UKRAINIAN RIOT GRRL TRIO DEATH PILL SHARE NEW SINGLE ‘PHONE CALL’
21st May 2025Two years on from their sensational debut, Ukrainian ‘Riot Grrrls’ Mariana, Anastasiia and Nataliia, aka Death Pill recently announced that they are back. Locked and loaded with a mighty set of tunes on their highly anticipated second album‘ SOLOGAMY’, which is … as they put it. ‘A bold exploration of personal empowerment’.
‘SOLOGAMY’ is fierce, heavy and melodic, and is set to land on June 20th, 2025 (New Heavy Sounds). New single ‘Phone Call’ is probably the most accessible Death Pill track to date. Very catchy, with a terrific arrangement, cleverly put together, it’s a brilliant slice of … well … pop. You might call it ‘pissed off pop’ something Green Day or Foo Fighters wished they’d written … a new genre if ever there was one. The band comment,
“This song is just a real sad love story when no one calls you back.
When you are waiting for a call from someone you care about, time starts to drag. Every minute feels like an hour, every moment feels like an eternity, and every sound of the phone makes your heart freeze. You check it several times, even though you know the phone is on silent mode. Thoughts fill your mind, “What if he forgot?”, “What if he doesn’t want to talk?”, “What if he has someone else?”.
These doubts and fears turn into a real game of mind, where you become your own harshest critic. The agony of waiting can be overwhelming. You begin to notice how it affects your daily life: you can’t concentrate at work, you get distracted when talking to your friends, and even simple pleasures seem less significant. Thoughts about the call become annoying, like a fly that won’t leave you alone.
Every time the phone vibrates or the screen lights up, you hope to see his name, but disappointment comes again and again. Waiting for a phone call is a fragile emotional state that touches the deepest corners of the soul. It requires patience and humility, but it can also teach us to appreciate the moments when the connection does happen. When the long-awaited call finally rings, all the suffering seems worth it – if only for a moment. That moment can be so sweet that all previous agony is forgotten. Waiting for a call is not just an emotional roller coaster; it is a reflection of our vulnerability and desire to be understood. The desire to be needed by someone.
We are opening our hearts, hoping that someone else is also willing to share the journey with us.”The album’s 10 tracks mark a bold evolution in the band’s sound and Death Pill really deliver with ferocity and belief through multiple gear changes and genres as if it were easy. Hardcore, punk, grunge, thrash, riot grrrl, emo, are just some of the touchstones this album moves through, and all with the accomplished ferocity and memorable melody the band introduced on their debut.
There are cellos, pianos, sound effects and ornate arrangements that open out their sonic palette, there’s a bit of pop and even a bit of prog. But rest assured … it’s all pure ‘Death Pill’.
Much like how labelmates Shooting Daggers pushed the boundaries of punk with their debut album, Death Pill do likewise, never content to stand still or be pigeonholed. Thematically ‘Sologamy’ is, at its core a celebration. So over to Death Pill for the lowdown …
“The title, inspired by the concept of marrying oneself, speaking to the importance of making a personal commitment to self-care, happiness, and emotional well-being. In an era where that can sometimes be misconstrued as selfishness, Death Pill pushes back against these misconceptions, inviting listeners to embrace the power of prioritizing their own mental and emotional health.
Each track on the album is quite different from the last, and we see this as a way of accepting and supporting yourself in any emotional state. You arrive in this world alone and you leave it alone. The bottom line is: You’re the only person you’ve got. It’s important to understand your different selves, to listen to yourself and your true desires, to love yourself when you’re at your lowest as well as your highest, to accept and understand all the different sides of your personality, and to be in touch with your conscious and unconscious.’
Every song on the album is a story that happened to us. Maybe it’ll happen to you too. But every story deserves to become a song.
“Sologamy” is more than just an album—it’s a call to action”
But there is more to this story, that maybe gives some idea why the girls have hit on ‘Sologamy’ as a theme.
Looking back, the circumstances that surrounded the release of their debut were to say the least … extreme. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, just as the band were putting the finishing touches to the debut album. Work on the record halted and the band were forced apart. Drummer Anastasiia went to Spain with her young son and bassist Natalia to Australia. Singer/guitarist Mariana remained in Kyiv.
It seemed as if that was to be the end of the Death Pill story.
But no. New Heavy Sounds heard some tracks which appeared on a ‘Musicians for Ukraine’ fund raising compilation. So knocked out were the label that they contacted the band offering to put their album out, only to hear that it was not finished. But they said, ‘we will try to finish it’.
It’s a testament to Death Pill’s tenacity and drive, that though separated and in the midst of a war, they managed to do just that. Their self-titled debut was released in February 2023, a year to the day that Russia invaded Ukraine. The reaction to it was pretty much unanimous.
On top of that, and with the help and support of the many punk communities around Europe, the band were able to undertake a small tour of Germany, Holland and the UK. That UK leg was captured in Dan Baskervilles poignant short film ‘Go Your Way’ which has already been shown at several small film festivals in 2024 and won ‘Best Short Film’ at the LA Punk Film Festival. Following that tour, the girls then had to separate once again. However, Death Pill have shown that despite the circumstances, they stay strong and stick together. In 2024 they decided to begin work on a new record. Though the war continued and in different countries, they kept in contact via zoom and started working on their new songs.
But it wasn’t easy. Contact with Mariana was at times a particularly difficult, with Russia increasing its attacks on Kyiv there were power outages, air raids and blackouts limiting the times they could communicate.
Nataliia says, “I faced the challenge of managing and organising the band’s ideas and suggestions to achieve a final result that everyone was happy with.
After the drum recordings were completed, Anastasiia took over social media management. The most difficult part was patiently explaining ideas and providing sound examples. While computer technologies and the internet are highly advanced, they can’t fully replace the experience of regular gigs, where musicians can experiment in real-time, or rehearsals, where energy exchange and emotional support play a crucial role.”
On top of that, trying to finish the mixing and mastering of the album while the power-cuts became ever more frequent and communication more sporadic, meant more delays. Then you lose your key artwork guy to the defence of the country and …
Yes, it’s hard to imagine. But in the end … these things were overcome.
Fast forward to 2025, and the fruits of their labours have come together on ‘SOLOGAMY’. An album every bit as powerful as their first, but with an added dimension that makes it a true step up in sound and ambition.
The ‘SOLOGAMY’ vinyl release will arrive in a very special limited edition vinyl package. The first pressing will be in a laminated silver sleeve housing a frosted transparent vinyl disc. Not only that, as well as a free download there is an A4 colour poster of the band and a sticker. This pressing is strictly limited to 500 copies.
There will also be limited CD release, and it will be available on all digital platforms.
Pre-order now:
Digital: https://lnk.to/DeathPill_Sologamy
Death Pill are:
Mariana Navrotska, guitar and lead vocals
Anastasiia Khomenko, drums and backing vocals
Natalya Syeryakova, bass and backing vocals
