siLLy puPPy INSPIRIA was formed in 2013 by vocalist Vyacheslav Rozhok and keyboard player Yuri Lazyanik in the city of Mazyr, Belarus and has so far only released this one EP titled Картина жизни (Kartina Zhizniy translated as ‘Picture of Life’) although the duo is still supposedly active.

This EP is also short with only 5 tracks which just miss the 25-minute mark. These guys employ a style of symphonic death metal with the death metal side of the equation a slower melodic blend that is just a little to fast to be called death-doom but still a bit distant from the fast paced death metal that most bands in the genre perform.

In this case the symphonic elements are not just for embellishment but are in equal play. Basically a highly atmospheric piano-driven counterpart to the melodic death metal, the tracks have instantly absorbable hooks and the piano provides an addictive counterpoint while the guitar, bass and drums (all three uncredited) provided the metal heft.

Interesting that everything is in Russian with the Cyrillic alphabet except the band name itself. The melodies themselves are clearly mined from classical music sources and given the fact that Belarus produces more than its share of highly trained classical musicians, it’s no surprise that these guys most likely have undergone years of training. Perhaps they are professionals who simply released this one side project to let off steam.

Overall this a decent slice of melo-death but my biggest problem with it is that the metal is a secondary feature for the most part as these guys like to focus on Gothic piano runs which the guitar riffing accompanies therefore it never really takes off in the metal department. It’s more of a neoclassical darkwave album set to death metal guitar riffing and guttural growls. It’s an OK listen but is just short of totally satisfying.