With the enormously bold andexpensive-sounding 2009 album Goi, Rode, Goi!, Moscow’s Arkonaestablished themselves as one of the forerunners in symphonicextremity, combining classical, folk, and black metal influencesinto a sound that we hadn’t quite heard before. Sure, we’d hadorchestras in metal music aplenty, but not with the traditionalRussian folk instrumentation and melodic inclinations, or Masha’sincredibly distinct vocal presence. If that album had one flaw, itwas that it set the bar so high that there was very little chancethat Arkona could themselves top it. As a result, ?????(Slovo/Word), their 6th full-length, does not feel so much a stepforwards as sideways, but there is still a tremendous amount ofappeal here for those who have enjoyed the multiple layers of theirsongwriting. Slovo seems slightly less ‘intense’ on the whole, butthere are still a number of flighty, storming melodic black metalpassages throughout that derail any plausible notion that the bandare slowing down or milking their success into a more accessible,mainstream commodity. Tracks like ” It’s Painful For Me and“Arkaim” continue to surge along with polished black precision,while they also implement some punchier, thrashing punishment intothe rhythmic subtext of “Never” that functions impressivelyalongside the sailing, potent cleaner vocals that this singerspecializes in. Admittedly, there are a few pompous and mugswilling, LCD folk metal tracks like “Leshiy” which did little forme, but when the band abandons the metal almost entirely for thepagan anthems “Incantation” or “In My Garden”, they transform intothe Russian equivalent of the excellent Swedish Garmarna: allthudding percussion, beautiful vocal passages and glimmering,intense strings. They’ve even coughed up another of theirvocal-based pieces in “Behind The Mist” which could easily earnthem a widespread appeal well outside the genre, if Masha shouldchoose to once again careen about a few local woodland glades orfields for some viral video. But for myself, the true centerpieceof the album is the title track, a gorgeous folk metal aspirationwith lots of flutes, thundering percussion and glorious escalation.The vocals are incredibly well arranged throughout all of Slovo,and the services of the Choir of Moscow State Conservatory andChamber Orchestra of Kazan State Conservatory N.G. Zhiganova havebeen retained for much of the playtime, giving the album a rich,robust depth that obviously required a great deal of effort tocomplete. It also never hurts that Russian is, like, the mostseductive language ever. There are those that will immediately shunArkona for the high standards here, no expense spared, as if theywere primed for radio/pop exposure, but when managing such a largearray of vocal styles and instruments, there’s little choice butover the top. The individual elements of their sound are not highlycomplex, but when brought together it’s nonetheless impressive. Theband maintains its close ties to Russian folklore and history, solong time adherents to their sound should be content. There areprobably about 10 minutes I would have clipped from this hourlength experience, and it’s not quite so mighty as its predecessor,but Slovo is not short on the thrills and creativity that definedtheir back catalogue, and once again Arkona prove they have thepride and guts to trample all over the field of fashionable femalefronted fairy-tattoo drivel espoused by international ‘sensations’like Nightwish or Epica.

Track list:
1. The Beginning Of All Beginnings
2. Arkaim
3. It’s Painful For Me
4. Leshiy
5. Incantation
6. Ancestor
7. Never
8. Behind The Mist
9. The Descendant
10. The Word
11. Alone
12. In My Garden
13. Wall To The Wall
14. Winter

Condition cover: nm

Condition cd: nm

Tänk på att frakten blir billigare per vara ju fler du köper (sevåra fraktvillkor för en portotabell). Så se mina övriga annonser,kanske hittar du något mer

Skick gradering:

M (mint)/NM (near mint) = Nyskick/Mycket bra exemplar
EX (excellent) = Mycket fin och välvårdad
VG+ (very good +) = Bra skick, normalanvänd skiva
VG (very good) = Sliten men spelar ändå bra
G (good) = Väldigt sliten skiva som kan hacka
+/- = mindre skillnader inom graderingsområdet