Theodor Bastard return with first new song in five years

For three decades, THEODOR BASTARD have bridged the traditions of the old world with the new. Now, five years removed from their last full-length journey, the Karelian pioneers of electro-folk are beginning a new venture that reconnects with their earliest roots.

Today, Theodor Bastard are releasing their first single in five years. While written specifically for the award-winning Russian crime drama The Method, “Nebo” offers an initial glimpse at the band’s upcoming ninth studio album. Yana Veva’s vocals continue to twirl with the fragility of snow, but the way the song’s beat rolls like smog recalls their early electronic experiments with World Music.

“We leaned on analog synthesizers, most notably the Soviet-era Polivoks and modern Arturia MiniBrute”, says Theodor Bastard’s founding member Fedor Svolotch. “Our recent albums have focused more on acoustic and ethnically-inflected textures. Returning to analog gear felt like coming home to a language we missed”.

Stream “Nebo” on all platforms: https://theodorbastard.fanlink.tv/Nebo

Theodor Bastard were commissioned to write “Nebo” for the third season of The Method, which premiered on Kinopoisk last Friday, December 12. The song plays during the show’s end credits and will soundtrack one of its pivotal scenes.

Theodore Bastard’s latest album Volch’Ya Yagoda, along with the recently reissued Vetvi and Oikoumene, are available now through Season of Mist.

Order: https://redirect.season-of-mist.com/theodorbastard

THEODOR BASTARD take listeners to unexplored and other worlds. From the cold and twilight realms of the marshy swamps of taiga and mossy tundra, to unexplored places where the earthly plane and the spiritual world are separated only by a thin ghostly veil. For over twenty years Theodor Bastard have been known for their amazingly serious attitude to the world beyond that very frontier.

Theodor Bastard is one of Russia’s most unusual bands representing the electronic Karelian neofolk genre. Also elements of dark wave and trip hop are present in the band’s music. The message doesn’t carry out everyday problems and is mainly focused on mythology and shamanism. The hallmarks of the band are the unique and bewitching lead vocals of multi-talent Yana Veva and the impeccable sound producing skills of Fedor Svolotch, founder of the band who created the band 20 years ago.

From album to album, Theodor Bastard carefully and masterly combine many different exotic and traditional instruments. The special northern atmosphere of their albums is created with Nordic nyckelharpa and jouhikko, primeval flutes created from tree roots and shamanic percussion.

“We live in the north of Russia in Karelia, which has a difficult fate” states band leader Fedor Svolotch. He continues: “This is a harsh northern region with unpredictable nature, with spruce and pine forests. Bears are found here. Moose and hare come straight to my house. In Karelia there are beautiful cliffs and clear lakes with fresh water. These are our personal places of power, the places where stones and winds are talking to us. Singing for us a songs of the northern harsh nature”.

Theodor Bastard consists of seven musicians, turning their performances into a dark magic act that sends the audience back to Northern musical traditions, to the Karelian and the Russian folk. The musicians use a lot of electronic devices, ethnic instruments and hand-made instruments from stones, human bone and the roots of Karelian birch.

In addition to their eight studio albums, Theodor Bastard have composed soundtracks for the dark horror video game “Pathologic 2” and “Life is Feudal: MMO”. They have performed at Castlefest, Dark Bombastic Evening and other major European festivals and have received two prestigious Russian music awards: The Golden Gargoyle, as the best Russian band in the World Music genre, and the Russian World Music Award for their contribution to the development of ethno-music.

Their latest single, “Nebo”, appeared in a key scene during the third season of the Russian crime drama The Method. It will also appear on the band’s upcoming ninth album.

“Nebo” Recording Line-up:
Alexander Starostin (Fedor Svolotch) — Synths, Guitars, Drum and Synth Programming, Sound Design
Yana Veva — Vocals, Synths

Full Line-up:
Fedor Svolotch — Dulcimer, Samplers, Vocals
Yana Veva — Vocals, Bawu, Ocarina
Alexey Kalinovskiy — Keyboards
Andy Vladich — Drums
Kusas — Percussions, Winds
Slava Salikov — Cello Morin Khuur
Ekaterina Dolmatova — Backing Vocals

Production Credits:
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at Theo Studio.
Produced, mixed & mastered by Fedor Svolotch.