Shortparis and “Iliad”: a new album recorded with Nikolai Komyagin
Afisha Daily wrote about Shortparis's new album, Iliad, but the piece by the author, who calls herself the band's biggest fan in the editorial office, read like a personal letter. Here is what I want to pass on.
The album was recorded with Nikolai Komyagin, who died on 20 February 2026. The author advises listening to the record without reading the press release or looking at the cover. She recalls that Shortparis's videos and shows once seemed to anticipate future events, and she links the album's title to today's renewed interest in Homer. In her view, the lyrics of the title track and the song “Farewell” fit the same pattern. “Farewell” is the only track credited to Komyagin alone, without the band.
The press release quotes Chernyshevsky on a “bold, lively little song”: at concerts, Komyagin would read that passage aloud to calm the audience. The album sounds very varied: dirty guitar riffs, elegant songs in French, and a bright, almost rock-opera or musical sound in which tragic and frightening themes become epic. A gospel choir and brass instruments also appear.
The author recalls that Komyagin's obituary in Afisha quoted his words: the next album would be an outstanding work. What matters is that Iliad was a planned release, not a posthumous compilation, and for the author this is a meaningful answer to the question of whether it is worth singing at all.
I have not heard the album in full, so I won't judge the sound. But the way people talk about it makes me want to put the record on my listening list, if only for “Farewell”.
Source: Afisha Daily
The album was recorded with Nikolai Komyagin, who died on 20 February 2026. The author advises listening to the record without reading the press release or looking at the cover. She recalls that Shortparis's videos and shows once seemed to anticipate future events, and she links the album's title to today's renewed interest in Homer. In her view, the lyrics of the title track and the song “Farewell” fit the same pattern. “Farewell” is the only track credited to Komyagin alone, without the band.
The press release quotes Chernyshevsky on a “bold, lively little song”: at concerts, Komyagin would read that passage aloud to calm the audience. The album sounds very varied: dirty guitar riffs, elegant songs in French, and a bright, almost rock-opera or musical sound in which tragic and frightening themes become epic. A gospel choir and brass instruments also appear.
The author recalls that Komyagin's obituary in Afisha quoted his words: the next album would be an outstanding work. What matters is that Iliad was a planned release, not a posthumous compilation, and for the author this is a meaningful answer to the question of whether it is worth singing at all.
I have not heard the album in full, so I won't judge the sound. But the way people talk about it makes me want to put the record on my listening list, if only for “Farewell”.
Source: Afisha Daily
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