Arkona (Russian: Аркона) is a Russian folk metal band.[1] Their lyrics are heavily influenced by Russian folklore and Slavic mythology, and their music incorporates several traditional Russian musical instruments. The name of the band "Arkona" refers to the last Pre-Christianized Slavic city-castle.
The band was founded in February 2002 by two members of Dolgoprudny Slavic Neopaganism Society: Masha "Scream" Arkhipova and Alexander "Warlock" Korolyov, originally as Giperboreya (Гиперборея – Hyperborea). At the end of 2002 the group (featuring also Evgeny Knyazev on guitar, Evgeny Borzov on bass and Olga Loginova on keyboards, and now as Arkona) entered the Moscow CDM Studios. Having recorded the Rus demo (its three tracks re-surfaced in 2006 as bonuses for the live set Zhizn vo Slavu), the band started playing live, performing with fellow Russian folk metal bands, like Butterfly Temple, Pagan Reign, Svarga, and Rossomahaar.[2]
In September 2003 Arkona disbanded, due to the general lack of enthusiasm on the part of some of Maria's colleagues. Arkhipova opted to continue and wrote the material for a solo album, which she presented to the members of Nargathrond, another project she was singing for at the time.[3] The resulting debut album Vozrozhdeniye came out in March 2004 on Soundage Production. By this time the band featured three new members: guitarist Sergey "Lazar", bassist Ruslan "Knyaz" and drummer Vlad "Artist". Recorded in the autumn, their second album, Lepta, was released in December.[3]
Maria 'Masha Scream' Arkhipova
2005 saw the release of the band's third and highly diverse album Vo slavu velikim!, featuring an acclaimed Russian folk multi-instrumentalist Vladimir Cherepovsky (Mevent, Voinstvo Sadov, Veter Vody) as well various members of Svarga and Alkonost groups. In September 2005 the album went gold in Russia. The group's October performance at the CD's presentation ceremony was recorded, to be released in March 2006 as live DVD/CD Zhizn Vo Slavu. Arkona's fourth studio album Ot serdtsa k nebu, recorded again with Cherepovsky (various members of the Belarusian folk choir Gostitsa also took part) was released by Soundage Productions in 2007.[4] The artwork for the sleeve was provided by the Belgian artist Kris Verwimp who's continued working for the band ever since.[2]
In March 2008 Arkona performed at the Ragnarök Festival and were signed to the Austrian label Napalm Records which re-issued Ot Serdtsa K Nebu,[5] and organized the band's 30-date European tour, which ended with their appearance at the Brutal Assault festival.
Arkona's fifth studio album, Goi, Rode, Goi!, released in October 2009, proved to be an ambitious affair: all in all, more than 40 musicians took part, including a choir and a string quintet. All ethnic instruments were played in the studio by Vladimir Cherepovsky and his student Vladimir "Volk", who subsequently joined the band as a full-time member. Prior to that, the band's second DVD Noch Velesova came out in May.[2]
2010 was a year of intensive touring: the band played more than 150 concerts all over Europe. In August 2011 Arkona's sixth studio album Slovo was released; again a stylistically eclectic mix, it featured the Chamber Orchestra of the Kazan Conservatory and the Moscow Conservatory's student choir. That year saw the band appearing at numerous heavy metal events, including Hellfest, With Full Force and Metalfest.
In 2011 the band conducted a 36-date tour over Canada, United States and Mexico. The special 10th Anniversary concert was recorded in Moscow on 11 February 2012 (to be released next year as Decade of Glory), followed by massive Russian and European tours, including concerts with Dalriada and Darkest Era,[6] as well as the appearance at the 70,000 Tons of Metal event. In October 2013 the band interrupted their studio recording for another America tour, now as headliners.[2]
In January 2014, Arkona announced on its Facebook page that drummer Vlad "Artist" Sokolov had left the band, citing personal reasons, marking its first lineup change in 10 years.[7] Andrey Ishchenko joined the band as the new drummer.[8]Yav, the concept album, came out in April 2014.[2][9]
In November 2016, Arkona released a re-recorded version of their debut album Vozrozhdeniye. In January 2018 Arkona released the studio album Khram. In May 2020, Arkona announced on Facebook that drummer Andrey Ishchenko had left the band.
Arkona's albums have been widely acclaimed and the band has repeatedly been called one of the best pagan metal acts.[10][11]
In popular culture
On 11 March 2010, a clip of the song "Yarilo" from Goi, Rode, Goi! was featured on the St. Patrick's Day episode of the U.S. version of the television series The Office. Three (apparently Russian) janitors walked in with the song playing while the workers were still in the office, forced to work late.[12]
Agathodaimon are a gothic/symphonic black metal band from Mainz, Germany. Their early material can be categorized as Symphonic Black Metal and their later musical pieces can be categorized as Gothic/Black Metal.
