Bulavira

Bulavira was formed by Andriy Vasylenko (Ukraine) and Ben Zimmermann (Germany) in late 2021, with the intent to make the heaviest riff-oriented music in E standard. The project had a vigorous start with two singles, His Majesty and Wristbreaker, gaining traction on Youtube with the tongue-in-cheek style of music videos. And it could’ve ended right there, since in February Andriy was caught in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, losing access to all his instruments, except a cheap nylon guitar that allowed making music wherever war-time life would take him. And that’s how eventually Fun Time Killing was born, something one could call acoustic metal. Things settled a bit, and new instruments were acquired, including Andriy’s old dream - a 5-string bass with 24 frets. And so, Bulavira survived, although its music kept getting progressively simpler and darker: a heavy bass solo over classical guitars (86 Days), one of Andriy’s last pre-war bass recordings turned into a tune (Jamming with a Ghost), and finally - nothing but a dry bass arpeggios (Julian). Then in early 2024 came the first vocal track under Bulavira name, Bude Groza (“a storm’s coming” from Ukrainian). Now with Serhii Morozov, Andriy’s old friend, also on board. And later that year in July happened a big instrumental full-band comeback with Titan’s Cradle. To be continued…