metaladdicts.com review by Ivison Poleto:
"With lots of good will, it may be considered art rock. However, as you may notice by listening to first track “Fight Club,” the term acid soul wouldn’t be that wrong or far from what Evil Bear Boris do in “Das ist Boris.” It sounds a lot with 1970s soul with a real dash of art rock. In “Fight Club” the harmonica is the leading instrument getting all the attention. The leading bass on the mid third minute reminds a lot ELP bass and keyboard lines. However the harmonic breaks all the resistance and takes all the credit. I believe that “Fight Club” is the track that will amaze more due to its energetic cadence and positive vibe.

We have to agree that besides the fact of leveraging piracy, internet gave lots of more independence and opportunities to small labels and to independent bands. It was against all odds that all those changes really benefited some niches in music. It would be very difficult to a band like Evil Bear Boris to record in the past. Simply there would be no market to the uncanny, though fun, music they make. The soul grip attracts a lot. If you are in the mood of changing hearts, here’s your opportunity.

The leading phrase of “Evil Bear Boris” is very catchy maybe because to the horn section that makes all the difference and drives all the attention. It sounds like making love some artists would say. I guess it does. It feels like dancing, I might add. Last, but not least, track “Geheimnisse des Dritten Reichs” sounds more 1980s art rock. Keyboards do the lead in an epic way mixed with some violins. Catchy and strong. It really does people’s mind even though you’re not that into their music. Drums fillings sound great as well and do a great job giving a sense of bigger sounding."
metaladdicts.com/site/evil-bear-boris-das-ist-boris/




farfrommoscow.com review:
"Frontman Nikita Samarin has now launched an IWKC side-project, perhaps in the light of his views of workplace aspirations in Russia. "If you've ever thought about making music in this country then you'll know one thing. Any band that manages to publish a second LP should christened a local hero..." The primary challenge and purpose of local songwriting is - somehow - to foster a communal experience in social spheres that often deny that connection.

Forty people from the orchestra were forced to stand in a circle and play

The new side-project is called, in semi-serious tones, Evil Bear Boris. The general stylistic trajectory here is - allegedly! - a melange of "sympho-punk, bearcore, and turbo-bass." For all that quipping, however, Samarin terms one of his new compositions "Geheimnisse des Dritten Reichs" (Secrets of the Third Reich). What's the background? Samarin means, in particular, one unspeakably awful example of music applied both to forced labor and the grim dead-end of "perfection" in 1941. On a different web venue, he explains the nightmarish context of his German track and its title: in other words, he publishes some facts regarding the Janowska Concentration Camp, situated not far from Lviv during WWII.

Here a group of local musicians was forced regularly to play during beatings and even executions. When Soviet troops grew close to the camp towards the end of the war - and defeat looked likely - the Germans acted with violence against the authors of that music. Samarin writes: "Forty people from the orchestra were made to stand in a circle and play. One by one, the performers were led into the middle of the same circle and forced to undress. They were then shot."

The resulting desire to preserve songwriting and composition as endless, nameless processes - free from any grand sense of purpose, perfection, or arrogant "arrival" - could not be greater. "
www.farfrommoscow.com/articles/artemiev-tally-ho-pogi-namp-and-evil-bear.html
(not working after site changed design)
web.archive.org/web/20180801000158/http://www.farfrommoscow.com/articles/artemiev-tally-ho-pogi-namp-and-evil-bear.html
(from Web Archive copy)




German rockblogbluesspot.com review:
"Die russische Formation mit zehn Musikern erreicht hier fast schon die Stärke eines kleinen Orchesters und auch die Instrumentierung erinnert eher an ein Orchester als an eine Rockband.

Zum Schlagzeug und doppelt besetzten Keyboards kommen noch drei Streicher und vier Bläser. Keine typische Gitarre! 
Ausgerechnet das typische Rock-Instrument fehlt. Aber die Formation aus Moskau kümmert sich herzlich wenig darum, was typisch ist.

Überhaupt greift die Kategorisierung als Rock hier viel zu kurz, auch wenn die Musik klar in diesem Genre verwurzelt ist. Dichte, rhythmisch gefügte Streichquartettabschnitte, surrende Cellolinien, zerbrechliches Gezupfe, schwungvolle Tutti, erdige Streicher sowie getragen-symphonische Gemälde und Klanggebirge reihen sich hier munter aneinander.

Auf „Das ist Boris“ präsentiert das russische Rock-Orchester (so kann man diese Formation eigentlich schon nennen) eine ganz eigene Version, das sich mit Kammer-instrumentalen und sogar einigen avant-rockigen Elementen zu einer beeindruckenden Melange vereinigt."
rockblogbluesspot.com/2016/05/18/no-name-records-into-the-void/





progarchives.com review by Kev Rowland:
"I don't know why, but there have been times when IWKC have played as Evil Bear Boris instead of IWKC, while the third IWKC album is called 'Evil Bear Boris' although the track of that name does not appear on the album but does appear on this 2013 3-track EP. Confused yet? The core quartet are still Nick Samarin (bass), Nikita Samarin (drums), Andrew Silin (keyboards) and Artem Litvakovsky (cello) alongside various musical guests and a choir (I must confess to not often seeing "chainsaw" listed as an instrument). It would be easy to surmise that they perform music under a different name so as not to confuse their audience when they perform music which is outside their usual area but given they have changed so much over the years I am not sure of the need.

Here the band is much more in your face, far more art rock than post rock, with the bass being the most important instrument. There are times when they bring in the older styles, especially on closer "Geheimnisse des Dritten Reichs" which would easily have fitted on the previous IWKC album, 'Before We Disappear', yet the other two tracks are far more in your face. Opener "Fight Club" has a dramatic harmonica which makes one think of the late Sixties and the likes of Blue Cheer, yet with plenty of horns and keyboards to lift into something dramatic and powerful. This is an interesting adjunct to IWKC, and well worth investigating. Currently available on Bandcamp for the princely sum of "name your price". "
www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=2778912