Russian doom metal band McKenzie Hills reveal first single »Eltigen« from upcoming debut album »Ice Crossing«; out June 13th via Electric Desert Records!

Sevastopol, Russia based doom metal band McKenzie Hills is gearing up to release their debut album, »Ice Crossing«, which will see the light on June 13th, 2025 via Electric Desert Records.

Listen to the first single »Eltigen« below!

Tracklist:
01. Kalyuzhny’s Oath
02. Eltigen
03. Don’t Try Me
04. To the Mines of Beshuy
05. Ice Crossing

Courtesy of Electric Desert Records:

McKenzie Hills formed in 2016 in Sevastopol, Russia by three long-time friends who had previously served in other bands in the city’s underground and recording session scenes. The initial idea was to create the most dense, droning, mountainous wall of dirt-laden noise realistically possible, so the band decided to thicken up their sound with the addition of a second bassist. Without the financial pressure for the band needing to actively perform and record a lot of material, they released demos, tried out different sounds, and played for their own amusement, gathering enough original material for a full album by the end of 2022.

The lyrics are based on the stories of the Second World War, which took place on the Crimean peninsula from 1941 to 1944.

The band’s name was also chosen in connection with this and refers to the area near the city of Sevastopol, where the bloodiest battles of that time took place.

Recorded and mixed at Music Studio “Seratonin” Sevastopol.
Artwork design and photo by Alexander Bekin.

Guest musicians:
Alexander Vetrogon – Cello
Sergey Marchenko – Piano
Andrey Lisin – Samples and Other
Sergey Molodychenko – Drums

McKenzie Hills is:
Sergey Nastyushkin – Fuzz Bass/Vocals
Ivan Stroilov – Guitar
Valentin Rebrov – Bass
Mikhail Shifman – Drums

Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well