Accent (band)

Accent (Акцент) was a Belarusian heavy metal band from the city of Minsk. The band played an important role in the development of contemporary music in Belarus.

Early years (1986-1987)

Accent was originally founded in 1986 by Michael Brusovanik and Andrey Hmelnitsky. For some time after it's founding, Accent went through constant line-up changes and was essentially kept on an amateur level. Accent's professional career began in 1986, when the band was invited to play at one of the first rock festivals in Minsk. Following the festival, the band received a national recognition and a recording deal from the Belarus Radio Recording. The first stable line-up of Accent was: Sergey Makljak-vocals, Michael Brusovanik-guitar,Andrey Hmelnitsky-bass,Pavel Orehovskiy-keyboards and Vladimir Kosonogov-drums. Former member Yury Obuhov was engaged as a sound engineer and Alexandr Kapilov as a manager. Band signed employment contract with Philarmony of the Institute of Culture.

Songs of the band were often played on TV and radio. The band participated in numerous hard rock festivals and has been considered de-facto leader of the modern belorussian music. Accent,also, worked on studio projects with young composers. Songs 'Actor' and Fathers and Sons as well as a song by Anna Kozlova Beginning with vocals recorded by Julia Skorohod, member of Verasy climbed to the top of the hit-parade and was often included in radio programming.

In 1988, when the band was on top of success, Sergey Makljak,also a pilot for the local airline, was assigned to a service in Egypt. Vladimir Kosonogov left Accent and joined Viktor Naumik and Igor Grib in Kvinta,the band of a similar style. Guitarist Victor Smolsky and drummer Anatoly Horbach were temporarily conscripted to keep Accent alive.

Orientir period (1988-1989)

After AbOUT half a year Kvinta and Accent united, and continued under the name of Accent with Gavrila on keyboards and Igor Grib on bass. The repertoire of the newly combined band comprised songs of both bands. Sergey Severin, former member of the band Suzor'e has joined Accent. The new Accent toured in Belarus and Russia. The band participated in Rock Festivals in France and Czechoslovakia. Famous show-business entrepreneur Vladimir Boldusov, founder of 'Centre Orientir' was hired as a manager. In 1989 Accent recorded it's second album in the recording studio of Alex Gerasimovich. A year later Accent performed with a Finnish group Zero Nine. In 1991 Alex Schott was hired instead of [Michael Brusovanik],who moved to the United States.

Hiatus, reunion and the future

The future of Accent remains uncertain, as all members continue working on their own projects. However 2005 saw a short commemorative reunion tour with Accent's classic line-up. The final show was held on August 27, 2005, in Minsk, Belarus.

See also

• Victor Smolsky
• Sergey Lemoh
• Anatoly Horbach
• Michael Brusovanik

ru: Акцент