Tvangeste is a Russian/Canadian symphonic black metal duo composed ofhusband and wife Mikhail "Miron" Chirva and Naturelle Chirva. The band's name comes from Twangste, an Old Prussian word meaning "Oak Forest". Twangste was also the name of a small Old Prussian village roughly located at what is now the city ofKaliningrad that was seized in 1255 by the Teutonic Knights. In the site of the settlement, the now-demolished Königsberg Castle was built.
Biography
Tvangeste was formed in 1996 in Kaliningrad, Russia, and its line-up at the time consisted of Miron Chirva, Edgar, Nikolay "Kok" Kazmin and Klaus. However, in the following year, Edgar and Klaus left the band and were replaced by Asmodey and Julia. In 1998 they released two demo singles, Thinking... and Blood Dreams. Asmodey and Julia would leave shortly after, being replaced by Viktoria Kulbachnaya and Vano Mayarov. With this line-up, Tvangeste released their debut full-length in 2000, Damnation of Regiomontum, via now-defunct Norwegian record label Valgarder. In 2001, Miron's then-girlfriend Naturelle joined the band, and in 2003 their second studio album, Firestorm, was released, via also now-defunct Japanese label Worldchaos Production. Polish musician Cezary Mielko worked as a session drummer on it. Also in 2003, Max Naumov joined the band, and Tvangeste became a quintet. In 2005, Miron and Naturelle married and moved to Niagara Falls, in Canada, while the three remaining members decided to stay in Russia. Around the same time Miron also provided vocals for Israeli black metal band Arafel's second studio album, Second Strike: Through the Flame of the Ages. Since 2006 Miron and Naturelle are working on Tvangeste's third studio album. Tentatively titled Satori, it was scheduled to be released via their own independent record label, Regiomontum Productions. Norwegian musician Jørn Øyhus served as a session drummer, and the orchestral instrumentation was provided by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, according to Miron. Having a long and convoluted production history, it currently has no set release date. The band's song "Birth of the Hero" was featured in the soundtrack of the 2009 video game Brütal Legend. In February 2013, Miron was interviewed for Attention! Black Metal!, a Hungarian documentary that focuses on symphonic black metal bands. On 7 September 2016 the band announced on their official Facebook page the death of their former bassist/guitarist, Vano Mayarov.
