Theodor Bastard Announce New Album ▽
Архив новостей | Русская версия
While they've remained relatively silent over the past six years, THEODOR BASTARD refuse to stay still. Amidst the shadows of the pandemic, war and invasive technology, the world music pioneers have been searching for a way out of the darkness that's descended over our reality. The path they discovered on their upcoming album didn't lead back to their home in the forest of Karelia, but away from it, into the coldness of the city, a collapsing civilization, and ultimately, rebirth. Today, Theodor Bastard announce ▽ through Season of Mist, alongside a music video for lead single "Sverkay," out now. The album follows on November 13, 2026.
Watch Sverkay here.
▽ reflects just how much has changed since the world last heard from Theodor Bastard in April 2020. While the band are still recognized internationally for blending ritual folk, electronics and world music, on their new album they've re-embraced their early electronic impulses because that's now how modern life feels: cold, sharp, tense. Long-time fans were pleasantly surprised late last year when the pulse-pounding analog synths of "Nebo" first appeared in the award-winning Russian crime drama The Method. But the latest single from ▽ is a giant leap from the softer, more earthly textures of the band's recent studio ventures. Like a spaceship, "Sverkay" rumbles with distorted bass before it's suspended high above the earth by a trap-like beat. "Вдох - выдох (Inhale – Exhale)," sings vocalist Yana Veva as she glimpses what's to come from our dangerous endgame with war, technology and social division.
The album features guest contributions from harpist Christine Kazarian, bassist Eli H, drummer Vyacheslav Nikiforov, flautist and backing vocalist Maria Starostina, guitarist Maxim Kostyunin, and Gale Dorothy on vocals for opening track "Molnii i Svist."
▽ was produced by Fedor Svolotch, recorded at Theo Records. The album was mixed by Fedor Svolotch and mastered by Boris Istomin at Knob Studio. Cover artwork is by Fedor Svolotch, layout by Yana Veva & Fedor Svolotch, with photography by Dmitry Kazakov.
Theodor Bastard state: "This album might never have happened. So much has surrounded us during recent years: the pandemic, war, division, fear, anxiety over technology, and a sense that reality itself is becoming darker and more unstable. We have felt so much anger, pain, confusion and disappointment both in ourselves and in the world around us. All these emotions were gathering inside us, changing, darkening, searching for a form, until they eventually transformed into the unexpected on ▽."
Tracklist:
1. Molnii i Svist (00:48)
2. Vedma (4:24)
3. Nebo (4:33)
4. Kaplya Rosi (2:46)
5. Zveroboy (6:16)
6. Dusha (4:33)
7. Ditya (5:42)
8. Ostavlyaem (3:45)
9. Sverkay (3:25)
10. Vremya (4:36)
“Our sound changed because the world changed”, producer, multi-instrumentalist and founding member Fedor Svolotch says. “We had to destroy our own habits and expectations to make ▽. We wanted to start again, as if the band has no past, no safe place, no ready-made formula. As a result, this album is not a continuation of what came before. It’s a different door”.
Svolotch founded Theodor Bastard in 1995. What started as a solo project grew during the 2000s into what’s now a seven-member band that includes vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Yana Veva, keyboardist Alexey Kalinovskiy, drummer Andy Vladych, vocalist Ekaterina Dolmatova, percussionist Kusas and cellist Vyacheslav Salikov. Blending the lines between ritual folk, electronic and world music has gained them international recognition. They’ve toured and performed at major festivals across Europe, including Fusion, Castlefest and Dark Bombastic Evening.
