Bartłomiej Krysiuk’s Batushka Announces “Final” Tour Dates
More than a month after a Polish court ruled that Krzysztof “Derph” Drabikowski’s version of Batushka was the only legally valid one, it’s looking like Bartłomiej Krysiuk is potentially giving up on the fight to keep the name for himself.
Recently, the Krysiuk version of Batushka announced that they were going to be streaming a show in Poland on September 20 that’s being billed as “one of the last opportunities” to watch the band play live. Sounds pretty final, but when one fan asked for clarification by what they meant, the band responded with “will be smth NEW!”
As you can probably decipher from the internet gibberish, it looks like the band is teasing “something new” is coming down the pipe. Should be interesting to find out what it is, especially if Krysiuk can no longer use the Batushka name.
Even more credence was given to the fact that there may soon only be one Batushka when the Krysiuk version of the band announced a number of South American tour dates. Much like the livestreamed show, the band warned fans that this would be the “LAST visit in the history of Batushka to your continent.”
Similarly, the band recently announced what they said was “one of the LAST European…liturgies EVER” was set to take place at Turock Fest in Bochum, Germany this October. Again, it sounds pretty fuckin’ final.
For those that don’t know what’s behind all this, Batushka was founded by Drabikowski in 2015. The band exploded onto the scene and released their first album Litourgiya that same year with vocals handled by Bartłomiej “Bart” Krysiuk. Three years later, the band split up, with Drabikowski deciding that he was going to continue the band without Krysiuk.
Unfortunately, the latter party decided to keep going with the name instead, signing to Metal Blade in 2019 and releasing Hospodi. That iteration of the band eventually made its way to Napalm Records for a second album release and subsequently went out touring. Similarly, Drabikowski released Панихида in 2019 as Батюшка.
What followed was a protracted legal battle between the two parties, with the final outcome happening last month when a judge ruled that Drabikowski was the sole owner of the Batushka name. Under the ruling, Drabikowski has full copyright protections for the band and its name, as well as the right to perform under and advertise with the Batushka name. Conversely, Krysiuk is barred from using the name without Drabikowski’s permission.
With all that now out of the way, it’s unclear what Krusiuk meant by “something new” was coming for fans of his iteration of Batushka. All we know is that a big change is coming.
