Kauan is an atmospheric

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

post-rock Post-rock is a form of experimental rock characterized by a focus on exploring textures and timbre over traditional rock song structures, chords, or riffs. Post-rock artists are often instrumental, typically combining rock instrumentation with ...

band from

Chelyabinsk Chelyabinsk ( rus, Челя́бинск, p=tɕɪˈlʲæbʲɪnsk, a=Ru-Chelyabinsk.ogg; ba, Силәбе, ''Siläbe'') is the administrative center and largest city of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. It is the seventh-largest city in Russia, with a ...

, Russia formed in 2005. Kauan's name stems from the

Finnish language Finnish ( endonym: or ) is a Uralic language of the Finnic branch, spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. Finnish is one of the two official languages of Finland (the other being Swedish ...

, meaning ''for a long time'', and many of the band's lyrics are in Finnish. Furthermore, most of the band now lives in Estonia.

History

Kauan was formed by Anton Belov (formerly of Helengard and Inea) in February 2005. At the beginning, their sound was a blend of

folk metal Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles (for exampl ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

and doom metal. In September 2006, Lyubov Mushnikova joined the band on

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

. Guitarist Alexander Borovikh joined prior to the recording of their debut album, ''

Lumikuuro ''Lumikuuro'' is the first full-length album by Russian doom metal/ post-rock band Kauan, released in 2007 on the BadMoodMan Music label. Track listing #"Alku" – 02:08 #"Aamu ja kaste" – 07:01 #"Lumikuuro" – 07:28 #"Savu" – 04:11 #"Koivu ...

'', released 4 August 2007 by BadMoodMan Music. Borovikh left the band prior to the recording of their second album, ''

Tietäjän laulu ''Tietäjän laulu'' is the second full-length album by Russian post-rock band Kauan, released on BadMoodMan Music in 2008. Track listing #"Vmesto slez" - 6:37 #"Kyynelten sijaan" - 09:25 #"Pesnja materi" - 06:01 #"Äidin laulu" - 12:02 #"Prozra ...

'', which was released by BadMoodMan Music on 30 November 2008. The album incorporated

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

and post-rock elements. Kauan released their third album, ''Aava tuulen maa'', on 18 November 2009 on Firebox Records/BadMoodMan Music. By that point, the band's genre had evolved to a melancholic mixture of atmospheric

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrumenta ...

and post-rock. In 2010, Belov and his wife, vocalist Alina "Witch_A" Belova (formerly of Inferno and Semargl), released a full-length album on Firebox Records with his other project Helengard. On 26 June 2011, Kauan's fourth album, ''Kuu..'', was released by

Avantgarde Music Avantgarde Music is an Italian record label, formed as a continuation of Obscure Plasma Records, focusing on black and doom metal artists. The label had a sub-label called Wounded Love Records, which has released albums by Dolorian and Taake. A ...

. The album featured a strong post-rock/ambient sound with elements of doom metal. Mushnikova left the band later in 2011. Belov assembled a full band lineup in 2013, including Belova as keyboardist as well as bassist Alex Vynogradoff (also of Vin De Mia Trix), viola player Anatoly Gavrylov and drummer Anton Skrynnik (ex-Dimicandum). This lineup performed on Kauan's fifth album, ''Pirut'', released by Blood Music on 15 December 2013. That same year, the band self-released a digital compilation box set, ''Private Release'', reissued in part in 2014 as ''Muistumia'' by Blood Music. The next Kauan studio album, ''Sorni Nai'', was streamed on 15 October 2015, and released on 20 October. A concept album consisting of one continuous song sectioned as seven tracks, it explored the mysterious 1959

Dyatlov Pass incident The Dyatlov Pass incident (russian: , ) was an event in which nine Soviet hikers died in the northern Ural Mountains between February 1 and 2, 1959, in uncertain circumstances. The experienced trekking group from the Ural Polytechnical Insti ...

. The band's seventh studio album, ''Kaiho'', was released 22 September 2017. It featured vocals by Finnish folk singer Marja Mattlar. Kauan's eighth studio album, ''Ice Fleet'', was released on 9 April 2021.

Other projects

In 2016, Belov announced that he had also joined as a member of Vynogradoff's project A Noend of Mine.

Members

Current members

*Anton Belov – composer, vocals , guitar, keyboards, programming *Alex Vynogradoff – bass guitar, backing vocals *Alina Belova – keyboards, backing vocals *Anatoly Gavrylov – viola *Anton Skrynnik – drums

Former members

*Alexander Borovikh – guitar, backing vocals *Lyubov Mushnikova – violin

Session members

*Igor Andrievskiy - violin *Maxim Rymar - cello *Vladimir Babutin - cello *Artur Andriasyan - keyboards, backing vocals *Astaroth Merc - lead guitar

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (2007, BadMoodMan Music) *''

'' (2008, BadMoodMan Music) *''Aava tuulen maa'' (2009, Firebox Records/BadMoodMan Music) *'' Kuu..'' (2011,

) *''Pirut'' (2013, Blood Music) *''Sorni Nai'' (2015, Blood Music) *''Kaiho'' (2017, self-released) *''Ice Fleet'' (2021, Artoffact Records)

Compilation albums

*''Private Release'' digital box set (2013, self-released) *''Muistumia'' (2014, Blood Music)

Selected compilation appearances

*"Vmesto Slez" on ''

Der Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer ''Wanderer above the Sea of Fog'' is a painting by German Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich made in 1818. It depicts a man standing upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer; he is gazing out on a landscape covered in a thick sea o ...

'' (2010, Pest Productions)

References

External links

Facebook page

Myspace page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kauan Russian folk metal musical groups Doom metal musical groups Russian post-rock groups Ambient music groups Musical groups established in 2005