Band

A Pride, that is higher than silver pines,
Gives a boldness in the battle,
Hero’s power is not in sharp hatchets-
But is in their truth’s belief!

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.

Tverd Band was created at the beginning of 2007, after the freezing a musical activity of Slavic Pagan Metal Band called Pagan Reign from Tver city (To that moment Pagan Reign had become cultist both in Russia as well as abroad.

In January of 2007 after numerous unsucessfull negotiations with Orey (one of the band founders), Vetrodar came to decision about a creation of a new band: «It was the winter evening in the January of 2007, 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.

«One cannot fight single-handed», so 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.

«I remember, when I was in high school, my relatives found me gathering up my first guitar Les Poul from Epiphone during my sleep. That time (1997 year) I didn’t have any guitar combo , and I reached „overloadings“ by switching my guitar in amplifier of bobbin tape-recorder and turning for overloading. So I had to hit my strings rather heavily. And to my real surprise I got a success playing riffs and sole parts from the first album of Metallica — „Kill’em All“. Thanks to such experience I have learned to play the guitar professionally.»

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 farther, very talented and experienced musician, became such fighting grenadier.

With such stuff Tverd made the first fotosession and 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. So, 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.

In 20th December 2007 the initial band stuff played the first concert in Mocsow with next bands: Znych, Menhir and Svarga.

There were recorded drums and guitar parts for the debute album to the end of 2007. The idea of classical vocal presence in the music had been already discussed for a long time.

There was one right way to invite Vetrodar’s old friend Svetlana Lebedeva who is the Tver State University’s folkloric-ethnographic ensemble’s leader called the «Slavyanochka». Svetlana is the experienced folkloric singer, she organized many expeditions to interesting backcountry districts of Tver region for recording old folk songs from native speakers to the dictaphone. That’s why she knows about Russian folk singing excellently. And fortunately she had be able to participate in our new experimental project.

One of the future album’s composition «Bogatyr’s Gate» was built as some metal folk-opera with very complicated harmonic and melodic structure .That’s why such vocal parts would be performed by person with academic knowledge and skills. Occasionally Ratibor has a friend Alexander Ivanov, who is a graduate Gnesin’s school (vocal class), «Tver gold voice» and TVERD found the tenor. 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. The real success was a combination Alexander’s vocal parts and Svetlana’ folk vocal techniques for many fragments.

By the end of April 2008 the work at new album «Follow the Sun’s Way» was finished. Initially Tverd cooperates with Sound Age Production Company, that had financed the album’s recording (partially), but further some aspects of Company’s working forced Vetrodar to seak for other publishing companies to release the album. The demo (one of the album song’s premix) had been sent to different companies, the positive answers was got from many leading Russian labels and Tverd had chosen the «CD-Maximum» Publishing Company (by the way, it’s workhadn’t been an ideal as well).