I have to admit that I had not heard of this Russian act before, but apparently Bastion were formed more than a decade ago in order to pay tribute to the cultural and historical roots of their nation. In the earliest years, they seemed to perform a catchy mixture of Heavy and Power Metal, injected with elements from Folk, but as a natural process their sound evolved into a rather Pagan-Folk-oriented one. The demo Remembering The Past and the debut studio full length The Dawn Of Svarog (released respectively in 2007 and 2011) were received with nothing but positive reactions, at least in their home country. With Vremya Borby (which means something like ‘the time to struggle’) it’s time not to struggle anymore, but to reach an international audience.
The band signed the Russian label Der Schwarze Tod, specialised in Pagan / Black material from Russian soil especially. This collaboration results in the release of the sophomore album, Vremya Borby, which has a total running time of forty one minutes. And opener Arkona 1168 gives a first glimpse of what this band nowadays stands for. It’s a pretty energetic and powerful song, combining Folk and Black Metal of a mostly traditional kind. Remarkable yet not that unusual is the use of flutes, a thing many bands from Russia (and their neighbours) do handle. Besides, there is a nice interaction in between fast and heavy blackened parts versus epic and melodic Pagan / Folk ones, sometimes with throaty grunts, then again with harmonious choirs. The song has a ‘full’ sound, eye for catchy melodies, a sledgehammering rhythm section, and an unstoppable energy. The more blackened, fast parts sound universal, while the folkish pieces are rather based on structures not that uncommon in the eastern part of Europe (oops, can I mention ‘Russia’ and ‘Europe’ in one single paragraph without starting a war?...). But the ‘Black’ part of the game, as done in the opening track, isn’t the core of Bastion’s existence. Other tracks include elements from Death, Thrash or Heavy Metal, but the basics are built upon Folk / Pagan stuff especially. Besides a mostly traditional native Folk-inspired approach (read: lacking of renewing elements, with only once in a while an excerpt that is distinctive from what you might have heard in the past), with more authentic (traditional) instruments than flutes only (mouth harp, accordion, hornpipe etc.), the (Black) Metal excerpts are based as well on authentic elements without pointing one’s finger at one or another specific sub-genre or geographical scene. In general this material sounds pretty adventurous and varied in several aspects (song structures, tempo, the variation in between more Folk-oriented then again brutal parts, the addition of folkloristic instruments, etc.). But I wonder if the global scene is waiting for another band with this specific approach. Especially since some Pagan bands are of a splendid level, I am not convinced that this mediocre album will satisfy. Pagan / Folk / Black fans might probably like the material, but one cannot deny the superficial and predictable elements that withhold this band to climb the stairs of Eternal Honour and Pride.