http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Alkonost/10145

It really saddens me knowing how much underrated this brilliant band is, their own description of their sound is 100% accurate: epic dark folk metal!

Unique guitar riffs, mesmerizing synthesizer, loud as hell bass, not to mention the amazing marriage of raspy-like growling male with a soprano female...

The band's latest effort "On the wings of the call" is solid, catchy and fine, I was expecting more though, anyway, the band already recorded a new album and now searching for a label (how freaking frustrating this is!), plus I have to add that the ex-bassist/vocalist Alex Nightbird left the band and is now starting his own project, the drummer Anton also told me that he and the keyboardist Almira are leaving as well! There's a new lineup soon...

For those who adore Alkonost, please share your thoughts!

Wow, I didn't realize Alkonost was having so much lineup instability. I knew that Alex had left, but their new bassist/vocalist sounds almost exactly like him so I don't know what kind of impact that would have on their music. I'm Facebook friends with Anton but I didn't know he and Almira were leaving the band, too.

I wonder why they're looking for a new label? Did things not work out with Einheit Produktionen? Maybe nobody bought "On the Wings of the Call"? I thought it was a very good album, though not up there with "The Path We've Never Made." Listening to them, I still feel like they could do great things and that they have a lot of life left in them. I hope their lineup will stabilize again and that their label woes will end.

Yeah but that new bassist/vocalist is a session one, not a permanent one and he also left as well! So I guess his vocals/bass lines were only recorded for the new album...

Yeah they rarely talk about their new stuff, their official site is outdated and nothing is new on vkontakte! As Anton also told me, things didn't work up with einheit, they haven't received their money yet due to bureaucracy which is, for any band, frustrating!

What I know about the new album is that it's different since Alex left and wasn't involved in the songwriting anymore, I hope it's awesome, I adore every single release in their discography, from the early lo-fi demos to the new version of Nevertimes!

Andrey, the lead guitarist and the brain behind the band, told me that he's forming a new line up and preparing a tour!

Awesome, very unique band! I'm definitely interested to see what effect this lineup change has on their sound. I wouldn't really care if they changed it, but I hope the quality doesn't suffer.

My favorite release of theirs is between Stone Heart Blood and The Path We've Never Made. I just really dig the production on SHB. Still need to pick up the latest but from the tracks I've listened to it seems pretty promising.

Has anyone seen their live DVDs? How are they?

I like all releases, each release has its own aesthetics, sound, quality and mood!

I love listening to the early demos and the debut "Song of the Eternal Oak" when I want an easy listening experience...

"Between the worlds" is definitely a heavy release and all songs are pretty catchy and unique! "The Path..." requires a more complex mood... and I usually listen to "Stone Heart Blood" when I am feeling a bit annoyed and down, it does help, it's weird I know!

Yes I've seen all their DVDs, they are pretty unique, although, they are like Agalloch, it's hard to "bring" the atmosphere to the live set, but they are pretty amazing, I wish if I can see them live any day...

Here's something very old: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb0t-joGcng (War Is Closed by Us, from 1999)

And here's "That Path We've Never Made" song from their DVD "In Front of Arkona's Wall": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEXx5QcPDFY

Nice, thanks for those links. Both shows seem to have great crowds. I bet they'd be quite fun to see live.

I personally prefer their later albums with female vocals.

I see, thx for your inputs guys, any more comments? It seems that there aren't too many Alkonost fans in here... unfortunately!

I don't know of a lot of people who hate Alkonost, but it seems that a large number of people who have listened to a significant amount of their music will shrug their shoulders and say, "I like the sound, but every one of their songs sounds the same." I'm not one of those people --if they released six albums per year, all with the same identifiable Alkonost sound, I would buy each of them-- but I can definitely understand the criticism.

I am usually up for discussing a band I really enjoy like Alkonost, but hearing about all their lineup and label woes makes me feel kind of down. I know that the core of the band is still there (well, minus Nightbird), but unless they can find another harsh vocalist who can also write great lyrics, it's hard for me to imagine the future of the band being as bright as their past.

This is the reason I don't have a huge interest in the band. Female fronted bands with a clean female voice with harsh male vocals to complement it I just don't like. It's almost a pet peeve of mine. There's some rare cases I like it but most of the time it just feels so overdone.

I suppose I should try their later releases, I don't mind having my mind changed. Especially since it's been years since I have last listened to them and it was only their early material (demo stuff I think).

samekh, yes I totally understand your point, there's some saying in the eastern world that loosely says: stick to what's working! I know, lots of western won't be accepting that so, anyway we will "have" an opportunity to judge the future of the band with this new, yet unannounced album! I really feel sorry about the departure of Almira, you already know how her synth sounds so but glad we still have the brain of the band, Andrey "Elk" Losev! And also glad we still have one more chance to hear those keys and Anton's beats in this new album...

Arithmetica, you know, I never and will never listen to the so-called symphonic gothic/power/... metal with female operatic/soprano vocals (e.g. nightwish, epica, within temptation...), because I really can't stand them, but with Alkonost, although I always prefer hearing more of Alex's voice, but sometimes Alena is indeed amazing! For me, I adore listening to female-fronted FOLK metal bands (e.g. grai, arkona, natural spirit...), only folk for a simple reason and that is that I feel that "those vocals" suit the mood of the music and emphasize the folk aspects and culture of the sound!

