Music is often called the universal language. While we might not understand the words, the melodies, rhythms, and timbres speak as clearly as if we were a native speaker.

In the case of Ukrainian screamo band Yotsuya Kaidan, you don’t need to understand the language to feel their rage and passion as deeply as if it was your own.

Guitars shred on distorted power chords. Drums frantically clash at break-neck tempos. The vocals tear through Russian lyrics in a throat-shredding wail that requires no translation. I’m unsure of the specific circumstances that might have informed these songs, but I know exactly how he feels about them.

But given the situation in Ukraine right now, I’m especially ruminating on the place music has in war.

A few weeks ago, when Russia had just begun its invasion, my church shared a live video of another Vineyard church in Kyiv. Many of their neighbors had evacuated. Some had taken up arms and were defending their city just on the other side of the wall of the church. And while the world raged outside, three members of the church took up their guitars like rifles and sang against the evil besetting their country.

Четыре письма эльфу (Russian for “Four Letters to an Elf”) was originally released several months before Russian forces started advancing, but that same warrior spirit lives in it. They may not be taking up physical arms against their invaders, but they are waging war nonetheless.

Then there’s the matter of the band’s name: Yotsuya Kaidan is a Japanese kabuki drama that tells the story of betrayal, murder, and revenge from beyond the grave. It’s hard not to see parallels between that story and the war raging on the ground.

And while we may feel powerless to help here on the other side of the world, Yosuya Kaidan keeps singing. The world may be thrown into chaos around them, their homes threatened by a threat few of us can imagine, but they keep singing. It may seem like spitting on a fire to put it out, but I can’t help but feel like even just listening to their song can help in the fight.

Четыре письма эльфу is available on cassette through Friend Club Records. Every cent goes directly to the band in Odessa.

Follow Yoysuya Kaidan on Facebook, Instagram, and Bandcamp.