ROMUVOS: Lithuanian folk black metal at its best (interview, video)

Velnias (Lith. devil), who are You? And why are we talking not in Lithuanian?

Hails!

I was born in Vilnius, Lithuania, 1981. True name will stay unveiled at the moment. 

Is ROMUVOS (www.facebook.com/romuvos) Your first band?

When i was 14 years old, i stayed at home cause i was sick, it was winter and the rain was dropping outside. I started to watch my video recordings of a program in the MTV channel called "into the pit", was a great year for metal heads all over the world, MTV plays black metal (BM)/death/brutal etc. Suddenly Cradle Of Filth clip was on: "The Forest Whispers My Name", i have watched this clip like 20 times, trying to understand what’s going on there, i was amazed by the atmosphere they have created in the song and the video clip, dressed like vampires. As i was mostly attracted to the keyboard player because maybe i thought that the keyboards were responsible for the atmosphere, i started to dream being a keyboard player. I got my first keyboard from a friend, it was so poor hehe old and childish Casio keyboard and we started a BM band with few friends. Many things have changed since than, many bands i played with, none of them got to release anything, till this day as Romuvos my one man band project.

The first band i played at was BM band, it was around 1995, it was such a great period of time for the BM scene and the metal scene in general. If i remember it correctly we called ourself Crimation. I was the keyboard player and it was like melodic BM band inspired by the great Cradle Of Filth album: The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh.

Where did You play as ROMUVOS already?

I haven’t played in any festival, once i had this band call Dismal Empire, we played in a so called big event in metal club at Tel Aviv, Israel, was sucks but i got to play The Forest Whispers My Name, closed a circle with myself, till the best part though, cause at the moment there was an electricity failure hehe so all was shut.

Your first album is wonderful! Are You planning a new album?

I play only at my studio at the moment, working on the 2nd album which i plan to release this year. It will be like continuation of the first one. 

Which bands, except Cradle Of Filth, and other art forms inspired You?

Well those are the bands that have made a big influence on my music style: Bathory, Sumonning, Falkenbach, Kampfar, Heidevolk, Satyricon, Enslaved, Mortiis, Arckanum, Arcturus, Diabolical Masquerade, Emperor, Mayhem, Rotting Christ..... There are few not metal bands from Lihuania and Latvia like Ugniavijas, Auļi...

Cinema: few films have made a big impression on me, films like: Forrest Gamp, Pet Sematary (the first), A Clockwork Orange, The 13th Warrior, and now we can add the Lord Of The Rings and the Hobbit movies as well- realy like those!

Actors that i realy admire are: Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt. Musicians: Sakis Tolis (Rotting Christ vocalist), Mortis.

There was a time when i was listening to experimental music, i learned about the freedom in expressing yourself as a musician and an artist in general, it was good for my musical freedom expression and as well for finding that the borders of the musical world are far from being revealed in the main music genres. I think that there is a great artistic issues that can be expressed by a combination of theatre or video art and music altogether, and it doesn’t matter where, it can be in Lithuania or any other country as well.

Thank You!

Many hails my friend! Thank you for you interest in my little world and music,

Bio:

Romuvos is a one man band, Folk Metal music from the baltic area, romuva means reviving the religious practices and pagan traditions of the Lithuanians and baltic people before their Christianization. Velnias the man who stands behind Romuvos was
born in Lithuania, he expresses his love for ancient days of knighthood and pagan tales throughout his music. The debut album Romuvan Dainas was released at april 2014 under the wings of No Colours Record from Germany. Since, the album is getting great reviews in Zins and forums. The album's graphic design is decorated by Velnias' paintings, drawn and inspired by the music itself, thus gives the album full attachment between the music the lyrics and the graphics on the cover of the album. Melodic yet heavy and rich atmospheric music accompanied by classic guitars and harmonic folk instruments, this album takes you to the far landscapes of time long gone, and speak the tales and traditions of the Baltic culture. These days Velnias is working on the next album and the quest for pagan days and heroic tales goes on and on....

Tracklist:

1    Under The Glaciers Of The Baltjos    07:04
2    Beyond Tthe Gates Of Ouroboros    07:47
3    Thy Glory And Might Thus We Shall Stand    06:59
4    Poems For The Dead    07:11
5    Sailing Far Away From The Shores Of Men    06:29
6    Inside The Lake    04:02
7    Eglė - The Queen Of Serpents    04:07
8    Romuvos Dainas