Artist description This band will blow away all competition in the symphonic black metal arena. If you were to take all the best parts of Cradle of Filth, Bal-Sagoth and Dimmu Borgir and throw them together then you can imagine how Tvangeste sound. The musical complexity and song writing intelligence is simply breathtaking with excellent orchestrated keyboards weaving in and out of the guitars and varied vocals (screams, growls, spoken, male and female).

Music Style Sorrowful and ethereal symphonic black metal with violin, chello, flutes

Musical Influences Cradle of Filth, Children of Bodom, Classical music and motion picture soundtracks

Similar Artists Tvangeste is unique and difficult to describe, but mix the speed from Children of Bodom, the complexity of classical music and the drama from soundtracks, and you'll have it!

Artist History Guitarist and vocalist, Miron, advertised for a group creation. Thus resulted in foundation of TVANGESTE in August 1996. The long path of search ended ultimately in May 1998, whence TVANGESTE was finally complete, consisting of; Miron - guitars and vocals, Nicholas (ex-OBSESSION) - guitars. Thence the grandest enigma was finding a guitar player in the city of Kaliningrad, capable of combing both the storm speed and melodic minds. With the arrival of Nicholas fulfilling his rhythmical part of TVANGESTE, the music achieved a higher level of beauty. In the autumn of 1998 Victoria joined the band on keyboards. From her days of yore, Victoria played in DIS PATER (doom) and ROMOWE RIKOITO (gothic). With her professional musical experience, TVANGESTE achieved a higher plateau, thus swathing the arrangements in a scourge of emotional and plaintive veil. Vanoe joined the band on basses after a long time without any. This young, energetic and talented guitar player bore a vital name in his days of DIVERSION (death). In the beginning of 1998 the debut single 'Blood Dreams' and the demo 'Thinking...' were written down at two studios, DG Sound and Brudenia Rec. This first recording experience gave TVANGESTE good responses and reviews in the Russia and CIS countries. At this time we decided that the often concerts was not necessary for TVANGESTE. Thereafter our promotional work began; in the spring of 1998 our manager met the director of 'APOSTROPHE' - the official Russian representative of CENTURY MEDIA) - who offered us a production and release of DAMNATION OF REGIOMONTUM, included abroad distribution. Cradle Of Filth invited TVANGESTE to take part in a September gig in Moscow with this celebrated band. However, the August crisis in Russia brought the black line in history of TVANGESTE; production was temporarily refused on uncertain terms. In January 2000 we finished the half year of work with our debut album DAMNATION OF REGIOMONTUM; a full size 50 minutes album containing 5 beautiful, emotional and atmospherical tracks. Grand art with classical instrumentation, seductive and enraptured female chants, everything in perfect harmonisation of aggressive, speed guitars. This album has sold more than 5.000 copies in Russland, Ukraine and Belarus. Many Russian magazines, radios, and record companies find Tvangeste to be best black metal band in year 2000. We have received many letters from all over the world with nice words about our music. 10th December year 2000 TVANGESTE has signed at Valgalder Records for full distribution of 'Damnation of Regiomontum', in addition to release a full-length album. This material is soon finished; a 60 minutes long symphonical masterpiece featuring KALININGRAD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA together with a local church choir. This album is to be recorded at Selani Studio in Poland, earlier known for great work such as CHRIST AGONY, BEHEMOTH and LUX OCCULTA. TVANGESTE stands for ever unyielding beneath the banners of true Russian black metal. Michael Chirva's wife, Naturelle, does now develop the soundscape of Tvangeste with her additional synth instrumentations. Naturelle's astonishing technique represents the disharmonical side of the band with dark, obscure fairness. Tvangeste has gained a higher level of atmosphere and beauty. Roman has joined Tvangeste as their new permanent drummer.

Group Members Michael Chirva - vocals, guitars Nikolay Kazmin - guitars Victoria Koulbachnaia - keyboards, flutes Naturelle Chirva - keyboards Vano Maioroff - basses Roman - drums

Instruments Drums, Basses, Double Guitars, Double Synths and pianos, flutes, chello, violins, and orchestra instruments