Visions of Atlantis is an Austrian symphonic metal band from Styria, founded in 2000. Inspiration came both from successful Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish and from the myth of Atlantis, as well as a pirate theme in recent albums.
Cruachan are an Irish folk metal band from Dublin that have been active since the 1990s. They are recognised as one of the founders of folk metal, and have been acclaimed as having "gone the greatest lengths of anyone in their attempts to expand" the genre. With a specific focus on Celtic music and the use of Celtic mythology in their lyrics, Cruachan's style of folk metal is called Celtic metal.
Vo Slavu Velikim! is the third full-length album by the Russian folk metal band Arkona. It was released on 24 September 2005 through Sound Age Production. It was re-released in 2008 by Vic Records.
Vozrozhdeniye is the first full-length album by the Russian folk metal band Arkona. It was released on 20 April 2004 through Sound Age Production. A re-recording of the album with different artwork was released by Napalm Records in 2015.
Zhizn vo Slavu is the first live CD / DVD by the Russian folk metal band Arkona. It was released on 1/16 March 2006 through Sound Age Production.
Enthroned is a Belgian black metal band formed in Charleroi. It is one of the premier acts of the Belgian black metal scene.
Ot Serdtsa k Nebu is the fourth full-length album by the Russian folk metal band Arkona. It was released on 31 October 2007 through Sound Age Production and later through Napalm Records. The name translates to "From the Heart to the Sky".
Alestorm are a Scottish heavy metal band formed in Perth, Scotland in 2007. Their music is characterised by a pirate theme, and as a result, they have been dubbed a "pirate metal" band by many critics and their fanbase. The group currently consists of lead vocalist/keytarist Christopher Bowes, bassist Gareth Murdock, drummer Peter Alcorn, keyboardist/harsh vocalist Elliot Vernon and guitarist Máté "Bobo" Bodor.
Alkonost is a Russian epic folk metal band formed in Naberezhnye Chelny, Tatarstan, Russia in 1995.
Heidevolk is a folk metal band from the Netherlands. The lyrical themes of their music are inspired by nature, the history of Gelderland, and Germanic mythology. Most of their lyrics are in Dutch; however, on their 2015 album, Velua, they have one original English song, "Vinland", and several English covers. Their 2018 album, Vuur van verzet, contains two English-language songs: "A Wolf in My Heart" and "The Alliance".
Noch Velesova is the second live album by the Russian pagan / folk metal band Arkona. It was released on 11 February 2009 through Sound Age Production in Russia and in May–June 2009 through Napalm Records worldwide.
Goi, Rode, Goi! is the fifth full-length album by the Russian pagan metal band Arkona. It was released on 28 October 2009 through Napalm Records. "Goy, Rode, Goy!" means "Hail, Rod, Hail!". Rod is the Slavic Great God, Father of the Universe.
Finsterforst is a German folk metal band from Schwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, whose lyrical themes deal with nature, German myths, and fantasy worlds. Formed in 2004, the group has released five studio albums, one extended play and one compilation album.
Стенка на Стенку is an EP by the Russian folk metal band Arkona. It was released on 25 May 2011 through Napalm Records.
Slovo is the sixth full-length album by the Russian pagan metal band Arkona. It was released on 26 August 2011 through Napalm Records. An academical choir and a chamber orchestra were used on the album.
Maria Arkhipova, known by her stage name as Masha Scream, is a Russian metal musician from Moscow. She is the founder, vocalist and main songwriter of the folk metal band Arkona. She has also played in other bands such as Nargathrond.
Yav is the seventh full-length album by the Russian pagan metal band Arkona. It was released on 25 April 2014 through Napalm Records.
Khram is the eighth full-length album by the Russian pagan metal band Arkona. It was released on 19 January 2018 through Napalm Records. The title means "Temple" in English.
Kob' is the ninth studio album by the Russian heavy metal band Arkona, released on 16 June 2023 through Napalm Records. The songs are about how mankind has tried, and failed, to rise above nature, and is descending in six steps toward self-annihilation. The subjects include spiritual decay, ecological disasters, diseases, the Russo-Ukrainian War, and nuclear warfare. Critics have described it as Arkona's darkest album.
↑ "Hírek"[News]. Dalriada official website (in Hungarian). 26 September 2012. Archived from the original on 27 January 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
↑ Eck, Markus (2008). "Arkona – Vo Slavu Velikim". Sonic Seducer (in German). No.12. Archived from the original on 12 February 2013. Mit diesem zeitlos schönen Geniestreich offenbart sich, dass diese russische Gruppe zum Allerbesten und auch Ästhetischsten gehört, was der gesamte internationale Pagan Folk Metal überhaupt zu bieten hat. [This agelessly beautiful stroke of genius reveals that this Russian band belongs among the very best and the most aesthetic that the entire range of international pagan folk metal has to offer.]
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