitar);
- Pavel Okunev (vocals);
- Ilya Knyazev (bass guitar);
- Andrey Laptev (percussion instruments).
The first full album included 14 tracks. Rock fans warmly accepted the released disc. The guys in support of the collection went on a tour of the major cities of Russia.
In 2001, the Epidemic group replenished their discography with the disc The Mystery of the Magic Land. The tracks of this album are distinguished by their melodiousness, the influence of speed metal is already less noticeable in the songs.
The album was recorded without Pasha Okunev, he decided to start his own project. The vocalist was replaced by the talented Max Samosvat.
A video clip was shot for the musical composition "I Prayed". In 2001, the clip was first shown on MTV Russia.
The musical group "Epidemia" was among the nominees for the MTV Europe Music Awards 2002 from the Russian Federation. The rock band was in the top five winners.
The rockers took the award in Barcelona. In one of the programs on MTV, the group performed together with the legendary singer Alice Cooper. At the beginning of the 2000s, the peak of the popularity of the musical group falls.
The peak of the group's popularity
In 2001, after the presentation of the disc "The Mystery of the Magic Land", Roman Zakharov left the musical group. He was replaced by Pavel Bushuev.
At the end of 2002, Laptev also left the group. The reason is simple - disagreements within the team. The soloists took Yevgeny Laikov to replace him, and then Dmitry Krivenkov.
In 2003, the musicians presented the first rock opera. This has not been done by any Russian team. We are talking about the "Elven manuscript".
The soloists of the groups Aria, Arida Vortex, Black Obelisk, Master and Boni NEM took part in the recording of the disc "Elven Manuscript".
The rock opera was presented by the Epidemic group together with their colleagues from Aria. It happened on February 13, 2004 at the Friday the 13th festival.
According to estimates, there were about 6 thousand spectators in the hall. From that moment on, the group's popularity began to increase exponentially. The track from the album "Walk Your Way" headed the charts of the radio "Our Radio" for a month.
After the release of the rock opera, the group again changed soloists. The second guitarist Pavel Bushuev left the musical group. Pasha's replacement was found quickly. His place was taken by Ilya Mamontov.
In 2005, the Epidemic group released their next album, Life at Twilight. The composition of the disc included Melisov's compositions re-recorded in the new composition.
The group has an official website. Before the formation of the album "Life at Twilight", the soloists of the group held a vote. They asked about what tracks their fans would like to see in the new format.
During the recording of the album “Life at Twilight”, the soloists changed the arrangement. In addition, the vocal parts began to sound harder. Old musical compositions received a "second life". The record has received approval from old and new fans.
In the same 2005, the Epidemic group celebrated its 10th anniversary. This year is also marked by the fact that a new keyboardist Dmitry Ivanov appeared in the group. Soon the musical group left Ilya Knyazev. The talented Ivan Izotov came to replace Knyazev.
A few years later, the band presented the sequel to the metal opera Elvish Manuscript: A Tale for All Seasons. The recording of the disc was attended by: Artur Berkut, Andrey Lobashev, Dmitry Borisenkov and Kirill Nemolyaev.
In addition, new “faces” worked on the rock opera: the vocalist of the “Troll oppresses the spruce” Kostya Rumyantsev, the ex-vocalist of the Master group Mikhail Seryshev, the ex-vocalist of the Coliseum group Zhenya Egorov and the vocalist of the musical group The Teachers. The album was presented in 2007.
Contract with Yamaha
In 2008, the Epidemic group signed a contract with Yamaha for a year. From now on, the compositions of the musical group began to sound better and more colorful thanks to Yamaha's super-professional equipment.
In 2009, fans of the musical group saw the debut single of the Epidemic group, Twilight Angel, which consisted of only two compositions. In addition, music lovers heard a new version of the track "Walk Your Way" from the disc "Elven Manuscript".
In 2010, the group presented the album "Road Home". The work on the disc was carried out in Finland at the Sonic Pump recording studio and in Russia at Dreamport. As a bonus, the soloists of the group added two new versions of the old tracks "Phoenix" and "Come back".
In the same 2010, the Epidemic group presented the DVD Elvish Manuscript: A Saga of Two Worlds. The video includes productions: "The Elvish Manuscript" and "The Elvish Manuscript: A Tale for All Time". At the end of the video, an interview was placed with the soloists of the group, where they shared the history of the creation of rock operas.
In 2011, the group celebrated its 15th anniversary. In honor of this event, the musicians went on a big tour. In 2011, an acoustic concert of the musical group took place, where the DVD was filmed.
In 2011, the presentation of the disc "Rider of Ice" took place. In honor of this event, the musicians organized an autograph session. A little later, the musicians presented the album on the stage of Milk Moscow.
Two years later, fans of the work of the Epidemics group saw the album Treasure of Enya, the plot of which takes place in a common universe with the Elven Manuscript.
Group members
In total, the Epidemic musical group included more than 20 people. The "active" composition of the musical group today are:
- Evgeny Egorov - vocalist since 2010;
- Yuri Melisov - guitar (the moment the band was founded), vocals (until the mid-1990s);
- Dmitry Protsko - guitarist since 2010;
- Ilya Mamontov - bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar (2004-2010);
- Dmitry Krivenkov has been a drummer since 2003.
Musical group Epidemia today
In 2018, the musicians presented a new album. The plot develops the theme of the album "Treasures of Enya". The presentation of the disc took place on the Stadium Live platform.
In 2019, the musicians presented the album "Legend of Xentaron". The disc includes previously released compositions in a new way. Fans enjoyed the top ten favorite songs.
Especially the fans of metal and rock were pleased with the tracks: “Rider of Ice”, “Crown and Steering Wheel”, “Blood of the Elves”, “Out of Time”, “There is a Choice!”.
In 2020, the Epidemic group went on a big tour around the cities of Russia. Upcoming concerts in the group will take place in Cheboksary, Nizhny Novgorod and Izhevsk.
Epidemic Group in 2021
At the end of April 2021, the premiere of a new track by the Russian rock band took place. The song was called "Paladin". The musicians said that the novelty will be included in the group's new LP, the release of which is scheduled for the end of this year.