Albums Damnation of Regiomontum

Press Reviews Live4Metal.com (Album of the Month!): "Their album "Damnation Of Regiomontum" is one of the best debuts I've heard in years. Although they fit nicely into the Black Metal genre, there is so much more to their music. With only 5 tracks and a running time of over 50 minutes, there is always a chance the listener will get bored with long drawn out tracks. Thankfully that doesn't happen here. All the tracks are thoughtfully constructed with plenty of time changes and various influences on show. Symphonic Black Metal merges with gothic/doom segments and even twin guitar harmonies a la Iron Maiden. The vocals range from uniform Black Metal to a more aggressive style that reminded me of Wotans Return from the In The Woods debut Heart Of The Ages. The much maligned (but a favourite of mine) combination of female vocals, violins and keyboards add the all important atmospherics. The female vocals are provided by Olaa who gets a credit as a guest member. Whoever she is, she has the most amazing Operatic voice I've ever heard. I hope she appears on the next Tvangeste album which is to be recorded in the Autumn. No album is perfect, but I don't have a single criticism to make about this one. As I've said before. "One of the best ever debut albums". I'm guessing that Tvangeste are largely unknown around the world, but in Russia and Ukraine and Belarus they've shifted over 5,000 cds and have been recognized as one of the best Black Metal bands of recent years. They've also managed to play with Cradle Of Filth in Moscow. I hope the rest of Europe discovers this band as they deserve to go all the way. Thanks to the internet any band has the chance to be heard due to MP3 files. Go to the Valgalder site and start downloading the sample tracks, give them a listen and then buy the album." Golden Lake Magazine (91/100): "Hailed as the best band in Russia and with over 5000 copies of this album already sold in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, I was expecting big things from this band. And to say that I was suitably impressed on 1st listen would be a major understatement. This band will blow away all competition in the symphonic black metal arena. If you were to take all the best parts of Cradle of Filth, Bal-Sagoth and Dimmu Borgir and throw them together then you can imagine how Tvangeste sound. The musical complexity and song writing intelligence is simply breathtaking with excellent orchestrated keyboards weaving in and out of the guitars and varied vocals (screams, growls, spoken, male and female). I was hooked from start to finish as I was mesmerised by the rich musical textures caressing my eardrums. The production is top notch as well, therefore, accentuating the elegant prowess of this band. This is one of those albums that sounds better and better with each listen and you’ll hear something different each time. All Hail Tvangeste!! (Fraser)" DigitalMetal.com: "Tvangeste was formed in 1996 and the line-up was complete some two years later in 1998. They call their music 'True Prussian Black Metal.' Damnation of Regiomontum is their debut. It is quite professional and polished for a first recording. Before I get into the music, some background is necessary. Who are/were the Prussians? Prussia was a former Germanic kingdom near the Baltic Sea. The name of the band, Tvangeste, was a small Prussian town destroyed by Christians in 1255. They built their castle on the ashes of this proud nation and renamed the town Koenigsberg, and it was German territory up to 1945 when the Soviet army seized the city and forcefully depopulated the Germans. The Russians renamed the city Kaliningrad, which is the band's home. They categorize themselves as heathen, saying they are not satanists, they believe in people as 'Great Nature's Creations.' One other thing to clear up before the musical discussion, that is not a swastika on the cover. The band says, 'We are not nazis - it's not a swastika - the symbol we use in our logo is a pagan Russian and Prussian symbol it means sky...there you can see clouds, heaven circle and sun symbol.' Musically, there are black metal vocals, Scandinavian melodic death aspects, keyboards, violins, female vocals... It's all here, but before you say it's been done to death, let me say that it's been done with mediocre results by many bands. Tvangeste does it with style, great musicianship and good songwriting. The violins and cellos are not added because it's expected of this style of metal, but because it fits within the structures of the songs. It is also a minor part of the disc, which is a strength for not being overdone. Female vocals are the same, not done as a gimmick, used sparingly, and to great effect when they are used. Before going further, let me give some musical background. Keyboardist Victoria, who also plays piano, has a background in doom and gothic, and bassist Vano comes from a death metal band. The release from the record label says, "5 beautiful, emotional and atmospherical tracks. Grand art with classical instrumentation, seductive and enraptured female chants, everything in perfect harmonization of aggressive, speed guitars." Do they live up to this lofty praise? Almost. Miron has excellent range to his voice, always grim, but changing his delivery to suit the music beneath him. He does an 'evil' screech style reminiscent of Enslaved, and a low snarling