ALKONOST – On the Wings of the Call CD review

ALKONOST – On the Wings of the Call CD
Einheit Productions

The Russian band ALKONOST, named after the Slavic goddess of death, play the type of pagan folk metal which is for genre connoisseurs and not your typical Paganfest slummers. Their music is epic and melodic consisting of heavy handed riffs and thunderous bass lines that could sit well with fans of Doom (yes there is a folk doom sub genre). Although there’s some keyboards and folk song structures, the pieces missing are the acoustic/folk instruments which are almost obligatory within the genre. That’s one thing which sets ALKONOST apart plus their ability to add a slight progressive metal style and yet keeping it within the pagan folk metal boundaries. Another part is the duel vocals with the male, bassist Alexey Solovyov, taking on the harsh thundering growls while the female, Alena Pelevina, are sung clean with a touch of the operatic. Speaking of Alena she has a beautiful voice but for some, aka: anyone who hates older NIGHTWISH or WITHIN TEMPTATION, the operatic vocals can be tough for most extreme metal fans to accept.

If you can get passed all of that and don’t mind songs sung in their native tongue then you’ll enjoy ALKONOST. On the Wings of the Call is their seventh full length and if I dare say most accessible to English speakers. The band is well known in their homeland as well as Eastern Europe but breaking out onto western audiences has yet to come. Since they are now on this German label they’re hoping things change. I’ve only been a fan for a few years now but once I heard their unique take on pagan folk metal I became an instant fan. The seven cuts on here are simple guitar driven melodies that owe more to the gothic progressive metal side of the aisle. The atmosphere is laid back with nothing that will drive one to jump out of their seat and shout. To me this is decent background music which would even be a delight to the shoegazer crowd. I like the way they keep the keyboards mostly in the background not to overwhelm the listener. It’s a hypnotic journy to the motherland.


www.einheit-produktionen.de/