The energy on this night was electrifying. JINJER, a progressive metal band from Ukraine invaded the historic music venue on the corner of WILshire Blvd and WesTERN Ave in Los Angeles, the famous WILTERN THEATER. A sea full of fans packed the evening and were ready to have their ears blown out and their hearts beat down by the glorious and ferocious sounds of JINJER.
Written by Don Marcelo
Due to so many factors this evening, I missed out on the 1st support act due to traffic and my assignment from the first half of the day. Thinking that by giving myself an hour was more than enough time to get to the venue was an error of mine. This is LA after all. Everything takes about an hour and a half to two hours to get to your destination even if the final destination is only 10 miles away. Always give yourself more time than just an hour. On this day roadblocks were everywhere. The amount of people walking on the streets of downtown LA (and by streets I mean the actual roads where one usually finds cars) was staggering because of the Anime Expo Event. LA was flooded with cosplayers from all over the world which resulted with so many roadblocks and street closures. Other events from FIFA, to the Dodgers, to rush hour traffic and finding free parking in LA also contributed to this mayhem. But upon arrival at the venue, I managed to set myself up in the press/media area just before the 2nd act came on.
ENTHEOS (2ND SUPPORT ACT)
Progressive death metal band born from Santa Cruz, CA (home of the banana slugs, iykyk), ENTHEOS wetted the appetites of heavy metal music fans and music lovers on this night before the headliner, JINJER. Full of aggressive and angry screaming sounds, as one would expect from a death metal band, what ENTHEOS brought with them to the table was that they didn’t just scream hard and loud to the top of their lungs to create musical metal noise, but rather, lead vocalist Chaney Crabb and all the backing vocals by the other members created a unique sound where the vocals and instruments were in total sync and harmony and well balanced. Chaney’s dynamic vocal range was strong on this night (and I’m sure all the time as well) where she often transitioned smoothly from strong low growls, to a screaming high pitched raspy voice, almost satanic-like sound, to beautiful clean vocals as if an angel was serenading you, but all put together as one melodic angst full of dark and moody and melancholic sounds that one never finds from a hardcore death metal band. But then again they are not categorized only as such but more as a PROG ROCK DEATH METALCORE BAND with haunting and melodic grooves. The strong technical riffs of the guitars and electronic bass and the powerful drums were all harmonically on point where the instruments did not overpower Chaney’s vocals at all. Their performance and sounds on this night were so powerful and mesmerizing that even Jose Mangin, the ambassador of metal, whom I saw by the sound booth (and met him after their set), was rocking out hard and head banging and his horns up in the air with one hand and a pint of cerveza on the other hand. ENTHEOS is a band worth seeing and hearing if you love heavy metal music, prog rock music, death metal music, and goth music all rolled into one. This was the first time I have heard and seen this band and hopefully it won’t be the last.
ENTHEOS Live Lineup:
Chaney Crabb – vocals
Navene Koperweis – drums
Scott Carstairs – guitar
Michael Stancel – guitar
https://www.facebook.com/entheosband
https://www.instagram.com/entheosofficial
https://entheosofficial.bandcamp.com
PHOTO GALLERY OF ENTHEOS PERFORMANCE
Photo Gallery of the performance by © Don Marcelo Photography 2026
JINJER
After the set of ENTHEOS was over, the lights were all turned back on while the staff set the stage for JINJER. When the lights were finally turned down and JINJER hit the stage, a thunderous roar from screaming fans filled the air. A woman warrior figure was seen under a cloud of smoke in the dark shadows of the stage after the Men of JINJER placed themselves accordingly on the stage. That woman warrior figure from the shadows was Tatiana Shmailyuk, the lead vocalist of JINJER. Tatiana is known for having an incredible range of voice from her powerful growls to her melodic sweet sounds. Once she strutted her way up to center stage and she started singing, the earth shattered into pieces and the audience were awestruck with her hypnotic stares, beautiful clean vocals, and aggressive growls. A true dynamic artist and vocalist and performer whose stage presence on this night sent chills to one’s spines as if the spectators just saw a dark angel come out from the cloud of smoke where she just finished a fight winning a fierce battle with the intruders with her microphone up in the air like a sword. After coming out from the darkness and cloud of smoke, the dark angel then transformed into a human form cloaked in a light armor medieval warrior outfit, armed and ready for more battles to fight and to win.
As always, this fierce woman warrior was surrounded by three strong knights armed fully with their talents and instruments of choice: Roman Ibramigov, a master shredder with his axe, known for his hard and heavy riffs and technical precision on guitar. The man behind the bass who keeps the sounds grounded by providing a flawless rhythm with his thunderous grooves is Eugene Abdukhanov, also a master of his instrument, technically proficient, artistically great. Last and not the least, the ever so powerful beats of Vladislav Ulasevich, who keeps the tempo intact all throughout the set with his strong and hard pounding beats on drums.
Altogether, they are JINJER.
PHOTO GALLERY OF JINJER PERFORMANCE
Photo Gallery of the performance by © Don Marcelo Photography 2026
VOCALIST – Tatiana Shmailyuk
GUITARIST – Roman Ibramigov
BASSIST – Eugene Abdukhanov
DRUMMER -Vladislav Ulasevich
For the fans of JINJER, we already know what to expect from Tatiana’s powerful RAW and Emotional vocals and her knights with their technical prowess and playing skills with their instruments. Having seen them before I was more impressed this time around not only on their technicals skills of playing their instruments and Tatiana’s dynamic vocal range and great stage presence, but because also they brought in some beautiful array of lighting design on stage and new elements of creative graphics on the screen behind the drummer that changed constantly which told a profound story for each song they played. I was so glued on the lighting and the graphics that for me being an artist, I literally geeked out every minute of every moment. I could not stop creating images behind my lens. Truly a fantastic creative direction they took in regards to lighting and graphics. I was very impressed.
Although Progressive Metal Rock is not for everyone, what makes JINJER so unique is that they are not afraid to show to the world and let their creative artistry speak freely along with their technical skills. This is what makes JINJER extremely unique and different. But one thing is for sure, they are ARTISTS and they can sing and play beautiful melodic and harsh metal music. They are the epitome of what a PROG ROCK BAND should be.
Jinjer links
Find more about Jinjer on S.L.R. Magazine
See below for all JINJER live dates and visit here for tickets and additional information.
JINJER NORTH AMERICAN DUÉL TOUR:
WITH CRYSTAL LAKE + ENTHEOS:
7/13 — Des Moines, IA — Val Air Ballroom
7/14 — Madison, WI — The Sylvee
7/15 — St. Louis, MO — The Pageant
7/17 — Mansfield, OH — INKcarceration
7/18 — Grand Rapids, MI — Upheaval
7/19 — Chicago, IL — House of Blues
7/21 — Denver, CO — Summit**
7/22 — Albuquerque, NM — Revel**
7/24 — Las Vegas, NV — House of Blues**
7/25 — Long Beach, CA — Warped Tour
*NO CRYSTAL LAKE
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