The Gourishankar is a

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

formed in 2001 by university friends guitarist Alexandr "Nomy" Agranovich ( Agranson) and keyboardist Doran Usher in the Russian provincial city

Syktyvkar Syktyvkar (, rus, Сыктывка́р, p=sɨktɨfˈkar; kv, Сыктывкар) is the capital city of the Komi Republic in Russia, as well as its largest city. It is also the capital of the Syktyvkar Urban Okrug. Until 1930, it was known as U ...

. In 2002 the band released their debut demo tape ''Integral Symphony'' followed in 2003 by their first studio album, ''Close Grip''. Their second studio album ''2nd Hands'', was recorded in 2006 and was released by

Unicorn Digital Unicorn Digital is an independent Canadian record label founded in 1996 by Michel St-Père. The label was originally created to promote his band Mystery, however since its founding the label has expanded to include many more artists. In 2005, the ...

on March 15, 2007. The album revealed their unique style of music, which blends many musical genres. ''2nd Hands'' was nominated for the Prog Awards 2007 within "Best Foreign Band" section, nominated for best debut of the year at Deutsche progressive pages and took second place. The album became the best-selling release in 2007 on the label

. ''Close Grip'' was rereleased by Unicorn Digital in 2008. In 2015, the jazz label ArtBeat Music was all deluxe editions heritage group called the ''1st Decade'', including rare recordings and demo tapes, as an anthology. It was also released edition classic album ''2nd Hands'' on vinyl. The third studio album '' The World Unreal'' was released at Russia on January 14, 2016 through ArtBeat Music.

Members

;Current * Jason Offen –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

(2010 – present) * Nomy Agranson –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

basses Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass ...

, vocals,

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

(2002 – present) * Svetoslav Bogdanov –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2010 – present) ;Previous * Doran Usher – keyboards (2002 – 2011) * Vlad MJ Whiner – vocals (2003 – 2008) * Cat Heady – drums (2003 – 2008) * Maxim Sivkov – drums (2008) * Mikhail Muhachev – bass (2008) ;Guest * Vladimir Rastorguev –

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

* Dmitry Ulyashev –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

* Alla Izverskaya –

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Alexander Vetkhov –

* Nail Maxonov –

Discography

;Demos * ''Integral Symphony'' (2002, demo EP, self-release) ;Studio albums * ''Close Grip'' (2003, LP, CD, self-released) * ''2nd Hands'' (2007, LP CD,

) * '' The World Unreal'' (2016, LP, CD, ArtBeat Music) ;Reissues * ''Close Grip'' (2008, LP, reissue, at Russia MALS Rec., other countries — Unicorn Digital) * ''The Gourishankar Anthology. 1st Decade'' (2015, 2CD-BOX deluxe edition, ArtBeat Music, Russia) * ''2nd Hands'' (2015, vinyl edition, ArtBeat Music, Russia) * ''Close Grip'' (2015, club edition, ArtBeat Music, Russia) * ''2nd Hands'' (2015, club edition, ArtBeat Music, Russia) * '' The World Unreal'' (2016, club edition, ArtBeat Music, Russia)

References

External links

Official Bandcamp Page

Official Facebook Page

Official VK Page

ProgArchives.com Page

The mountain similar to Everest. The interview with the band "Gourishankar"
Russian art rock groups Russian progressive rock groups Russian experimental rock groups Unicorn Digital artists {{Asia-band-stub