A huge fan of the band. Love every release

Glad to hear that =)

The old records of Alkonost were the most remarkable.
Among Russians, the band is known and not underrated. Stil Arkona outplay them in this respect.

Yes but I do tend to prefer them over Arkona, because Alkonost pushes its guitar to the front and its riffs are what make their unique sound!

While Arkona, despite being a huge fan, I find them to be a typical Slavonic folk metal band, with the guitar usually being given a supporting role and ethnic/wind instruments are what lead the sound, I don't have a problem with that, but Alkonost is more unique...

Definitely an awesome band, albeit difficult to get actual hard copies of their releases (at least in the US). After getting into some of the other amazing Slavic bands I started to devour anything and everything from Ukraine and Russia. I am really happy to find these guys, they have such a powerful sound with growled vocals paired with female vocals. A total win for anyone that likes this type of combo and melodic and atmospheric melodies.

Who else finds Alex Nightbird, the ex-vocalist/bassist, to be an awesome harsh vocalist and bassist as well?

I never been fan of Arkona in the first place. And yes, Alkonost outplay them Musicianship wise. Fame doesn't matter anyway.

Exactly, fame never and will never matter, however, the band needs some support, it sickens me to hell seeing how many terrible bands out there are geting support for something that is, at least, musically not* impressive...

I think you wanted to say 'not' impressive..
Agreed.

Oh yeah, thx for the correction!

So who wants to hear what Alex Nightbird has been doing lately with his new project Сердце-Камень (Stone-Heart)?

Go to http://vk.com/alexnightbird and scroll down to:

Сердце-Камень – Ожидание, you can click on the play arrow for listening without registration, yes this is a cover/rearrangement of the same Alkonost song Waiting, but this time, with a classic guitar and Irina Zybina's vocals (from Grai)

Just a little update about this band, here's the photo of the new line-up:



As it seemed out to be, Elk succeeded in keeping the same formula, a raspy-like vocalist/bassist and a female Soprano singer! This new female vocalist sounds exactly (well a little lesser) like Alena, however her stage presence is stronger! Here's their first live concert (with the new lineup): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypXt0tHdDDI

Unfortunately, they are performing with both a playback drum track and a synthesizer track! The new album will finally see the light in fall with the final participation of the ex-vocalist Alena, ex-keyboardist Almira, ex-drummer Anton and the ex-session bassist/vocalist Vladimir!

Thoughts?

Well, I'm glad the album will finally be released. Do you know who is releasing it? Will it be Einheit, Metalism, or somebody else?

It sucks that they haven't found a new drummer yet. Playing the synth as a backing track during concerts is one thing, but it's another thing for them to be playing without a live drummer. Russia seems to have a deep pool of talent (even if the band is located in Tatarstan, which isn't exactly the prime location for metal bands in Russia) so hopefully they'll pick up a drummer and even a keyboardist soon.

Not really. All I know is that it was self-recorded and self-produced, I also know that Anton (the ex-drummer) himself helped in the songwriting of some melodies since Alex was previously heavily involved in such process, so I don't know what kind of change this will bring to the actual music. Have you ever checked his solo project Eldenhor? Maybe this will give us some hints...

Anyway, I highly believe that einheit WONT be releasing it since, as it seemed out to be, the previous experience was unsatisfying.

Here's some great updates:

The new album is finally going to be released soon via the Russian label SoundAge! It will be available in 2 languages: English and Russian! This means that, according to the band's statement, each language means a different set of vocalists! (Just like "Between The Worlds" and "Mezmerje")

Its Russian version is now being mastered in the studio of Sergei Lazar (CDM Records, of Arkona). The band performed live 2 new songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kQd_DMWu6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... wl_54vOoas

This will be the last album to feature the female vocalist Alena and the keyboardist Almira. As for the drummer Anton, although he left the band as well but he still writes the MIDI drums for the songs.

Your opinions?

I don't have access to Youtube here at work, but if one of them is the same live song as Alkonost posted on Facebook a few days ago, I thought the song was very good ("it sounds like Alkonost" was my first thought) and the new vocalist is great. I hope she sings in the folk-style a lot in their new recordings, like the woman who did session vocals on "On the Wings of the Call."

I still wish they had a real drummer for live shows, but the new material sounds good from what I've heard so far.

I also recently ordered the split CD that features Alex "Nightbird"'s new project, Serdtse-Kamen'. I'm keeping myself from listening to any samples so I'll be surprised when the CD arrives.

Yes, one of them was recently posted by Alkonost both on FB and VK! (The Russian version of FB), the other new song was never posted by the band and it doesn't have a title too! (?)

Yes, you will hear Ksenia singing more in the folk style in the other new song as Irina did on "On the wings..."

As for Alexey's project and speaking of Irina, well you gotta prepare yourself to hear 4 excellent songs (2 re-written Alkonost songs and 2 fresh ones) (Here's my review by the way: http://www.metal-archives.com/reviews/% ... B0/350847/)

Here it is and after 3 years of waiting, the new album is called: "Сказки Странствий" (Tales Of Wandering) and will be released next month! It will feature 4 vocalists, most probably the current ones (Maxim and Ksenia) are singing the English version of the album while the ex-ones (Alena and Vladimir) have recorded the original Russian version back in 2010!

As for the cover art, it's a quite departure from almost all of their previous covers, this surely reflects the change in mood, members, themes and lyrics.

What do you think?