Arkona is a fine female fronted Russian pagan/folk metal band. I have seen them twice on stage and it felt like a whirlwind passing by with the powerful vocals of Masha and her incredible stage act. With their ‘new’ album they return to their debut and inject it with new blood and new skills. We jump from 2016 (re-recording) to 2004!
Kolyada starts with a cold wind, a synth that sounds like a choir until suddenly the flute and the guitars jump in and call up the drummer: it explodes! The Slavic feel enters with the vocals, together with the raw grunting and growling. I understand nothing from the lyrics but it all feels pretty melancholic mixed with some rage. It’s clear that their debut album was a shot in the rose from the very first track! Feel the fire, feel the darkness! Maslenitsa sounds like a pagan party with at high speed. Kdomu-Svaroga feels like a fight between male and female, whilst the flute is whistling, the guitars are on fire and the drums are exploding.
Chernye-Vorony is also speeded up, but sounds a bit sweeter, even a bit sticky. Vozrozhdenie is yet another killer track that rages and pretty much sounds like melancholic speed metal. Rus starts pretty melancholic with a Slavic touch and roaring guitars. It has the sound of a national anthem, as if one is proud to be Russian. Brate-Slavyane is the typical Arkona Whirlwind track: raging, screaming, grunting, heavy guitars, exploding drums, a nice flute and Slavic chanting! Solntsevorot gets a nice warming up by the flute until the guitars and drums explode. Macha’s voice sounds pretty clear, but on a high tempo.
Pod-Mechami throws a bomb: raging & moving like a whirlwind with now and then a moment of peace whilst being in the eye of the storm. Po-Zverinym-Tropam sounds like speed-metal mixed with a synth and a melancholic touch (when the tempo lowers). The backings gives it a Slavic touch. Zalozhny mixes in a perfect way clean singing with screaming and grunting (and even whispering) as the tempo goes up and down like a wild river. Zov-Predkov has a mystical touch, sounds slower than the rest but is still a great end-track, slowly fading out before you touch automatically the repeat all button and start all over again!
I must say I missed their start and only started following them with the release of Yav and saw them since then a few times and I’m still happy with what I hear and see (in the studio or on stage), it’s clear that they have a bright future!
