“I open the browser and think, “Theodor Who? Is he really a bastard?” Then I see, “Karelian Neofolk”. “He is a stoner, this dude Theodor”, I think.” – these are the first words of the review by Dimitris Mascelos from the Greek magazine RockWay. Spoiler: actually it’s a very good review. Next is its followed text.
I open Youtube and want to do a little research about the history of this Russian band. I fall on the album “Oikoumene”, the sixth complete opus of this Karelians released in 2012, and I am standing fascinated. love at first hear!
So I lay down and decide to listen carefully to the re-release of their seventh album “Vetvi” issued now by Season of Mist. Seven years after its initial release to the public, “Vetvi” is now presented to the metal audience, the ethnic sound is well-received by most of them. Many different instruments are used in Theodor Bastard’s music: nyckelharpa, jouhikko, mouth harp, ancient flutes, shamanic percussion. All they meets the electronic media. And you see the whole picture: a complex of folk (like Hagalaz Runedance, Ataraxia, etc), trip hop, a bit of Bjork atmosphere, a cinematic sense of Sacred Spirit and an exquisite ethereal voice singing in Russian (and maybe sound of voices). Under their music, you close your eyes and see gray wolves looking at you in amazement, while the snow falls thick and you have to cross an icy lake to reach the next village for supplies.I, however, sit here, enchanted and enjoying pieces like “Salameika” and trying to count how many different instruments have been used in “Vetvi”. To be a little more understandable (haha), “Vetvi” is a multi-dimensional record that does not climb anywhere and you do not feel at any point that you have returned to one of the previous. The genuine inspiration, drawn from a virgin nature that we miss as much as we destroy it. This Russians deserve to be better known and we must help them. Shout with me: “They come from Karelia, like sweet wine singing etherealy, Theodor Bastard! “You bastard Theodor, you stole my heart.
(с) Δημήτρης Μαρσέλος RockWay (GR)
Link to the original: https://rockway.gr/posts/theodor-bastard-vetvi/