Viktor Ori (SK)

Viktor Ori is a well-known name in the Slovak alternative music scene. For many years, he was the singer and guitarist of the band Shallov, which was active from 2014 to 2024 and performed nearly 300 concerts in 17 countries. However, Viktor Ori has recently switched from English to Slovak, delivering personal and social messages with even greater musical diversity than ever before. The core of the music still lies in live drums and guitars, but his current work also features numerous synthesizers, sampling, piano, and a variety of musical guests.

Viktor Ori’s debut solo album, LEPŠIE NEBOLO NIKDY DOBRE NEBUDE ("BETTER NEVER WAS, NEVER WILL BE GOOD"), is a highly diverse, complex, yet straightforward album—both in genre and themes. The album is filled with "Weltschmerz," a term that also serves as the name of the German label Weltschmerzen, under which the album was released.

The music and themes are harrowing, distressing, and deeply radical. LEPŠIE NEBOLO NIKDY DOBRE NEBUDE paints a bleak picture of the modern world—one that mirrors the times we live in. It is a statement that is at times subjective and personal, at others universal and generational. Yet it is always deeply honest and political.

Viktor has managed to miraculously condense the fifteen-minute epics of Shallov into almost-radio-friendly, almost-pop songs, and for the first time, his music features Slovak lyrics. These lyrics are not only somber and unsettling but also sharp, provocative, and at times cynical. Perhaps it is this detached and more realistic way of experiencing the world that allows for a certain relief and reconciliation, while also encouraging action from a new, disillusioned perspective.

The album has quickly captured the attention of music journalists and fans alike. It is currently featured in many year-end lists of alternative albums in Slovakia and the Czech Republic and was reviewed in the magazine Full Moon with a rating of 91%.