Sergey “Serge” Gordiyenko was born in Russia near Chernobyl. One of his earliest memories is seeing the sky glow green from the nuclear explosion. To escape radiation, his parents moved them up North to the border of Finland, where the sun did not rise for several months and temperatures frequently fell to 50-below. As a child, Sergey sang in a choir and attended music school studying classical piano. During these times, the Soviet government really tried to keep all Western influence at bay, so Sergey was not exposed to any rock music until he moved to the United States at the age of 11.
On one fateful day, Sergey turned on the radio and “Sad But True” by Metallica happened to be playing. Sergey had never heard anything like this. The heavy guitars, pounding drums, shrieking solos, aggressive yet beautiful vocals. He listened in awe with his jaw on the floor. That moment changed the course of his life. He consumed all things rock and metal discovering Guns n’ Roses, Ozzy, Dio, Judas Priest, Aerosmith, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Skid Row, Testament, Helloween, and too many others to list. In high school, with the help of Napster, Sergey discovered and really got into less known sub genres and bands like Children of Bodom, Dimmu Borgir, Therion, Cradle of Filth, Soilwork, Nightwish, Blind Guardian, etc.
One Christmas, Sergey was gifted an electric guitar and his younger brother Boris received a drum set. They spent hours trying to learn Metallica songs. At first they sounded awful. Thankfully, their parents did not mind. On the contrary, their parents have always supported them and have always been their biggest fans.
Sergey’s main inspiration has always been Metallica’s James Hetfield. Sergey modeled his guitar playing and song writing on his style, trying to come up with heavy riffs and catchy melodies. He has never been interested in playing leads and focused on perfecting his rhythm playing and song structure. Eventually, Sergey and Boris decided to take their music to the next level and in 2012 created the folk metal band Kvasura where Sergey is the main writer of all the music and lyrics. Combining their Russian heritage with numerous genres of metal, they created a unique sound which they still play to this day. They’ve also created and played together in the melodic death metal band Bloodtrail and a now defunct thrash metal band Last Crime. Sergey has played countless shows around Arizona, Texas, California and has participated in 2 tours in Mexico opening up for such renowned acts as Amorphis, Kalmah, Arkona, Goatwhore, and Allegaeon.
Most recently, Sergey has joined a new powerhouse venture called Netherdred, contributing his original sound. He seamlessly blends various genres to compliment the virtuosity of his band members and the mystical, beautiful, yet aggressive vision of Netherdred.
Sergey has an undying love for all things heavy metal, family and friends. Sergey credits music for meeting the love of his life who attended one of his Kvasura shows and they have been inseparable since. They’ve traveled the world together, seeing countless shows, and even attending the metal mecca known as Wacken, twice. They have a dog named Abigail (named after a King Diamond song of course) and are expecting their first little rocker. Their favorite band is Iron Maiden whom they’ve seen 19 times collectively. They even had their first dance at their wedding to an Iron Maiden’s song. Sergey believes that his life’s calling is to leave a footprint on this world by creating and performing music with drive, passion, and without compromise, as well as always trying to be the best husband, son, brother, friend, bandmate, and father.
Sergey uses BC Rich guitars, Clayton custom picks, Engl amps, and Rivera cabs
