Romowe Rikoito is a

neofolk Neofolk, also known as apocalyptic folk, is a form of experimental music blending elements of folk and industrial music, which emerged in punk rock circles in the 1980s. Neofolk may either be solely acoustic or combine acoustic folk instrume ...

band currently based in

Vilnius, Lithuania Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

. It was formed by Glabbis Niktorius in 1995 and named after the ancient Prussian spiritual center Romowe (also known as Rikoyto). The group has published 6 albums – first two albums ''Narcissism'' and ''L’Automne Eternel'' based on ideas of melancholy,

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

and

grief Grief is the response to the loss of something deemed important, particularly to the death of a person to whom or animal to which a Human bonding, bond or affection was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, ...

, while ''Āustradēiwa'', ''Undēina'', ''Nawamār'', and ''UKA'' are dedicated to Old Prussia. They sing in the

Old Prussian language Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to av ...

History

In 2014, Lithuanian independent music label published Romowe Rikoito's 4th album ''Undēina'' which is described as a "magical journey through modern Western Baltic world" by the label Dangus. Almost all compositions are performed in

Prussian language Old Prussian is an extinct West Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European languages, which was once spoken by the Old Prussians, the Baltic peoples of the Prussian region. The language is called Old Prussian to avoi ...

, beside using dark folk instruments, its sounding enriched by folk instruments such as

kanklės The ''kanklės'' () is a Lithuanian plucked string instrument (chordophone) belonging to the Baltic box zither family known as the Baltic psaltery, along with the Latvian '' kokles'', Estonian '' kannel'', Finnish '' kantele'', and Russian '' ...

and

ocarina The ocarina (otherwise known as a potato flute) is a wind musical instrument; it is a type of vessel flute. Variations exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the bo ...

. ''Undēina'' is dedicated to the

Prussian mythology The Prussian mythology was a polytheistic religion of the Old Prussians, indigenous peoples of Prussia before the Prussian Crusade waged by the Teutonic Knights. It was closely related to other Baltic faiths, the Lithuanian and Latvian mytho ...

, sages and sacred places. All sounds were recorded in nature while visiting forests, rivers, sacred places of Old Prussia.

Musical style and lyrical themes

The music of Romowe Rikoito is characterized as "deep, unique, full of twilight, melancholy, sacred harmony, mysterious hope and

decadence Decadence was a late-19th-century movement emphasizing the need for sensationalism, egocentricity, and bizarre, artificial, perverse, and exotic sensations and experiences. By extension, it may refer to a decline in art, literature, science, ...

" by label Dangus.Išleistas ROMOWE RIKOITO albumas "Austradeiwa"
/ref> Compositions are performed by

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

, keyboards. This band performed various poems written by

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti ( ; ), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brother ...

, Gerard de Nerval, Chidiock Tichborne also a Prussian version of intro of the first Lithuanian poem " Metai" by

Kristijonas Donelaitis Kristijonas Donelaitis (; 1 January 1714 – 18 February 1780) was a Prussian Lithuanian poet and Lutheran pastor. He lived and worked in Lithuania Minor, a territory in the Kingdom of Prussia, that had a sizable Lithuanian-speaking minority. H ...

Members

Current

* Glabbis Niktorius – vocals, guitars, kanklės, percussion, psaltery, sounds (1995–present) * Agota Zdanavičiūtė – vocals, kanklės (2022–present) * Ian Campbell – vocals, guitars, synthesizers (2022–present) * Adam Ormes – vocals, percussion, harmonium, synthesizers (2022–present)

Former

* Johnny (Sergey Ivanov) – guitars (1995–2006) * Poonk (Dmitry Demidov) – violin, tape, keyboards, sounds (1996–2001) * Victoria Koulbachnaya – flute, keyboards (1996–2006) * Julia – vocals (1996–2006) * Anny (Anna Ivanova) – cello (1999–2014) * Ludmila – violin (1999–2000) * Elena Kosheleva – violin (2001–2006) * Aleks Āulaukis (Alexey Popov) – guitars, synthesizers, keyboards, effects and sounds, percussion, glockenspiel, psaltery, melodica (2009–2023) * Tatiana Korotkova – vocals, percussion, melodica, glockenspiel (2011–2017) * Aliona Ilnitskaya – violin (2012–2013) * Alwārmija (Karina Rode) – vocals, percussion, didgeridoo (2012–2022)

Discography

* ''Narcissism'' (1997) * ''L’Automne Eternel'' (2000) * ''Āustradēiwa'' (2005) * ''Undēina'' (2014) * ''Nawamār'' (2016) * ''UKA'' (2024)

References

Links

Official pageOfficial Facebook pageOfficial BandCamp page
{{Authority control Neofolk music groups Musical groups established in 1995 Lithuanian musical groups