VORDONA: "From my perspective of writing all the instrumentals, "Quadrivium" is a pretty accurate representation of what goes on in my head"
Newcomer Vordøna recently appeared on my proggy radar, sparking my interest thanks to the beautiful cover artwork of their debut "Quadrivium". It was released on June 27th via Sliptrick Records, and also quickly convinced music-wise. So our next stop is in the USA close to New York, where we meet with multi-instrumentalist and composer Pavlo Mysak for a chat.
Band-Links: BANDCAMP / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK
Welcome to learn more about Vordøna here:
Hey, thanks for making time to answer my questions. How are you today?
We’re doing great, thank you for the warm welcome to your page! We just recently joined Twitter (thanks to a recommendation from our pals in The Anchoret) and have been amazed at how close the metal community is there! It’s very encouraging to see Mostly Metal, Kman, The Heavy Communion and sooo many others keeping this music alive!!
So great to hear that! It's a special community indeed :-) Could you please introduce yourself and Vordøna to our readers?
Vordøna started as a small project with Tony (vocals) and myself over the pandemic while we were in high school. Over the course of a year-and-a-half, we worked on this music on-and-off purely for fun. In January 2023, we realized that we had enough music for a release and got in contact with Sliptrick Records! Luckily, they seemed to like our sound and we went ahead with creating ‘Vordøna’ officially.
From here, I feel that Vordøna has grown a lot! It is no longer a two man project, and we are very excited to incorporate more diverse views and ideas into our sound… but more on that later…
You just released your great debut album “Quadrivium”. How do you feel about it, and how was the reception so far?
From my perspective of writing all the instrumentals, "Quadrivium" is a pretty accurate representation of what goes on in my head lol. I’m very proud of the dark and moody sound we were able to achieve – and the response has been very enriching so far! We never thought that so many people would be talking about the record or even streaming it as much as they are! The new friendships we’ve built through the release of this album and the welcoming community we’ve found has been the best part of releasing "Quadrivium".
Awesome! Let’s take a look at the stunning cover artwork: What can you tell us about its origins, and how does it reflect the album thematically?
The artwork concept is taken from the lyrics of the bridge in “II. Deliverance”:
“You Must Rekindle the Flames from Within Your Inner Self”.
When Tony brought this lyric to the writing session I was immediately hooked to it, and when it came to designing the cover art, this is what came to mind at once. This line truly encompasses the idea behind the album, and the cover art ties it together.
Could you dive a bit into the album’s topics with us, please?
In essence, most of the album, The Tetralogy, surrounds one theme. The exception to this being “Dark Moons”.
There is so much to unpack within this four-part work on the topics of internal / external turmoil, the search for self-identity and strong ideas of transformation during times of inevitable destruction. Each song takes one of these topics and explores it in a fairly twisted way. We hope to be uploading the full lyrics soon and encourage listeners to discover what they derive from each song - because that seems to be the beauty of music’s capabilities.
Music-wise, “Quadrivium” is an amazing prog album, and considering it is a debut makes things even more impressive. What is your musical background, and where do you draw your inspiration from?
Thank you so much for the kind words! I personally grew up in a Ukrainian household and started playing piano at the age of 5. I believe both of these experiences shaped me in a lot of ways as a musician. I’m drawn to a lot of eastern melodies and love classical music, probably for these reasons. Later on, I picked up the guitar and studied with Gus Drax of the bands Suicidal Angels, Sunburst and Blackfate from Greece. He’s the one that really got me into progressive music.
It’s safe to say that each member of Vordøna is just a fan of music- all types. And I strongly believe that this is a large component of our sound.
What was first on your creative journey: the conceptual idea or the music? And could you briefly describe your writing / recording process, please?
As a band, the first song we ever worked on was “Dark Moons”. It was the first demo I ever sent to Tony, and I believe we finished it in about a week-ish (?). This entire project is very fast moving in general. We’re fortunate enough to have a small home-studio, and we record as we write the songs.
How did you come up with your project’s name, and is there a deeper meaning behind “Vordøna” for you?
There’s no hidden meaning, we honestly just thought that it sounded really cool!
It does indeed :-) Do you have plans to bring your music on stage as a band, or is it a pure studio project?
We would love to play live, but there would be so much to go into it- especially with this band. However, if the right opportunity arises, we will definitely jump on it!
New York is well known for being the home of many great rock and metal bands. How would you describe your local music scene? And did you notice changes over the past years?
We’re about 2 hours north of NYC in a fairly rural area, so our immediate local metal scene isn’t huge - but there is definitely a very active indie-rock scene surrounding the universities here. Being very close to NYC, however, we’re able to see a wide variety of metal acts coming through on tour, which is always inspiring.
What can you tell us about your future plans?
We’re very excited about the future of Vordøna. Unfortunately, after the release of "Quadrivium", Tony had other personal obligations to attend to and it was decided that he will be giving up his vocal duties with us - HOWEVER, we’re thrilled to be welcoming Ali Abu Ali on vocals and Oscar Resti on bass. These two guys have some very impressive musical resumes, and writing / collaborating with them has been awesome. There is already a lot of new music on the way - so you can expect to hear something new from us very soon…
Band-Links: BANDCAMP / TWITTER / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK
Awesome! Do you have any further thoughts you’d like to share here?
We would just like to thank everyone for welcoming us into this amazing community. This is just the beginning, and we’re looking forward to what’s to come.
That's the perfect closing. Thanks again for your time, and all the best for you and your musical plans :-)