Style: folk metal, heavy metal, experimental
Label: Napalm records
Year: 2011
Home: Russia
Members: Masha "Scream" Arhipova ~ vocals/keyboards
Sergei "Lazar" ~ guitars
Ruslan "Kniaz" ~ bass
Vlad "Artist" ~ keyboards/drums
Vladimir "Volk" ~ ethnic wind instruments
Additional: Varg ~ vocals
Let Russians black metallers Arkona introduce you to a new world of music - Russian/Slavic pagan folk metal ... at its best. Like Alestorm is the best of pirate metal, Arkona are clearly candidates for the same title in their field of folk metal. Traditional instruments & arrangements, including chorus vocals on top of the female lead singer & gypsy dance breaks are explored by Arkona in their newest release that will have you dancing immediately. Some people may find the new & exploding trend of folk metal a joke, but it's a joke of quite an impressive & addictive sub-genre of some of the most upbeat & creative approaches to thrash/speed metal, let alone some highly skilled playing & composing. But, alas, for Americans the hundred year old tradition of pagan folk tunes is a foreign concept which is partially to blame for making folk metal a hard to grasp concept ... Woody Guthrie & Civil War laments aren't quite the same as the epic music that comes out of the lost cultures of northern Europe & Russia. In many ways Arkona are reminiscent of symphonic metal for the intricate nature of the arrangements, which is often lost in slash & burn metal, here even including an haunting acoustic arrangement of their hit "Goi, Rode, Goi!" with guitars, didgeridoo & mandolins. As for the language barrier it's barely noticeable. You almost expect something like this to be in a strange & unfamiliar tongue. Arkona are an absolute must to check out. If you like folk metal you'll love this band. If you don't know folk metal Arkona will hook you in. & don't hesitate as they've already had a song featured on the U.S. version of 'The Office' on TV so people are paying attention to them.
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