Arkona – Decade of Glory – Live

arkona - decade of glory - liveIn early 2012, Russian folk metal band Arkona celebrated their tenth anniverary with a special concert at the P!PLE Concert Hall in Moscow.  To make it really special they were joined by a 9-piece choir, a string quartet and 2 background vocalists.  The concert was recorded and is now being released as a live album.  The album is packed with songs from the band’s career – 31 of them in fact which is an impressive amount of tracks, and is even more impressive when you realise the album (and therefore the concert it was recorded at) clocks in at over two and a half hours.  That’s a long show for any band, but when it’s a band that puts as much energy into their show as Arkona it’s an even more impressive feat.

Arkona are a great live band, so I was looking forward to hearing this live album.  While the album gives you a great soundtrack, you don’t get the same impact that you do when you’re watching the band play live and in particular not being able to see what the band are doing means you lose the visual energy side of their performance.  That’s the same with any live album though, so lets get down to specifics.  The sound is nice and clear, and the mix seems very good in general, although at times Masha’s vocals do seem a little low in the mix.  The Choir sounds great – when it’s used it really does make the songs sound special.  The orchestra too adds a lot to the music  – the band sound great normally, but with an orchestra then things sound even better.  The Choir and Orchestra aren’t used throughout the show – they are used more sparingly to add extra impact for certain songs, and what’s most important – they don’t overpower the bands folk metal/pagan metal sound

Listening to this album has made me want to see Arkona in concert again – hopefully they can make it to the UK in the not too distant future (their last attempt as part of the Heidenfest tour failed when they had visa problems).  If they can’t get to the UK though, this is a band that’s worth travelling abroad to see.

A great live album.

“Decade of Glory – Live” will be released on 1st March 2013

Rating:  8.5/10

Track listing:

1. Arkona
2. Kupala i Kostroma
3. Vyjdu Ja Na Voljushku
4. Ot Serdca k Nebu
5. Slavsia, Rus’
6. Goi, Rode, Goi!
7. Liki Bessmertnykh Bogov
8. Stenka na Stenku
9. Leshiy
10. Rus’
11. Katitsia Kolo
12. Slovo
13. V Tsepiakh Drevney Tainy
14. Bol’no mne
15. Zakliatie
16. Az’
17. Sva
18. Kupalets
19. Oh, Pechal’-Toska
20. Arkaim
21. Odna
22. Zov Predkov
23. Po Syroi Zemle
24. Maslenitsa
25. Kolo Navi
26. Kolyada
27. Marena
28. Yarilo
29. Pamiat
30. Nevidal
31. Skvoz’ Tuman Vekov

Arkona are:

Masha “Scream” – voice
Sergei “Lazar” – guitar
Ruslan “Kniaz” – bass
Vlad “Artist” – drums
Vladimir “Volk” – wind ethnic instruments

Live session member:
Anton Dobrovolskiy – keyboards, sampler, sound

About Ant May

I spend half my life at gigs or festivals and the other half writing the reviews and editing photos, and somehow find time for a full time job too. Who needs sleep - I've got coffee.