growl with a bit of a sneer to it; not so guttural as to be death metal style, and a higher pitched growl/shriek combo halfway between that is more typical black metal. Vano adds a deep haunting chanting spoken voice. The title track has a nice duet with the grim vocals and lofty female vocals singing together for several minutes. The pace of the music is slow with intricate guitars with many faster and slower sections within songs. The keyboards never overwhelm the other instruments but are not mere accent pieces. Many bands use effects to imitate classical instruments, Tvangeste uses the real thing. Cello and violin passages are memorable flourishes that add to the majestic feel. They are Russian but all lyrics are in English. Grammar is problematical but the scope of ideas is impressive. While many black metal bands are content to spew anti-Christian sentiments, some go further by writing about their pagan beliefs in a more positive approach. Though Tvangeste are obviously anti-Christian, their message is one of religious and cultural tolerance. Miron says, "We don't hate any nation but we want respect for our native Russian culture." He says Prussian culture has been assimilated into Russian culture, Prussia has died. The lyrics are lengthy. Here are some excerpts: From Nameless Oracle; "what's the point of freedom and power? Are you ready to lose? What's the point of honor and bravery? Are you ready to die?" The only shortcoming of this album is a lack of intensity. Some blastbeats during up tempo parts or just a bit more aggression to match the vocals would add to its effectiveness. This album is highly recommended for fans of intelligent music. There are many bands that sound like parts of this album, or if you prefer, this band shares traits with many others, but Tvangeste is the complete package lyrically and musically. Mature, talented songwriters, Tvangeste deserve your support - you will not be disappointed. [Grimulf]" The Metal Reviews Archive (5.5/6): "'Damnation Of Regiomontum' is the debut of the Russian black metal act Tvangeste. After having sold 5.000 copies of it in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, they've signed with Norwegian record label Valgalder, who are releasing the album all over the world. What kind of black metal then, symphonic? yes, but not like all the other bands. Tvangeste plays mid-tempo metal with synths, black screech vocals and female opera vocals, but they have their very own sound ... The guitarplaying varies from catchy rhythmic riffs to melodic tremolo picking and beautiful solos. The synths take place in intros and outros, and on the pieces where it's used in the music it's mostly mixed just below or on the same level as the guitars, seldomly dominating. It adds another layer of melody and beauty to the music with its piano, organ, various atmospheric pads and majestic pieces. The band also uses real violins and cellos, but mostly for intros. Vocally, there are grim black screeches that fit well into the sound of Tvangeste, as well as female opera vocals. These sound very professional and are used in appropriate doses through the album. The compositions of 'Damnation Of Regiomontum' are as mentioned all mid-tempo. This could be considered as a bad point, but actually it works out pretty good because of the variation and complexity of the songs. There are no songs here shorter than 8 minutes, and the longest lasts for 13 minutes, but fortunately Tvangeste are skilled songwriters. A catchy song of rhythmic straight-forward riffs might fade over into a beautiful solo, and then again over to an atmospheric piece with female vocals and melodic guitars, then back to catchy straight-forward riffs again. It doesn't even sound like interludes (although there are a few interludes here too), the music flows naturally through different phases. 'Damnation Of Regiomontum' shows a band of skilled musicians with good songwriting abilities. It is, no doubt, a strong album, but although the variation is good, it gets a bit alike towards the end of the album. There are no weak songs, here, but Tvangeste seem to repeat the same ideas a bit too many times. A surprise or two on the last couple of songs wouldn't hurt. Still: This is one hell of an album!" Arising Realm Magazine (9.5/10): "Russland gehört für mich zum weißen Fleck auf meiner ganz persönlichen Hartmetallischen Landkarte. Bis auf ein paar Demos, die ich von ein paar lokalen Underground-Bands erhielt, bekam ich bis heute nichts Brauchbares zugeschickt. Tvangeste versuchen nun mich vom Gegenteil zu überzeugen, was ihnen mit einem Hammeralbum wie „Damnation Of Regiomontum" nur allzu leicht fallen dürfte. Das besondere an dieser herausragenden Formation ist die Tatsache, das Tvangeste absolut nicht „östlich" klingen. Deren Mischung aus midtempolastigem Dark Metal mit Black- und Doom-Anleihen wird dermaßen tight vorgetragen, dass man annehmen könnte, die Jungs und das Mädel wären schon ewig im Musikgeschäft. Das ist im Grund auch gar nicht verwunderlich, die Band wurde Mitte ´96 gegründet. Zudem ist Tvangeste nicht deren erste Band, sondern alle waren schon vorher in einigen anderen Bands beschäftigt. „Damnation Of Regiomontum" strotzt nur so vor Spielwitz und musikalischer Raffinesse. Obwohl alle Songs Überlänge besitzen schaffen unsere russischen Freunde das Unmögliche und halten selbst bei einer Spieldauer von knapp 12 Minuten