Band Members:
Pavel Mityanin: Guitars
Eyal Ben Shoshan: Bass
Ilya Badrov: Vocals
The Beginning...
The roots of "The Fading" are planted in Tel Aviv at the beginning of the current millennium, in the thrash-death metal group "Excessum" which included, among others, the vocalist Ilya Bedrov and the drummer Shaked Forman.
After several years of searching, performing, and changing members, "Excessum" entered the studio in 2007 and recorded a demo album with the Swedish musician and producer Jonas Kjellgren. The purpose of the demo was to get the band a recording contract with major labels. When they finished recording the demo, the final result sounded so good to them that they decided to release it as an EP called "Chaos in Flesh". They even managed to sell the number of units printed from that mini-album pretty quickly.
Shortly after the release of the demo, the guitarist Pavel Mityanin joined the band, which set out to tour the country length and breadth. They closed shows by themselves almost everywhere that had a sound system playing. North, South, East, and West, every possible place in the small country of Israel that will bring them to as many audiences as possible.
The demo received exposure not only in Israel but also abroad, in light of the fact that a Swedish band bearing the same name - contacted the Israeli "Excessum" and demanded that they change it.
The band members started receiving hateful anti-Semitic messages from the Swedish band. They weren't really moved by the threats and didn't really care what the band in Sweden claimed or thought, but in the end, they decided to change the name, mainly because they liked the new name: "The Fading" (by the way, the poetic justice was done when the same Swedish band disbanded after a few months).
The Big Breakthrough...
At the beginning of 2008, "The Fading" participated in the "Wacken Metal Battle" competition in Israel and won first place.
The band members started to feel more confident in themselves and their music, among other things following the victory in that competition and following the joining of Pavel. They boarded the plane with high hopes on the way to the big "Wacken Metal Battle" competition at the legendary "Wacken Open Air" festival in Germany. The dream came true and became a reality when on August 1, 2008, the band won first place in the competition and secured a recording contract for an album with the "Wacken Records" label.
Pavel said that when they were behind the scenes of the big stage at that festival, they found themselves watching the performance of "Killswitch Engage" together with Jordan Mancino from the band "As I Lay Dying". At that moment, at the age of 23, they felt on top of the world and that they were going to be at least the next "Metallica".
In 2009, the band entered "Abyss Studios" in Sweden together with producer Pelle Saether and on July 31, 2009, they released their debut album: "In Sin We'll Find Salvation". The album was released during the "Wacken Open Air" festival that celebrated its 20th anniversary that year. The band came to the festival as one of the official bands of the line-up and performed on the "Wet Stage".
Allow us to add a note here: absolutely insannnnnnnnnnnnne!!
At the same festival, they also held a special performance for members of the media hosted by "Wacken", in order to promote their debut album.
From there, the metallic "plane" of "The Fading" took off with tremendous power.
In 2010 the label organized a tour for the band. The young guys from Israel went on tour with the bands "Warbringer" and "Evile". The tour included no less than 33 performances. It lasted two weeks in England and another month in Europe and included 13 countries!!
It is the dream of every musician (including ours still!) to wake up day after day in a different country, with a different language and a different culture. To get on stage every day in different parts of the world and perform in front of an audience that paid money to see you perform with your music while moving and roaring your songs. The band members said that this is one of the main catalysts that move them forward, pushing them to create music and be a band!
They didn't dream that winning the Metal Battle in Israel would bring them to such a crazy tour in Europe, but already at their first show in "Wacken" in 2008, the band members admitted that they felt they had something good in their hands. They received strong positive feedback from the audience, but also from the production staff of "Wacken".
The plane of "The Fading" continued with wide open throttles and the year 2011 became a record year of the band, which appeared and gained exposure in many places in the world. The band members said that they felt like "rock stars". They performed with the band "In Flames" in Kyiv, Ukraine. A short time later they appeared in Israel as an opening act for "Children of Bodom" and a few months later they appeared with "Arch Enemy" in St. Petersburg and in Moscow. Just writing the names of the bands here made us sweat, so try to imagine what it's like to share the same stage with these big names and stand in front of an audience of this size???
Huge chills all over the body!!!
In 2012, after their tremendous achievements in the previous two years, the band returned to Israel and started working on new material for the next album. The beginning was difficult, but very quickly things began to deteriorate at a rapid pace. At first, the writing did not flow, then came the conflicts and later the disagreement between the members regarding the musical direction and future of the band.
As a result, some members of the band decided to leave, leaving Pavel, Ilya, and Shaked Furman (the drummer) to decide what they do next. It was clear to the remaining trio that they were not going to give up this great thing called "Metal", which they love so much.
With renewed strength, they added guitarist Alex Zebulon and bassist Eyal Ben Shoshan to the band and went to record the next album.
Eyal Ben Shoshan said that his joining the band was the closing of a circle for him because as a teenager he adored "The Fading". He especially remembers how at the "Wacken" festival, three years before (when his band at the time, "Ferium", won the Metal Battle), he managed to sneak into an empty area that was really close to the stage during the "In Flames" concert. During the performance of the song "My Sweet Shadow," he noticed Pavel standing next to him, and in one defining moment of intense excitement that enveloped them, he formed a connection that years later would introduce Eyal to the band.
