MySpace a place for friends

TVERD — "Follow the sun’s way" (2008)

Track list:

1. Wolf &Gyrfalcon
2. The spring
3. Wide Maslenitsa
4. The Motherland’s heart
5. …Under the sun’s magic arrows
6. When the steel is being broken…
7. A falcon is over Rus
8. To the foreign land…
9. Epic metal cantata "The Bogatyr’s gates"
10. Russian land’s sorrow (Kalinov’s bridge)

There were used authentic instruments of Rus and Medieval Europe during material’s record: pipes, flutes, reeds, whistles, zhaleyka, domra, mandolin and authentic percussion.
DJ Sipuka & DJ Bolt took participate in the record of Russian land’s sorrow (Kalinov’s bridge) track’s electronic part.

The band’s founder is Vetrodar, famous Russian band’s Pagan Reign main composer and musician. Pagan Reign doesn’t play nowadays. Tverd develops previous formation’s line by natural way. The Spirit evoked in previous albums is also continued, with the musicians, who reconstruct the atmosphere of ancient times in Rus and Europe and display their deep regard for their nation, history, culture and native slavonic beliefs.

Recorded at Day-studio(Moscow) and Tverd-Studio (Tver), Russia
November 2007 — April 2008.
Produced by Evgeny Vinogradov & Tverd
Engineered by Evgeny Vinogradov, Vetrodar
Mixed & Mastered by — Evgeny Vinogradov at Day-studio hut.

Artworks & Illustrations by Natalie Rustikova , Alexander Levkin, Erwin Max;
Band Logo by Alexander Levkin & Erwin Max (tracing).
Design & layout by Max Erwin at Insight studio (www.design-saytov.ru)
Band foto by Erwin, Anton & Vladislav
National costumes and accoutrements were given by Tver military-historic
clubs “Alatyr”, “Druzhina” and by “Slavyanochka” folkloric ensemble.

Band history:

In the Svarog’s fire’s crucible to the ends of the morning dawn exposed by hammer, burning hot by the heavenly smithy’s fur and hardened by heavenly natural water TVERD was born in order to be an indestructible bearing, preeverlasting law of universal worlds.

It was January 2007, when Vetrodar (the main composer and musician of Russian metal band PAGAN REIGN) having given the answer to Perun made the decision about a new “bodyguard’s” creation. Russian frost ruled over Tver’s land whereas clarity and freshness from overflowed new ideas and goals ruled over the mind. To that moment Vetrodar have already had rather many new musical ideas, but more important, huge energy, required way out and realization. In PAGAN REIGN Vetrodar led the main guitar line and all parts of folkloric instruments, accordingly, this good tradition had been prolonged in TVERD. Besides Vetrodar became responsible for all scream’s parts.

Having thought not rather long he got down to business. And the first person, entered this new formation Ratibor became, Vetrodar’s good friend and comrade. Ratibor took the play of a second guitarist in the band, and once he showed heavy guitar’s riffs’ technical peculiarities to Vetrodar, and had provoked him for sleepless nights playing the guitar. So they began to work at future album together and thought over the general conception and strategic plans on future. The key figure and professional Tver drummer Demosten, a drumsticks’ magician stayed in the band as well. Then a bass-guitarist had been found by the simplest way: Sigurd, Vetrodar’s father, very talented and experienced musician, became such fighting grenadier. The idea of classical vocal presence in the music had been already discussed for a long time. So…Vetrodar and Ratibor offered Svetlana Lebedeva, Tver State University’s folkloric-ethnographic ensemble’s leader to take the vocal part, so she couldn’t refuse… One of the future album’s composition “Bogatyr’s Gate” was built as some metal folk opera, comrades began to search such singer as far as opera singers sing opera. And as it is usual in Russia, personal links decide almost everything: TVERD found such man, graduate Gnesin’s school (vocal class), “Tver gold voice”, Ratibor’s wife’s colleague, his name is Alexander Ivanov. Further during the work at the album it had become obvious that Alexander’s academic vocal can be used in other compositions rather successfully, and in fact, it was a real surprise for tenor himself.

So, at the end of November 2007 the band began to work at new album that has draft’s calling “The native land’s heart”. Gradually the question with band’s own studio, now called TVERD, had been escaped.

It should be mentioned that some musical parts were recording by good Vetrodar’s familiar Evgeny Vinogradov at the “DAY Records” studio and he did the album’s settling and mastering as well. And by the end of April 2008 the work at new album was finished.

Video