Sanatana Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Technically speaking ...

Sanatana is a conceptual project that we have created with my wife in 2016. Some friends of us and like-minded people from our circle, inspired by the Vedic worldview and the ancient culture, are the part of it.

The musical range of Sanatana is diverse and presented at once in several directions: metal and new age. This musical spectrum makes it possible to express all the meanings and sentiments embodied in Sanatana project.

2.Recently you have released a double album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?

This is a double album consisting of two parts:

BRAHMA - Vedic metal with clean vocals

VIDYA - Vedic New Age

BRAHMAVIDYA uses live authentic instruments from various ancient cultures that fill the music with mysteriousness and charm. Also the sound of mantras and prayers represented on the album has a mesmerizing effect. They are performed in the ancient Sanskrit language from The Upanishads and other Vedic scriptures  and recited by active priests of the Vedic tradition.

3.Your lyrics cover Vedism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this eastern religion?

Vedism is not a religious system but rather a worldview and attitude to the world!

The word Veda means knowledge. The Vedic knowledge was used throughout the history of mankind. Starting from the Arabic numerals that the Arabs brought from India and that are nowadays (under the binary form) run the entire world of computer systems and it continues to be revealed through the modern science.

The Vedas contain all the science and knowledge (astronomy, mathematics, Ayurveda, Yoga, philosophy, psychology, art and spiritual knowledge).

We found a lot of interesting concepts in Eastern religions, as well as something appealing to us as we were discovering some parallels with Paganism etc; so we naturally decided to integrate this knowledge to our art.

Leo Tolstoy, Schopenhauer, Goethe, Herder, Hegel, Beethoven, Heine, Rodin, Einstein, Nehru, Gandhi. С.Lassen, E.Burnouf, Aurobindo Ghose, L.Vallée, S.Radhakrishnan, S. Lévi, Russell, Wordsworth, R. Rolland, W. Whitman, H. Hesse and many others drew inspiration and knowledge from the Vedas!

The Vedas are close to us as they were part of the pre-Christian culture common on the lands occupied by the Slavs. They had a Vedic culture in tune with the indian philosophy.

The Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the world, they are written in Sanskrit, the language that we use on our album. Sanskrit is the source of all the Indo-European language group, or as it is referred Aryan.

Aryans are those who makes the difference between the spirit and the matter. Herewith it doesn’t matter to what ethnic group they belong to. It’s a certain  type of consciousness, not an affiliation to a particular nation!

According to Vedas earlier there was a unique culture on the planet that was based on the laws of the universe!


4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Sanatana'?

Sanatana means eternity in Sanskrit!

Everybody is asking the eternal questions about the purpose of life and death, their meaning. Where we came from and who we are led by. These eternal questions come from the consciousness (I) which is also eternal by its nature!

As Faust told to Mephistopheles:

“When I say to the Moment flying;

Linger a while -- thou art so fair!”

We found that moment, long as eternity!

5.Has the band done any live shows or is this a studio project?

This is a studio project for now, but we are planning to perform some live shows in future.

6.The guitarist also has a background playing more of a pagan style of black metal, how would you compare paganism with the Vedic religion?

We found pagan roots in Eastern teachings (and that’s the case, the roots are all there), it have seemed to us as a much more constructive and clear idea. We’ve accepted it, I don’t see any contradiction, but on the contrary, paganism became more meaningful and extended to me!

7.The compilation was released on 'Rising Moon Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

RISING MOON PRODUCTION is a young company founded by the organizers of the Ragnard Rock Festival. It’s not only a label, but also a booking agency.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of extreme metal?

All the feedbacks I’ve got so far are good, people are interested in.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future!

We will stay faithful to the established musical tradition!

But I can tell you that for sure there will be some transformations.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

The spectrum of our musical tastes is very broad and diverse: from ethnic folk to heavy metal. Today we can listen in a jumble ambient, jazz, rock, metal, Vedic ragas, Downtempo, etc.


11.What are some of your non musical interests?

Yoga, Meditation, Vegetarianism. And I love working with video and 3D graphics, but for the moment I’m not good enough.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

Become yourself a change maker for values that you would like to see in this world!

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Sanatana/Brahmavidya/Rising Moon/2017 Double CD Review

  Sanatana  are  a  band  from  Ukraine  that  plays  a  mixture  of  black  metal,  folk,  new  age,  ethnic,  and  experimental  music  and  this is a review  of  their 2017  double album  "Brahmavidya"  which  was  released  by  Rising  Moon.

  Atmospheric  soundscapes  and  melodic  vedic  style  chanting  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some water  sounds  before  adding  in  melodic  guitar  leads  and  clean  singing  vocals  and  when  the  music  speeds  up a   great  amount  of  blast  beats  and  black  metal  influences  can  be  heard  and  the  music  also  gets  symphonic  at  times.

  Acoustic  guitars  are  added  onto  some  of  the  songs  which  also  add  in  elements  of  folk  music  along  with  all  of  the  musical  instruments  sounding  very  powerful  and  the  songs  also  bring  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  and tribal  style  beats  are  also  used  at  times  and  you  can  also  hear  a  great  amount  of  melody  in  the  guitar  riffing.

  Ethnic  style  folk  instruments  are  added  onto  some  of  the  tracks  and  keyboards  can  also  be  heard  in  some  of  the  songs  and  as  the  album  progresses  female  vocals  are  added  onto  the  recording  and  some  of  the  tacks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  when  whispers  are  utilized  they  also  add  in  more  of  a  black  metal  touch  and  the  music also  mixes  in  a  great  amount  of  new  age,  oriental  and  experimental  elements  and  the  second  album  on  the  compilation  focuses  less  on  a  metal  scene  and  goes  for  more  of  a  relaxed  style  that  is  perfect  for  meditation  and  there  is  also  a  brief  use  of  spoken  word  parts.

  Sanatana  plays a  musical  style  that  takes  black  metal,  oriental  folk  music,  new  age,  ethnic  and  experimental  and  mixes  them  together  to  create  something  very  original,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Vedism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Sanatana  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  black  metal,  ethnic,  oriental  folk music,  new  age  and  experimental  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genres,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Black  Mother  Earth"  "Shiva"  "Maya"  and  "Brahma  Samhita".  8  out  of  10.

https://sanatanamusic.bandcamp.com/album/brahmavidya