Parzival

Parzival
Parzival
Genre	martial industrial , darkwave , neofolk , neoclassical , EBM
Years	1997 - present time
A country	Denmark
City	Copenhagen
From where	Russia , Denmark
Language of songs	German , Latin , Russian , Javrstra
Label	Euphonious records
Composition	Dmitry Bablevsky; Oleg Naumov; Tim ellegaard; Jens hansen; Michael Hedelain;
Other ; projects	Stiff Miners, Von Thronstahl
facebook.com/parzivalband

“Parzival” is a Russian-Danish group from Copenhagen ( Denmark ). Received its name from the work of Wolfram von Eschenbach " Parzival ".

Content

History

Dmitry Bablevsky, the frontman of the group, was engaged in music back in the 80s in the USSR , was a drummer in the group “Subbotnik”. In 1987, he creates his group, Amnesty. The group participated in the festival “Next Stop” in 1989, where it was a great success. This allowed participants to move to Denmark. There, they spent three years in local bars and rock clubs. In 1992, the group disintegrates, and Bablevsky collects a new one, “Stiff Miners”. Under this title, they release 2 albums: "Giselle" (1994) and "Vox Celesta" (1997). During this period, they are already focused on electronic music, close to the techno style. The “ Laibach ” musical group also had a very strong influence on the formation of the band’s style. Vox Celesta was well-received by many critics in the metal and industrial-experimental circles.

Soon, however, one member leaves Stiff Miners. The remaining members form the group “Parzival”, which exists and is still working today. The first album released by Parzival in 1999 was called Anathema Maranatha. The latest album, "Casta", was released in 2014. The group performs with concerts in various countries, on November 29 and 30, 2014, Parzival gave their first concerts in Russia , in St. Petersburg and Moscow, respectively. Over the course of several years, the composition of the group has changed somewhat; now there are 2 Russians and 3 Danes in it: Dmitry Bablevsky (vocal), Oleg Naumov (percussion, drums), Tim Ellegaard (bass), Jens Hansen (keys), Michael Hedelain (percussion, guitar ). Since 2014, Yulia Popova (female vocals) has appeared on stage with the band, having previously participated in recordings only.

Style

From the very beginning of their creative life, the group was focused on electronic music . The early Parzival albums are similar to Laibach . Indeed, the heavy rhythm, the harsh vocals, the experimentation of the sound creates a certain feeling of the similarity of the music, but already at an early stage, “Parzival” has original, only their inherent features. For example, the use of unusual, foreign sounds that have a symbolic meaning. Thus, in the “Malleus Maleficarum”, the whistling-steel sound of a heavy crossbow is repeated several times. In addition, the industrial - futuristic atmosphere of “ Laibach ” is absolutely not similar to the atmosphere of Christian Europe and the Islamic East , recreated by “Parzival”. In the following albums the group finally forms its unique and inimitable style. She combines neoclassical arrangements and electronic dance elements in her music. According to the members of the group, Parzival cannot ignore modernity and therefore uses the elements of dance in order to “create a kind of easily listened music.” A distinctive feature of the group is an unusually low bass of Bablevsky. As acknowledged by one of the reviewers, he was amazed by the “unearthly turbulence” of the vocalist’s voice. "He sings as low as some people can't even fall." Also, in addition to electronics, for immersion in a different culture, the group uses various old and exotic musical instruments: flutes , sitar and many others.

Text Language and Themes

The lyrics for the songs “Parzival” are written by Dmitry Bablevsky and, starting with the album “Blut Und Jordan”, and then, already more closely cooperating in “Urheimat”, Maxim Borozenets . The lyrics of most songs are written in German , Latin is also very often used. As the participants say in an interview, both of these languages are full of sacred mysticism in early and late Christianity of the Middle Ages, reflecting the formation of Western European culture. Also there are songs in Russian - A. S. Pushkin ’s verses “To the depths of Siberian ores ” (“ Erz ”), “ The Prophet ” (“ Seraph ”), excerpts from “Imitation of the Koran ” (“ Neffe ”). In Russian, excerpts from the ballad “King Gwyn” by William Blake , the famous English poet of the Romantic era, “ Cursus Polaris ”, a magnificent and monumental song about the march to the North, are sung. Especially for the last album, “Casta”, several texts were written in a language based on the theory of the Boreal Code, BORUŠYE MOLE, Borushye Mole ( Borussky ), aka Yavashtra (“yawa” is a manifestation, phenomenon, avatar; "astra" - a star, a constellation. That is, the language is called pompously as the "Constellation of Yavi", similar to the name of the Indian alphabet Devanagari "God 's Grad"). The main claim of the Boruskian language developed by Borozenets is to be a field of coordinates for the boreal worldview, transferring concepts and associative links with due completeness. Practical goals include, first of all, the creation of texts - poetry, magic formulas, mantras , to use elements of Borus in other texts, mainly artistic ones.

“Our art is comprehensible. The central theme of our music is the epic of holy war ... ”- these words characterize the band's work in the best way possible. It is not devoid of the ideas of Gnosticism , and the fact that all members of the group belong to the Order of the Eastern Templars makes it possible to assume ^{[to whom?} ^] , that the Order’s ideas influenced the participants ’worldview. Also a source of inspiration are the great philosophers, scientists and writers who "knew the truth and wisdom," spoke Latin and German. For example, Johann Valentin Andrea , Wolfram von Eschenbach , Porcelius , Christian Rosencreutz , Faust and Goethe . In the first two albums, where the atmosphere of the Middle Ages is recreated, the themes of the Crusades related to the sacred theme of the liberation of the Holy Sepulcher are raised. Jerusalem is understood here as the Holy Land , whose lyric hero yearns for. The theme of the Sacred Land (“Urheimat”) appears more than once in the texts of “Parzival”, it runs like a red thread through all their work, and being presented not only in the form of a specific place, but also in a metaphysical sense. Some texts contain descriptions of alchemical processes that also have their symbolic meaning. Also in the songs there is an appeal to the culture and traditions of different nations, in which their philosophy is expressed (“ Kali-Yuga ”, “ Zavarakatranemija ”, “ Sufism ”). This topic is most vividly expressed in the latest album, “Casta”, where the ideas of traditionalists are combined with the classical music of India .

Collaboration

Invited session session musicians participated in the recording of the album “Blut Und Jordan”, bringing more originality into the general context. The work on the album "Casta" attracted musicians from India . In turn, the members of Parzival were invited to work on the album Germanium Metallicum of the group Von Thronstahl . Dmitry Bablevsky participated in the recording of the central track of the same name “Germanium Metallicum”.

Discography

"Stiff Miners"

"Giselle" 1995
"Vox Celesta" 1997

"Parzival"

Anathema Maranatha 1999
"Blut und Jordan" 2002
Noblesse Oblige 2004
"Deus Nobiscum" 2006
Zeitgeist / Noblesse Oblige 2008
Urheimat 2011
"Die Kulturnacht" 2012
Casta 2014