АРКОНА — Явь (review)

Album · 2014 · Folk Metal

4/5 · 2014-05-04
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Yav (2014) (Явь in Cyrillic) is the seventh full-length album by Russian folk metal act Arkona (Аркона). It’s been three years since the release of Slovo (2011) (Слово) but the band have hardly been quiet in that time with a couple of live releases put out between 2012 – 2013. Arkona seem to have parted ways with long time drummer Vlad "Artist" Sokolov at some point during the recording as both he and replacement drummer Andrey Ischenko have credits on Yav. Otherwise Yav is largely business as usual for Arkona with several guest performers featured on the album, including a guest vocal slot from former Thyrfing frontman Thomas Väänänen and some violin by Turisas' Olli Vänskä.

I think it's fair to say that no Arkona release up until this point has really broken their own mould with the possible exception of Vo Slavu Velikim! (2005) (Во славу Великим!) which was the album the band started using authentic folk instruments on rather than imitating them as had been the case with their previous releases. They're always struck me as a band with a certain vision that they've rigorously kept with. Rather than stagnating, in my eyes they've become one of the most important acts of the folk metal genre and produced some of its best albums. However I did feel that Slovo was slightly lesser than its three predecessors, which along with Vo Slavu Velikim! also includes Goi, Rode, Goi! (2009) (Гой, Роде, Гой!) and my personal favourite Ot Serdtsa K Nebu (2007) (От сердца к небу). This is why I think it was important for Arkona to produce something like Yav at this point in their career. The style of the album, which is folk metal built on a largely black metal based backbone, will be familiar to existing Arkona fans but there are some noted differences that set Yav apart from their past work, meaning the album has a freshness to it that I quite honestly was not expecting.

The most obvious of the differences comes out in form of longer songs. Where Slovo had fourteen songs and a running time of about fifty-seven minutes Yav features just nine but a longer duration of about sixty-eight minutes. While there are a couple of shorter tracks, namely Serbia (Сербиа) and Gorod snov (Город снов) the rest of the songs are at least around the six and a half minute mark with opener Zarozhdenie (Зарождение) hitting nine and the title track being the longest at almost fourteen. The music itself also has differences of course. Yav does not simply feature elongated versions of what Arkona did before. There is a rawer atmosphere to the music that often plays upon Arkona's black metal elements. Na strazhe novyh let (На страже новых лет), the second track on the album, features some very raw and harsh black metal music and really tortured sounding vocals by Masha "Scream" Arkhipova, for instance. I'd even say that the album occasionally displays some light progressive leanings; while it remains true of Yav that the greatest focus is on the authentic folk instrumentation (instruments this time include Gaita Gallega, Blockflute, Tin whistle, Low whistle and Sopilka) and Arkhipova's excellent vocals guitarist Sergey "Lazar" Atrashkevich is certainly doing a bit more than routinely providing the riffs.

Using terms like harsh and raw is not to say that Yav doesn't still display a lively folk side as well, but there's certainly a predominant feeling of a deeper atmosphere on the songs that is far removed from the work of folk metal acts like Elvenking or Eluveitie and even Arkona's own prior releases. There are no tracks like Slovo's Stenka na Stenku (Стена на Стенку) or Goi, Rode, Goi!'s Yarilo (Ярило). Neither is there any focus given to pure folk based songs this time, but rather sections in the longer tracks. These longer arrangements have given Yav, for want of a better description, a less accessible feeling, but I do tend to find that is the way with atmospheric music. Even as a big fan of the band I have required many listens to digest Yav. It was clear right from the off that I was listening to yet another high quality release by Arkona though, that much at least was never in doubt. But deciding on how it compared to earlier masterpieces, that was the trick.

Well I've given that a lot of thought and on Yav Arkona have made the successful attempt to keep their sound but also produce something new with it and while in a ranked list I would put it below Vo Slavu Velikim!, Ot Serdtsa K Nebu and Goi, Rode, Goi! I consider Yav to another excellent release from them.