Theodor Bastard – Vetvi / 2021 Reissue (Album – Season Of Mist)
Genre/Influences: Ethereal, Dark-Folk, Cinematographic.
Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.
Background/Info: This album is a reissue of Theordor Bastard’s “Velvi”-album, originally released in 2015 on the band’s own label Theo Records and Fulldozer Records. This is probably the Russian’s formation most successful work, which has been now re-released in France by Season Of Mist.
Content: This is the kind of album that doesn’t suffer from the weight of time. Theodor Bastard transposed their mystical, conceptual themes into a music composition composed by electronics and authentic instruments. The Ethereal chants and vocals create a sensation of evasion and reverie while a few tracks sound like pure Cinematographic music.
+ + + : Theodor Bastard is a band I’ve always liked for their global approach and composition. It’s an Ethereal and Mystic sound, which can be connected to bands like Dead Can Dance and Arcana, but this formation also has something very personal. “Vetvi” is an essential work in their discography, which perfectly represents Theodor Bastard. An artistic and poignant composition, which creates a transcendental effect by the listener. The sensation is accentuated by the magic of the female vocals, but also by the authentic feeling of the instruments.
– – – : Reissues are, always cool for those who missed the original edit, but it clearly doesn’t bring anything new… except the English edit of the title song.
Conclusion: “Vetvi” stands for mysticism and reverie; an album leading the listener into an imaginary world of forgotten myths and fairy tales.
Best songs: “Salamelka”, “Vetvi – English Version”, “Belly Gorod”, “Veter feat. Namgar”.
Rate: 8.
Listen to “Vetvi”:
Artist: https://theodorbastard.com / www.facebook.com/TheodorBastard
Label: www.season-of-mist.com / www.facebook.com/seasonofmistofficial
About Theodor Bastard
Theodor Bastard comes from St Petersburg, Russia. The name is the English rendering of Fedor Svolotch, the solo project Fedor Svolotch started in 1995 before turning it into a full band in 1999 with singer, flautist and percussionist Yana Veva and with Alexey ‘Kusas’ Kurasov on drum programming, percussion and wind instruments. The band’s Bandcamp page now lists the Republic of Karelia as its location.
The group moved from experimental electronics and post-industrial towards darkwave and trip hop, then towards world music and a Nordic folk sound. Albums include “Agorafobia” (2000), “BossaNova_Trip” (2002), “Pustota” (2004), “Sueta” (2006), “Oikoumene” (2012), “Vetvi” (2015), “Serp” and “Utopia” (2017), “Kolodec” (2018) and “Volch’ya Yagoda” (2020). Their records have been issued in Russia, Germany, Turkey, Mexico and Argentina.
Season Of Mist put out the “Vetvi” reissue on January 21, 2022, with artwork by Elia Mervi and eleven tracks, among them a newly recorded English version of the title song and “Veter” with Namgar. The label followed with the singles “The Show Must Go On” and “Zveroboy” later in 2022.
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