Dvar
Dvar | |
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Photo on the promo Taai Liira Photo on the promo Taai Liira | |
Background information | |
Origin | ![]() |
Genres | Darkwave, Lightwave, Electronic music |
Years active | 1996–present |
Website | The band's official Bandcamp page |
Dvar is a virtual band from Moscow, Russia that plays darkwave music, though their more recent releases have been coined as Lightwave, for a lack of an existing genre to file their unique sound under.
History
The members of Dvar have kept their identities secret, so little is known of their formation. In an interview they stated that "Dvar is something that came in a dream". Band members claim to have heard music in their dreams, in which it was presented to them by a being named Dvar. Based on the recurring theme of bees in their album artwork, some fans have claimed that the Dvar being took the shape of a giant bee. The band have insisted in several interviews that all of their music is directly inspired by the Dvar being, with the band serving as mere messengers. The vocals which accompany Dvar's music use what appears to be a fictional language, which displays a sound pattern somewhat reminiscent of ancient Semitic languages. Due to this similarity, many followers of the band claim that the "lyrics" are sung in the mythical Enochian language, incorrectly attributing this claim to the band themselves. However, the band has given no clues as to the nature of their invented language, except to say that, like the music, the vocals merely relate the message of the Dvar being.
Their first known released work was a 1998 self-released tape called Raii, though rumours have circulated of an earlier self-released tape from 1996, simply named DVAR. In the year 2000, the duo issued another self-released 4-track CD-R demo called Taai Liira. In 2002 the band released their first album on the Italian S.P.K.R/Radio Luxor record label. The album was called Piirrah. In 2003 Dvar moved to the Russian label Irond and released five albums: Roah (2003), Rakhilim (2004), re-release with bonus tracks of Taai Liira (2004), Hor Hor (2005) and Oramah Maalhur (2005). In 2005 should leave an album Madegirah - Early Works, but there was it only in 2009. In 2007 the band moved to the label Gravitator and released Jraah Mraah. In 2008 the band released Zii under the label Art Music Group. In 2009, Fayah! was released, a dark counterpart to Zii, along with a release of Madegirah, entitled Madegirah - Bizarre Rares and Early Works. In mid-2010, their Tenth Anniversary Album, El Mariil was released, with an unusual medieval sound unlike - as is typical in all of DVAR's music - anything heard from them before. A new album "Deii" was released in Russian magazine "Мир Фантастики" ("Mir Fantastiki", "World of Sci-Fi") in mp3 320 kb/s format. Physical copies of the album were released in December 2012 on Shadowplay Records. The release consists of two parts (2 CD 16 tracks on each), format of the disc - Digipack.
Style
The duo has its own unique style combining electronic music with screeching, bird-like vocals. The lyrics, according to the band, are written in Enochian language, though they claim that they do not understand most of what is told to them by the creature Dvar.
Identity
Dvar keeps their identities secret and has released no details, including the city they came from, how old they are, or exactly how many of them are in the band. This has led to many impostors claiming that they are Dvar or know the identities of the band. One of the most fantastic rumours claimed that Dvar was Michael Jackson's secret project,[1] and that DVAR's members are patients in a mental institution. The band itself claims that Dvar is something "supernatural" that is just delivered through them to others.
Discography
- Dvar (1995) (tape)
- Raii (1997)(Tape)(self-release)
- Taai Liira (2000)(4-track CD-R demo)(self-release)
- Hissen Raii (2002)(self-release)
- Piirrah (2002)(S.P.K.R/Radio Luxor)
- Roah (2003)(Irond)
- Rakhilim (2004)(Irond)
- Taai Liira (2004)(Re-release+bonus)(Irond)
- Hor Hor (2005)(Irond)
- Oramah Maalhur (2005)(Irond)
- Jraah Mraah (2007)(Gravitator)
- Zii (2008) (Art Music Group)
- Fayah (2009) (Art Music Group)
- Madegirah - Bizarre Rares and Early Works (2009) (Shadowplay Records)
- Piirah/Taii Liira (Re-release compilation) (2009) (Shadowplay Records)
- El Mariil (2010) (Shadowplay Records)
- Жрах Мрах (Jraah Mraah RE) (Russian edit 2010) (Shadowplay Records)
- Elah 2011 Web Release & 2012 - with 3 new bonus-tracks (2012)
- Deii (2012) (Shadowplay Records)
Compilations that the band appeared on:[2]
- Edge of the Night: Russian Gothic Compilation (2000)(CD RGP)
- Per:version: vol.2 (2001)(CD Ritual)
- Triton 3 (2002)(CD Triton)
- The Best of the Best (2004)(CD PLAY)
- Love, Blood & Magic (2004)(CD)
- Colours of Black (2004)(CD Shadowplay)
- Gothic Party (2004)(CD Audio Video)
- 15 pesen dla vashey devushki(15 songs for your girl) (2004)(CD PLAY)
- Legkoye Leto(Light Summer) (2005)(CD Snegiri)
- Eclectic Music Box (2005)(CD Stereo & Video)
- Novomesto (2006)(CD Snegiri)
- Gnomy protiv el'fov (Гномы против эльфов) (2006) (split with Caprice)
- From Fantasy to Sci-Fi (2010) (Mir Fantastiki)
- Postminimalism (2010) (Stereo & Video)
- The best of 2005-2010 (2011) (Mir Fantastiki)
Trivia
- Dvar is somehow influenced by kabbalah, stating in an interview, when asked what they think about kabbalah learnings, that they know Dvar is 211.[3] In Hebrew, Dvar means Word of... or thing.
- DVAR's song, Teremiah K'ruun was used in official Alfa-Bank New Year Commercial (One of the biggest Russian Banks) in 2007.[4][5]
- There is a lesser known Russian group, DRAW, which has released three albums with covers very similar to those of DVAR. The music they use is very simple, and the songs are all very short. DRAW's music sounds very similar to DVAR's, and it is believed their music was released either as tribute to DVAR, or in mockery of DVAR.
- Dvar's vocals have appeared in some of Caprice's songs, mainly "Kywitt Kywitt" and "Fae Fae Fae Fae Fae Fae Fae".
References
External links
- Dvar's iTunes Store
- Dvar on Bandcamp
- The band's official MySpace page
- New detailed fan-site DVAR (Russian)
- About the band on a web-site about Russian gothic music (English)
- Interview with the band members (Russian)
- Another interview (Russian)
- DVAR Unofficial Home Page (Russian) (English)
- About the band at last.fm (Russian)
- DVAR page on label Gravitator, where they were signed (Russian)
- DVAR page on label IronD, where they were signed (Russian)
- Fan-site DVAR (Russian)
- Review on album "Oramah Maalhur" (Russian)
- Review on album «Taai Liira» (Russian)
- Review on album «Piirrah» (Russian)
- Review on album «Hor Hor» (Russian)
- Review on album "Jraah Mraah" (Russian)
- Music videos on Youtube