Tvangeste
After a bit more than two decades I've (re-)discovered Tvangeste, a melodic death metal band from Königsberg and from my youth.
I still remember finding Mike Chirva on ICQ and chatting with him. We had a few years of difference, and I, being a clueless teenage schoolkid, thought that I'm talking to a legend. In my memory, both Mike and Natu are still legends. I remember he shared his plans to move to Canada, and I asked what's gonna happen to the music. I do not remember the answer. What I do think now, many years later, is that if it were 2026 and not like 2003, I don't think anyone would under any circumstances share such information with an internet rando. It was easier back then
I also remember sharing some lyrics I was working on back at the time, and how Mike corrected my English (then my third language), saying "Believe me, 'have'" to my attmept to convince him and myself that "did you ever ..." was a grammatically correct construct. Good times.
If anything, this gives me a bit of hope that early years' heroes remain heroes. Like, we're literally nearly the same age now, so many years have passed by, and we are no longer in touch, and ICQ is effectively no longer, but somewhere in my memory there's this guy who got a band together, recorded some albums, played some MDM riffs, and shared it with the world, and to me just knowing this is possible was already a huge kick in the butt to get my shit together and grow up
The music itself carries the soul of the time and the place. Like, if you were growing up around that time (~2000) and were in around the same place (weird place, btw, Königsberg), you'd know. If you have learned to "get a feel" through music, you'll get it
Great work, Michael and Naturelle. Hope things are going alright in Canada ♡
May 04 · 3 days ago