Arkona are a band from Russia that has had music reviewed before in this zine and plays a mixture of pagan and folk metal and this is a review of their 2023 album "Kob" which was released by Napalm Records.
A very dark and distorted sound starts off the album along with some spoken chants a few seconds later Ritualistic soundscapes and whispered vocals can also be heard at times before going into a heavier musical direction. Most of the tracks are also very long and epic in length and black metal screams and growls are also a very huge part of t he recording.
Keyboards are also mixed in with the heavier sections of the times while clear pagan vocals can also b e heard on most of the tracks. All of the musical instruments on the recording also have a very powerful sound to them along with the riffs adding in a great amount of melody and the solos and leads are done in a very melodic style.
When the music speeds up a great amount of blast beats and tremolo picking can be heard along with the songs also adding in a good mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts. Clean playing and acoustic guitars are also added on some of the tracks as will as the wind instruments also adding in elements of folk music when they are utilized. The production sounds very professional while the lyrics are written in Russian and cover Slavic Paganism and Mythology themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding album from Arkona and if you are a fan of this band, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Kob'" "Mor" and "Razryvaya plot' ot bezyskhodnosti bytiya". 8 out of 10.
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