Label : Einheit Produktionen
Review By Tony Cannella
Alkonost are a Folk-Metal band from Russia. Their history dates way back to 1995, when the band first began. Their new album is titled, “On the Wings of the Call” and 15-years into their career, Alkonost have released a solid 7-songs and 40-minutes worth of top-notch Folk-Metal. Alkonost feature three lead vocalists in their ranks. Aleksej Soloiev handles the more extreme male vocals. He is joined by Alena Pelevina who contributes an operatic style and Irina Zybina adds a folk vocal style. Got all that? Whatever the case, it is these three vocal styles that really drive the songs on, “On the Wings of the Call” and help to push it over-the-top for me. The lyrics are sung in the bands native Russian. The songs are not just pure Folk-Metal, the band add some nice bits of melody along with heavy riffing, some elements of Doom and Power Metal to go along with some cool Iron Maiden-like Guitar harmonies. The track, “Alii Zvet (Fire Bloom-charm)” is an excellent example of this and is my favorite. The final track, “Plach Kniazhny (Princess’ Lament)” also quickly became another favorite. In the pantheon of Folk-Metal, Alkonost have a lot to offer the unsuspecting listener. Folk elements combined with other influences, great vocals, song writing and musicianship make “On the Wings of the Call” a definite winner for this veteran Russian outfit.
Rating – 88/100
Tracklist
- Korabi Ptica (Bird-Ship)
- Hladnii Ogn’ Nochi (Chilly Fire of the Night)
- Drevi-Dumi (Thought-Trees)
- Neskazanii Svet (Ineffable Light)
- Chudosvetnia Bil’ (Wonderland True Story)
- AlII Zvet (Fire Bloom-Charm)
- Plach Kniazhny (Princess’ Lament)
Line Up
- Alena Pelevina – Operatic vocals
- Irina Zybina – Folk vocals (session)
- Aleksej Soloiev – Vocal, Bass
- Andrej Losev – Guitar
- Dmitrij Sokolov – Guitar
- Almira Fathulina – Keyboards
- Anton Chepigin – Drums
Links