Platon Karataev (hungarian band)

Platon Karataev is a Budapest-based indie/folk-rock band formed in 2016. The group quickly became one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Hungarian alternative music.

Their early releases, including the albums For Her (2017) and Atoms (2020), featured English-language lyrics and a delicate, acoustic-driven indie folk sound layered with atmospheric textures. The band later shifted toward Hungarian lyrics and a richer, more expansive sonic world, as heard on Partért kiáltó (2022) and Napkötöző (2025), embracing deeper philosophical and spiritual themes.

The band takes its name from a character in War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy, reflecting the literary and introspective influence that shapes their songwriting. Their music blends poetic imagery with emotional intensity, creating a sound that is both intimate and powerful.


One of their popular songs is:

"Lassú Madár" (Slow Bird)

Dead stars long gone confess,
Their light that fled afar
Still kindles in my eyes —
It grazes through the dark.
And on the water’s skin
My written name is hurled,
The whirlpool pulls it down with me
Beneath the turning world.

See how the falling leaf
At last finds waiting ground —
This too is cell decay.
See how in rustling leaves
The summer walks around —
This too is cell decay.
See, we will fade as well,
And maybe that’s okay —
This too is cell decay.
See, we will fade as well,
And maybe that is right —
Perhaps this too is cell decay.

A river flows within, above me clouds drift by,
Across the sky’s wide water cuts a wing in flight.&l