Ведьма

One online wag of a reviewer once cracked wise, if memory serves, to the effect that the Finnish doom band Курск makes better Russian metal than the Russians do. Now, as excellent music as Курск make – and they do indeed make some fine music – this sentiment is clearly an exaggeration not to be taken at face value. Having said that, turnabout is fair play. One might as well exaggerate to the effect that this Russian band from Moscow, Kalevala [Калевала], makes better Finnish folk metal than the Finns do.

Well. I use ‘Finnish’ in a fairly broad sense here. The Finnic-Ugric ethnic groups of which Finnish is one include the Sápmi, Karjala, Mari and Mordvin peoples – all of whom live within the modern borders of Russia. Even though all of the band members hail from Moscow or near Moscow, evidently one or two of the band members cherish Mari or Sámi ancestry, and that works its way into their songwriting.

For those not familiar with Kalevala, their style is much more in line with bands like Korpiklaani – sort of on the ‘party music’, ‘drinking music’ or ‘tavern music’ side of the Finnish folk metal scene – than on the black-folk style of Finntroll or Moonsorrow (or Arkona). Even though most of the band regulars have experience playing extreme metal in black and doom genres (and this occasionally does show through), Kalevala is clearly a very different project for them. They have a sensibility which is clearly influenced by speed metal and thrash metal, though they take it in a very different direction than do, say, Skyclad. The influences on Kalevala from bands like Motörhead and Anthrax are there and noticeable on Ведьма, but the choice of instrumentation and melodies and cadence of their songs, draw much more heavily from folk-rock or just straight-up Russian folk bands like Mel’nitsa [Мельница], Veter Vody [Ветер Воды] and even Otava Yo [Отава Ё]. Otava Yo in particular, with their light-hearted and upbeat melodies, polka-inflected accordion and expressive range, seem to have a certain resonance with the tenor and vernacular of Kalevala here.

Their third album, Ведьма (that is, Witch) is one of my favourites of theirs – an old familiar friend in the queue together with Чекајуци Есхатон since my days living in China. It’s not quite as flat-out speedy as their earlier albums, taking things at a bit more of a relaxed pace – though that’s not to say they can’t hit hard and fast when needed, particularly on the title track and the polka-thrashy ‘Таусень-рада’, or put out happy party-rock tunes like ‘Больше нечего терять!’ and ‘Ладушка’. But the album really puts the emphasis down on the slower-paced tracks: ‘Воротись домой’; ‘Сварожья ночь’; ‘Долгой дорогой’. The lonesome, tearful melancholy of the third track; the bewitching pearlescent melody of the fifth track, suggesting almost a picturesque meander along a lightly-wooded riverside; and the meandering backwoods vistas of the final track tend to be the landmarks on the album. Even the stately ‘Вода-река’ commands our attention with its archaic-Slavonic spell-weaving between vocals and guitar, despite not being a cruiser tempo-wise.

Of course, the additions of mouth-harp, bagpipes and recorder into the mix provide the garnish, but the two instruments that make the whole Ведьма folk-remedy work its magick are Alex Oleinikov’s pump hand on the accordion and Kseniya Markevich’s commanding vocals – capable of honey-sweetness, bitter mourning or the mesmeric power of the call of the rusalka. The style is not extreme metal, but it will suck you in and captivate you if you allow it to. If you haven’t put on anything by Kalevala yet, this is probably a good album to start with.

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