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Возрождение (or Vozrozhdenie in English text and used herein) is the debut full-length album by Russian folk metal group Аркона (translated: Arkona), which was released in 2004. The album features an almost entirely new line-up from the group’s prior demo release, with the only constant being frontwoman Masha “Scream”. The sound of the record is notably different from later releases by the band, as at this stage in their career Arkona seems content to create their folk melody through use of a synthesiser, rather than the assortment of actual traditional instruments that graces their more recent releases.
This admittedly gives the album something of a synthetic feel in regard to the folk parts, but otherwise this is good first album from the band. The riffs are heavy and Masha’s vocals are stunning, being a mix between cleans that are very fitting to folk music, and harsh vocals, which she also does extremely well. Masha is the highlight of the album, because while her vocals are stunning, her compositional skills also make her stand out from the crowd. The synth dominated sound of Vozrozhdenie means that overall the album isn’t as stunning as it could be, the compositions are generally great and well performed, and the production gives the release a professional sound fitting to the heavy riffs and backing synths. Some of those synth parts sound real enough, but overall the ‘faked’ sound of them is a bit hard to miss.
I’m not so bothered about that in the larger scale of things. Masha makes the album a joy to listen to on her own. The main issue I have with the album is that there is a guest vocalist who crops up in a few of the tracks, called Alexey "Lesiar" Agafonov. His vocals add nothing to the album that Masha couldn’t have done better, and I don’t really see the point in bringing in guest singers when your full-time vocalist can handle the parts just fine. His growl is completely inferior to Masha’s, not because it is bad, but because it just doesn’t fit with Arkona’s music in quite the same way. I just fail to see the need for his presence here.
Vozrozhdenie is a good enough album from Arkona, but it’s not a patch on what they would go on to produce. The album is probably best described as a sign of better things to come. Still, its solid material and one of the better examples of snyth driven folk metal that I’ve come across so far. I feel a positive score is still pretty justified for Vozrozhdenie, but recommend that new-comers to the band check out later full-lengths such as Гой, Роде, гой! (aka Goi, Rode, Goi!) as a starting point for the group.
(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 7.5/10)