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Psilocybe Larvae
Psilocybe Larvae
	Psilocybe Larvae performing live in Saint Petersburg in September 2024
Background information
Origin	Saint Petersburg, Russia
Genres	Melodic death metal; Doom metal; Progressive metal;
Years active	1996–present
Labels	Dark Harvest Records; Mazzar Records; CD-Maximum; Buil2Kill Records
Members	Vitaly "Larv" Belobritsky; Alex "Liga" Legotin; Anton Veresov; Alexander Yakovlev;
Website	psilocybe-larvae.ru/

Psilocybe Larvae is a Russian melodic death metal metal band based in Saint Petersburg. It was formed in 1996 at Vyborg.^[1] The band was led by Vitaly Belobritsky but the band has gone through various changes since it was formed.^[2]

History

The story of Psilocybe Larvae started in 1996 in the Russian city of Vyborg, when Vitaly "Larv" Belobritsky (vocals/guitar), Denis Vinogradov (guitar), Oleg Peshkichev (bass) and Eugene Ushakov (drums) formed the band to indulge their passion for melodic and haunting death/dark metal. Following a short interlude with Metallization's Eugene Golubkov, Psilocybe Larvae finally found a permanent drummer in 1999 when Alan took over drum duties. The new line-up entered the studio again in mid-2000 to record their first full-length Stigmata. Meanwhile, the band underwent further line-up changes with Andrey replacing Denis on guitars and Den joining the band as keyboardist. The year 2002 saw Psilocybe Larvae contributing two cover songs to Manowar and Chimera tributes. Agony was released by Black Side Productions at the beginning of 2003.

The following months dealt another blow to the line-up, as Oleg's addictions started to get out of hand. For that reason, the band decided to part ways with him in December 2004, leaving Psilocybe Larvae without a bass player for quite some time.

A "silver lining" appeared in 2005 when Russia's major label CD-Maximum agreed to remaster and re-release the two albums with bonus tracks. The band also found a new bass player in Alex "Liga" Legotin but unfortunately, there was new trouble ahead: after a few months, Alex had to leave the group. Keyboardist Den was fired as well and in the fall of 2005 the band was eventually forced to relocate to St. Petersburg with no stable line-up in what looked like a semi-hiatus. Things were slowly falling apart.

In St. Petersburg, Alex re-joined the ranks and keyboardist Dmitry "Chaos" Orekhov completed the line-up to release the band from its forced inactivity. After headlining the Ukrainian "Triple Interaction" tour in autumn 2006, the band entered DDT Records in January 2007 to record their third album, Non-existence.

After two years of intensive work, the band returned with a new album called The Labyrinth Of Penumbra. At the same time another line-up change happened. The band parted ways with guitarist Andrey "Luke" Lukashkov and drummer Ilya "Alan" Piyaev. Konstantin Kot'h (guitar) and Evgeny "Evg" Trefilov (drums) from industrial metal band Vergeltung came on board as the new members of Psilocybe Larvae. Throughout 2014 and 2015 Psilocybe Larvae went through several major line-up changes again: they split with Kot’h and Evg, Liga departed and returned after a while, a new drummer Alexander Yakovlev (Misanthrope Count Merciful, Thartaria) was recruited, and a new guitar player Roman "Dorian" Kondratev (Refawn, Tophet) joined. Due to personal reasons Alexander left Psilocybe Larvae in 2015 and the band's former drummer Alan took up his place behind the drum kit once again.

Members

Current members

Vit "Larv" Belobritsky (vocals, guitar)
Alex "Liga" Legotin (bass)
Anton Veresov (guitar)
Aleksander Yakovlev (drums)

Former members

Denis Vinogradov (guitar)
Evgeniy Golubkov (drums)
Evgeniy Ushakov (drums)
Evgeniy Trefilov (drums)
Roman "Dorian" Kondratev (guitar)
Dmitriy Orekhov (keyboards)
Oleg Peshkichev (bass)
Konstantin Kot'h (guitar)
Andrei Lukashkov (guitar)
Ilia "Alan" Piyaev (drums)

Discography

Albums

1996 - Liar Demo (Self prod.)
2000 - "'Stigmata MC (Self prod.)
2001 - Stigmata CD (Black Side prod.)
2003 - Agony CD, MC (Black Side prod.)
2005 - Stigmata & Agony CD (CD-Maximum — Russia) re-released
2008 - Non-Existence CD (Mazzar Records — Russia, Ukraine, Belarus)
2009 - Non-Existence CD (Dark Harvest Records — world)
2012 - The Labyrinth of Penumbra CD (Buil2Kill Records / Nadir Music — world)
2021 - Where Silence Dwells CD (Red Rivet Records / Fono Ltd.)

Singles

2018 - "The Fall Of Icarus" (digital release - world)

Compilations

1998 - CD,MC "Russian Alternative Extreme Music" "Death is not the End" song
2002 - CD "Vampiria" magazine "Stigmata" song
2003 - CD "Black Hole" magazine "Agony" song
2004 - CD "Buckets Of Blood" vol.2 (Bloodbucket Productions) "Out Of Sanity" song
2004 - CD "Manowar Russian Tribute" (Piranha Records) "Blood Of The Kings" cover
2006 - MC "Total Jazz - Tribute to Chimera" (Карма Мира Records/Outcry Records) "Karma Of The World" song
2006 - DVD "Rock Palace Open-Air ' 05" 1 song
2007 - DVD "Rock Palace Open-Air ' 06" 2 songs
2008 - CD "Total Jazz - Tribute to Chimera" (Карма Мира Records/Kap-kan Records) "Karma Of The World" song
2008 - CD "Hell On Fire" compilation "Sleepwalkers" song