The project's main members are songwriter and performer Neuromonakh Feofan, DJ Nikodim, and the Bear. The group members remain anonymous, and Neuromonkh Feofan appears on stage with his face covered by an Eastern Orthodox-style hood.
History
In an interview with Afisha magazine, Nikodim stated that he professionally studied music before meeting Feofan. Neuromonakh Feofan had started recording songs in 2009. Feofan and Nikodim came up with the idea to start a new musical project during their forest walks. The group's debut album, Drum in the Soul, Bright Rus' in the Heart, was released in early 2015. The group toured cities in Russia and Belarus to promote the album. The album was warmly received by listeners and critics and entered the top 10 of Russian iTunes. Neuromonakh Feofan has performed at Russian music festivals such as Kubana, Nashestvie, Dikaya Myata, and VK Fest. Neuromonakh Feofan was listed as the Russian Independent Performer of the Year on the Yandex Music's 2015 year-end list, based on the streaming service's listening statistics.
Criticism
Musical critics have noted the novelty of the fusion of Russian folk motifs with electronic dance music in Neuromonk's music, comparing the project with some legendary Russian performers like MC Vspyshkin and Ivan Kupala. In one of his interviews Sergey Shnurov said that Neuromonk Feofan is "a combination of the incompatible, they are Orthodox atheists, they are believing Komsomols", and he also approved Neuromonk Feofan's activities in social networks. The lyrics of Neuromonk's songs abound with references to the life of Ancient Rus and are devoted to Russian nature and physical labor, but they contain a bit of irony. The main distinguishing feature of the project is their image and visual component. In her article at Zvuki.ru, Victoria Bazoeva pointed to a good level of stylization, and noted that the use of modern words along with historicism can somewhat disappoint some true connoisseurs of reliable historical reconstruction. After the first album release many people were unconcerned about Feofan, but the touring success and the performance at "Cubana" Festival forced many critics to reconsider their opinion. The creativity of the project is sometimes called conceptual, postmodernist, while contrasting, however, with representatives of contemporary Russian art like Vladimir Sorokin.
