CD Review
This review was originally written by Jose Bernardo for www.theweeklyriff.com between 2008 and 2010.
These were Jose’s first impressions of the songs and were not written after multiple spins.
Artist : Arkona
Album : Goi, Rode, Goi! (2009 Napalm Records)
Tracks : 14
Artist website : http://www.arkona-russia.com/
OVERVIEW
This one’s a first for us: A Pagan Folk Metal band by the name of Arkona hailing from Russia. This is the band’s fifth album in a career that started in 2002.
The lyrics are inspired by Russian and Slavic folklore and mythology which is also the source of the band’s name. Since I don’t understand any Russian, I can not comment on the lyrical content of this album.
There are a lot of progressive elements in the music. I would almost rather that the band would be described as “progressive metal” than “pagan folk metal” band regardless of lyrical content and artistic inspiration and influences.
Some of the music sounded a bit comical to me. There are a lot of really cool heavy moments. There were some really cheesy moments too. This is not for everyone, but I suspect there are people out there who really enjoy this kind of music. The production quality is very good as is the musicianship. This has left a very positive first impression on me.
HIGHLIGHTS :
Na Moey Zemle, V Tsepiakh Drevney Tainy
PLAY BY PLAY
Track 1 – Goi, Rode, Goi!
I was surprised by how heavy this track was. I wasn’t overly impressed by the first “verse”, but everything else worked really well.
Track 2 – Yarilo
This sounds like a a cross between a circus march and a Weird Al Yankovic song done in a very heavy style.
Track 3 – Nevidal
This sort of sounded like something that would have belonged in the Lord of the Rings soundtrack.
Track 4 – Na Moey Zemle
This is the epic of the album, clocking in at a quarter of an hour! The first part of this track kind of sounds like something one would hear on the American reality television show, Survivor. It’s kind of “tribal” in sound. The part following that is the total opposite of the spectrum which is like being flung to the middle of a Slipknot show with brief episodes of being in the middle of a circus. Then, it’s pretty much folky, medieval, metal; which, just builds and builds to a very heavy ending. Very interesting track.
Track 5 – Pritcha
Spoken word interlude.
Track 6 – V Tsepiakh Drevney Tainy
This sounds like a folk song with rock/metal elements. Cool track.
Track 7 – Tropoiu Nevedannoi
Thrash intro but develops more into a gothic metal track.
Track 8 – Liki Bessmertnykh Bogov
Cool track. Heavy.
Track 9 – Kolo Navi
Interesting track.
Track 10 – Korochun
Kind of tribal again. This one is an instrumental track.
Track 11 – Pamiat
This is like a traditional Russian folk song done up in a rock/metal style.
Track 12 – Kupalets
Interesting track. It’s short, so it almost functions as an interlude/prelude track.
Track 13 – Arkona
This one’s quite powerful.
Track 14 – Nebo Hmurde, Tuchi Mrachniye
This is the other epic of the album, clocking in at just over 10 minutes. It starts out quite nicely.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
A huge thanks to Napalm Records for sending this out to us!