Pagan metal is one of those terms that has become increasingly polarizing to adherents of heavy metal culture. A once revered corner of the music wilderness, its purity has recently been hijacked by less 'serious' acts who have turned it into party-time music fit only for drinking, dancing and revelry. While I myself don't hate on these bands for their more lighthearted aesthetics, there are those who cannot stomach such silliness and therefore tend to dismiss them all as irrelevant. Arkona, a female-fronted pagan flagship band from Russia, are one of those groups who owe a lot of their exposure to that very same uptick in popularity caused by the pagan phenomenon. Despite riding this wave of publicity, Arkona differ from the Korpiklaani's and Finntroll's of the world in a few important ways. Ideology for one, as front-woman Masha "Scream" Arkhipova has never been anything but deadly serious about her pagan heritage and her reverence for the Slavic culture. Apart from that, each Arkona release has been as much soaked in pagan black metal as it has been in traditional melodies and instrumentation. 2014 sees Masha and company releasing Yav on Napalm Records, their latest ode to fading cultures and the preservation of that which is left behind. What stands out on the new album right away is the orientation of the song structures. Fuller arrangements make opener "Zarozhdenie" a deep, engaging nine-plus minutes. Keys and traditional instruments revolve around Masha singing clean as well as with gritty harshness. This latter talent is something she does as well as Sabina Classen and better than many men. Musically, there is an almost orchestral patterning to this stunning opener, which weaves it way across many different styles and moods. "Na strazhe novyh let" rips with a Kampfar-like menace before a slower pace ushers in traditional drumming amid an expressive bass line and Masha's patented screams. The vocal melodies truly stand out. "Serbia" is a more introspective song, replete with epic keys and a prideful dirge-like atmosphere. Its central riff is solemn and Masha's clean vocals ask mournful questions of the cosmos, perhaps never to be answered. The rhythm section sounds a bit like Negura Bunget, which is to say it breathes out its own melody underneath the main idea of the song.
Yav is an album that cannot be truly digested in just a few sittings. Arkona have crafted a powerful ode to their heritage and beliefs. "Chado Indigo" combines an epic double-bass laden clean sung chorus with an incursion of a child's voice. The epic title track is over thirteen minutes long, and while it may never be destined to become the new "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," it can however be trusted to paint an amazing picture, dreaming its way into reality on the wings of great melodies and epic riffs. Whatever your feelings on the so-called pagan metal/viking metal scene, Arkona can be relied upon to avoid any silliness. On Yav they have displayed a songwriting acumen many did not know they had, despite their strong discography. Offering something new to the fan with each listen, Arkona have raised the bar for this kind of music and offered up what is arguably their most comprehensive and complete album to date.
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