The group "Plen Off g.r. + Metal M."

Plenov — Uspensky - Bogaev

The group "Plen Off g.r. + Metal M." was formed in 2004 by two like-minded acquaintances — Mikhail "Metal M." Uspensky, a keyboardist and composer, and Igor "Plen Off" Plenov, a sound engineer and audio restoration specialist.

Plenov - Uspensky

Mikhail began his musical career in his own project called "40 Oborotov" (40 Revolutions), while working as a sales assistant at the "Rock Basement" record shop near the Narvskaya metro station. It was there that he met Igor Plenov, who would later become the main ideas generator and creator of the group's album concepts. At the time, Igor was heavily involved in collecting and restoring archives of Russian rock, particularly the legacy of the bands Rossiiane and Oblachny Krai. Upon learning that Mikhail had his own project, he became interested in his music. The music was very interesting and unconventional, but the recording quality was not quite good enough. Offering his mastering services, Igor added to and heavied up Mikhail's music so much that after listening to the tracks, a female singer said: "Misha, I can't sing to THIS kind of music; my speakers even blew out on my tape player!" Amused by this statement, they decided to form a creative tandem with the somewhat convoluted name "Plen Off g.r. + Metal M." and recorded their first short album, "Sredstvo ot pamyati EP" (Memory Remedy EP) in 2004.

"Sredstvo ot pamyati EP"

In this lineup, the group existed almost until the end of 2006, working and accumulating material for subsequent albums. In the summer of 2006, thanks to Evgeny Guberman, the group connected with the leader of Oblachny Krai, the legendary Sergei Bogaev.

Guberman-Plenov-Bogaev

They decided to create a joint project, which resulted in two conceptual albums in a rather heavy, experimental style that did not adhere to any specific trends. The group's compositions included: new electronic rock, heavy & cyber metal, hard rock, avantgarde, industrial, progressive, dark ambient, noise, black sympho-metal & etc.

Plenov - Bogaev

In January - March 2007, the collaborative albums with Oblachny Krai, "Tayny Mirozdaniya" (Secrets of the Universe), were released.

Tayny Mirozdaniya

and "Povrezhdyonnaya realnost" (Damaged Reality) under the banner of "Plen Off g.r.+ Metal M./ Oblachny Krai".

Povrezhdyonnaya realnost

At the first Yury Morozov Sound Engineers Competition in 2007, the track "Povrezhdyonnaya realnost" from the album of the same name was included in the top ten best sound engineering works, and Igor Plenov was awarded a commemorative prize. The track "..A provadis vsyo ono" (..And to hell with it all), much to the musicians' surprise, took first place at the All-Russian Punk Competition, which they hadn't even entered themselves, as they by no means considered themselves a punk band. Also, by March 8th, a separate album by the group titled "The Wedding Metal M." was released. It was relatively light in style and well-received by the female audience, featuring several reworked classical pieces performed by a serious classical musician under the pseudonym "Lady X".

"The Wedding Metal M."

In 2008, on April 1st, the group released an avant-garde album called "Zootsid" (Zoocide)

which included a track from Sergei Bogaev's first band, "Myortvye ushi" (Dead Ears) from 1978, newly recorded and heavied up.

Zootsid

Shortly after, in the middle of the month, again under the banner of "Plen Off g.r.+ Metal M./ Oblachny Krai", another collaborative album with Sergei Bogaev was released, "Filial raya" (Branch of Paradise). It was a rather rigid album, but with interspersed melodic symphonic pieces, and was received very warmly by critics.

Filial Raya

In 2010, multi-instrumentalist Sergei Luzin (ex OGPU im. Yu. Morozova, ex Meditation Band) joined the group.

Sergei Luzin

Consisting of Plenov — Luzin — Uspensky — "Lady X", in December the group released the album "Sredstvo ot pamyati" (Memory Remedy), incorporating reworked material from the 2004 album.

Sredstvo ot pamyati

The following year, 2011, was marked by sad events for the group. In February, Sergei Luzin suddenly died of a stroke, and in early June, Sergei Bogaev tragically died, murdered by some scoundrels. But the group did not stop their studio experiments. In August, the compilation album "Inicializatsiya" (Initialization) was released, featuring several new tracks, including ones with the updated lineup.

Inicializatsiya

The group was joined by: Viktor Stepanov (ex Labyrinth, ex Phonomania, ex Grey, ex B.O.M.S.)

Viktor Stepanov

and Sergei Luzin's friend, poet and composer Boris Kononov, who worked as a foreign language teacher at St. Petersburg State University.

Boris Kononov

In this lineup, they recorded a heavy avant-garde album, "Energiya khaosa" (Energy of Chaos), which included heavily reworked tracks from Viktor Stepanov's unreleased 1989 archive project "Phonomania". The album was released in November 2011.

"Energiya khaosa"

In March 2012, the group completed work on their new album titled "NIBIRU".

"NIBIRU"

The group's lineup at the time of recording the album: Igor Plenov, Mikhail Uspensky, Boris Kononov, Vitaly Man, Boris Shansky, and Yury Semyonov (ex Lira, ex Status, Yury Semyonov Band)

Vitaly Man

Boris Shansky

Yury Semyonov

To date, the group "Plen Off g.r.+ Metal M." has released over 9 conceptual albums in the style of electronic metal avant-garde and progressive rock, released primarily on the famous, oldest St. Petersburg music label "Antrop". Three of these albums were recorded in collaboration with the legendary musician Sergei Bogaev, leader of the band "Oblachny Krai", one with the no less legendary musician from the band "OGPU im. Yu. Morozova" — Sergei Luzin, and one album with the patriarch of St. Petersburg rock, Yury Semyonov, the founder of the legendary bands Lira and Status, who stood at the very origins of the birth of rock in our city.

Recommended for listening to all fans of music in the styles of: new electronic rock, heavy & cyber metal, hard rock, avantgarde, industrial, progressive, dark ambient, black sympho-metal & etc.

Not recommended for people with unstable mental health or those suffering from depression!