(An ethnomusicologist interviews Ritva Nero—a research subject exhumed from the grave.)
– So, how did that schottische go?
– You’d bounce along in pairs like this, and then spin around.
– And where did you dance back then?
– At dances, evening socials, and the village swing, of course. The village elders used to knock the swings down; they wanted to stop the young people from gathering.
– I see—so what did you do then?
– That didn’t stop the dancing.

Bombschottische is a raucous schottische in which metal influences have seeped into the swirling rhythms of a traditional dance. Santte Salonen (Soprano Saxophone) fires up his distortion pedal and leads the band in a rebellious musical celebration at the village swing—the very spot where, back in the 19th century, authorities tried to police and ban the young people’s merrymaking. Joining the fray are Janne Ojajärvi (Harmonica), Emilia Lajunen (Nyckelharpa), Petri Prauda (Finnish Bagpipes, Jew’s Harp), Jani Snellman (Bass), and Patrik Fält (Drums).

Immortal Tradition (2022) is a collection of dances that were fashionable in the 1800s; such as polka, mazurka and maanitus, that have now in true spirit of the 21st century evolved into massive festival thunder. Explosive elements have been borrowed from the metal tradition of today, whereas the melodies drew their inspiration from dance repertoires that were present, and partly still are, in the Finnish and Border Karelian regions.

In the darkest corner of the room, you can hear music in the air
– a trepatska tune that has always cried out for double-kicks accompaniment.

Trepatska is a dance that has been improvised by bowed lyre and kantele players right up to the beginning of the 20th century. Finnish ethnomusicologist A. O. Väisänen recorded Karelian trepatska and many other forms of dance music improvisation such as maanitus with the phonograph in his expeditions to Karelia and Aunus.

Väisänen published the tunes he had collected in 1928 in his book Kantele- ja jouhikkosävelmiä. Around a hundred years later, Trepatska Thrasher was inspired by those pieces.