die Spannung hoch. Leider, und das kostet die restlichen zwei Punkte, besitzt dieses Juwel „nur" 5 Songs (von knapp einer Stunde Spielzeit), zudem fällt der Sound stark ab, weshalb der Band viel an Power verloren geht. Nicht auszudenken, wie gut „DOR" mit einer professionelleren Produktion klingen würde. Von den Russen wird man in Zukunft bestimmt noch hören. Für „DOR" besteht absolute Kaufpflicht! Außerdem kann man auf deren Website die gesamte Platte downloaden, riskiert einen Blick auf www.tvangeste.com. (mf)" Edge of Time Magazine (4/5): "Geography often adds its touch to the music, and bands coming from regions that are relatively unknown in metal often show bigger hearts than their counterparts from everyday metal places. Tvangeste are one of the few -- if not the only -- black metal bands from Kaliningrad, Russia, and their debut album is dedicated to their ancient land Prussia, which doesn't exist anymore. While Tvangeste, unlike many ex-USSR dark metal bands, do not incorporate folk influences into their music, their black metal does not sound like a second-rate copy of Cradle of Filth or Dimmu Borgir. Tvangeste do not have riffs as intense as the later works of the mentioned bands, but they convey more feel with their music. Songs definitely tend to the epic side (the albums lasts 50 minutes but contains only 5 songs) and are more melodic than aggressive; keyboards, pianos, violins are used but not overused. "Damnation of Regiomontum" doesn't knock you down, and it leaves a lot of room for the band where to go in the future, but it is a well-prepared and finished piece of work, as well as a good black-metal artifact. (GS)" Tartarean Desire Webzine (8/10): "Luckily all black metal bands of today don't follow the same old path of play-as-fast-as-you-can and the be-as-evil-as-possible concept. Tvangeste is a Russian band who has dared to cross the borders and create interesting black metal with a different sound. They still have the raspy vocals and the pounding drum machine but in addition they also have female soprano vocals, cellos, violins, symphonic keyboards and beautiful pianos. Most of the music is not as fast as most black metal bands and there are plenty of slower passages with nice melodic work and spoken verse. They do have clear influences from Cradle Of Filth but I don't think they have tried to copy their sound, at least they don't sound like a CoF clone. It's hard to describe the Tvangeste sound because they are not simply a black metal band (if you care to look beyond the vocals that is...). Their music is kind of like a mix of doom and black metal, classical music and some Iced Earth riffing. This is one of the most interesting new black metal acts out there and I´m very curious to see what they can achieve with their next album where they will take use of a symphony orchestra and a church choir." Scream Magazine (4/6): "It's no secret that I like Russian bands. Tvangeste hails from the large culture nation in the East. Certainly interesting that the band is signed to a new Norwegian record label. Tvangeste has a twin musical identity based upon a melodic and symphonical black metal foundament. The music is dark and far from hyper-fast and this gives the melody lines of the tracks a opportunity to stretch out the music in a way that makes the album a good and vary listening experience. The vocalist of the band reminds me of the American band called Agalloch and suits the musical expretions very well. Exceptionally great is the female vocals of high quality opera, which will give you chills down your spine! The production may be thin in some areas, however, the entity makes it a good album from a band, which seems to have a very big potensial. Thus creates high expectations to what they will come up with on the next album." Dark Wave Radio & Newsletter (8/10): "Tvangeste is a cult band in its country, Russia due to the success of this mini CD in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus (5000 copies sold in these countries). Finally, Norway's Valgalder unleashes the same effort in the rest of the world and it is a great thing I guess. Personally, this band was unknown for me but I am really surprised by it. Playing atmospheric black-metal music influenced by Bal Sagoth, old Dimmu Borgir, old Old Man's Child and Cradle Of Filth, they use also a doom / heavy feeling to give a stronger and deeper aspects to the songs. Basically, a great CD from Russia, a great surprise with really long tracks but they aren't boring, on the contrary 'cause they are full of atmospheres." Musica Must Die Magazine (9.5/10): "This Russian band is the year's greatest newcomer. An album full of emotional and atmospheric feelings which can make you go crazy! All in all very interesting music. Slavonic symphonic Black metal swarmed with doom inspired melodies. Excellent keyboards, guitar sections, and a furious Black metal rhythm. This album includes 5 tracks and each of them is a potential hit. Many different styles of music are incorporated here with many tempo changes and guitar solos. The lyrics are in standard English but there are several Russian passages in some songs. Tvangeste has a chance to be a dominate force in the world of Black metal. We'll wait and see!"

Additional Info Thinking ... (CD Demo) + Blood Dreams (CD Single)

Location Kaliningrad, Prussia - Russia

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