By the way, a small amusing anecdote: despite the exciting story, Eyal's start in the band almost went awry, when in his first rehearsal with the band he dropped Pavel's beloved guitar on the floor and almost smashed it.
Let's go back to the album. Some of the materials were already written before the band started recording and some were written together with Eyal and Alex. After the recordings were finished, the band sent the album to Jens Borgen (who worked with "Amon Amarth", "Opeth", "Kreator") for mixing and mastering.
At the same time, they started receiving many offers and promises from various managers and labels in the industry to promote the album, but time passed and nothing happened. For a year and a half they experienced frustration and disappointment and in the end decided to release the album on their own, without the push or promotion of any label.
Despite the fact that so much time had passed and that the creative process was very difficult for them, they did not want to shelve it, but they wanted to close this chapter and move forward.
After severe birth defects, the band's second album, "Till Life Do Us Part", was released on December 29, 2015.
Over the next two years, the band rediscovered its power on stage. It held several of the biggest shows in its career, sharing the stage with bands like "Bring Me The Horizon" and "Five Finger Death Punch". They felt on top of the world again (by the way, they even ate cheese and drank wine in the jacuzzi with Oliver and his gang).
And yes, there were also exciting moments of a different and no less important kind.
Eyal said that he will never forget their performance with "Bring Me The Horizon" in Russia when the band's manager made him a surprise and brought his father (who lives in China) to watch the performance. Out of the sea of people in the audience Eyal recognized his father and during the whole show, he felt that he was performing only for him. The whole huge crowd suddenly disappeared and only he and his father remained.
In the same year, they also released a music video for the song "A Moment Of Insight" with the Dutch singer Anneke van Giersbergen ("The Gathering"), a huge budget and production music video that was filmed in Ukraine with the production company that also produced "Jinjer" and other big bands!!
The band continued to write, create and record new material. The dynamics and chemistry between the three are so strong that they manage to get the most out of themselves. There is a perfect synchronization between them, with each giving his part. Each of them has their own opinion but still, together they manage to find the balance.
Eyal, the engine of creation, is an abundant iron mine that never stops creating new things. Pavel is a cruel blacksmith who knows how to powerfully sharpen the iron that hires Eyal and Ilya wraps it all up in rough and aggressive lyrics.
And again, all that time that they were working on new materials they received offers and promises of a bright future.
The big disappointment came in 2017 when during an impromptu meeting that took place between Pavel and Eyal with the manager of a public relations company from London who happened to be in Israel, they discovered that the promises and offers they received were without any basis.
Pavel, Eyal, and Ilya were heartbroken and decided to end the pain and put the band on a hiatus.
Ilya said that this was the "cursed" year when "The Fading" was not in a good place and he within the band didn't feel complete either.
Back From The Dead...
After three years of silence, when they still maintained a friendly relationship, the three felt that it was difficult for them without the stages, without the music, and without the energy. They decided to go back to playing together. Without any plans, commitment, or goal whatsoever. The three returned to playing together just for fun, but then what happens to many bands in the world happened to them. If you've read our reviews, you probably know that as soon as the "spark" returns, the fire ignites quickly and powerfully, and that's what happened to the members of "The Fading".
Very quickly they realized that just playing for fun is not an option. Either they do it all the way or they don't do it at all, especially if the three are metalheads of a rare breed who have survived the hardships the band went through until now.
They felt that this triangle was the strong and cohesive nucleus that would be able to move "The Fading" forward once more.
But then the coronavirus came and slammed the door in their faces, just like it did to the entire music industry.
During the entire Corona period, they were "cooking slowly", when every now and then they sharpened the materials they wrote, built plans, and recorded materials. But they still didn't feel that it was something real since the whole industry was at that time on hold and they didn't know what the future held.
Eyal described the period as "limbo" where they did not know how it would end and if it was worth investing in or not.
But as we always come back and write here, the music is stronger than anything and the band members found creative solutions and managed to record new material even though Eyal has been living in the USA for the last few years. The guitars and vocals were recorded at the home of each of the band members and the drums were recorded in a studio in Israel by Shaked Forman (yes yes, the same Shaked who started the journey with Ilya in "Excessum").
On August 24, the band released the first single from the upcoming album: "The Great Reset".
According to the way, it sounds (and also looks) their energies and powers are higher than ever and we can't wait for more new songs!!!
After 6 years of not playing together, the band members felt that they had to release their energies on stage and decided to hold a festive performance on 4.2.23 at the "Gagarin" club. This powerful celebration is joined by "DPS", "Her Last Sight" and "Ferium", which is also making a comeback.
This is undoubted "Back from the Dead" as the name chosen for the show !!
On a personal note...
The band members work for the music. This is their passion and they work to satisfy that passion.
Despite their tremendous success in Israeli terms (but also relatively international), they never saw the financial aspect as a motive. From the beginning and all along, they had no intention of making money, but only doing what they love so much - music. The shows they held abroad and in Israel didn't bring them any money, but luckily they didn't cause them any losses either. They feel it's mainly because they give everything all the way, in their creations, music, and performances!!
So do yourself a favor and do not miss this show at the Gagarin on 4.2.23.
Listen to the band's second album on: Spotify, Apple Music