ARKONA - Stella Pandora
Debemur Morti Productions
First off this is ARKONA from Poland and not the Russian band of the same name. As far as this band goes they've been around since the mid-90's. I first got into em in the late 2000's when I picked up their third CD Nocturnal Arkonian Hordes which came out in 2002. I got another release by em, Lunaris, from 2016. Both of those CDs are cool but I never was a completest with this band.
So here we are with ARKONA's 8th full length and just for the record the band does have a ton of material out their whether it's comps or short form releases. Anyways this Polish band's sound is melodic symphonic black metal. Now if you're probably going "Ah What" then let me explain. For those of us who have been listening to BM for decades we know symphonic black metal has been heavily criticized. I mean the only BM which has gotten worse attacks has been hipster BM which ain't BM at all. But hey it's 2024.
What I like about ARKONA is that they take the old ways of say DARK FUNERAL and DIMMU BORGIR then add in some cool atmosphere instead of the over the top synths or Czech orchestras. Yeah this four piece act is steeped into the late 1990's BM all the way. To me it's cool and comforting. The vocals are harsh. The riffs are punishing as well as icy. The rhythm section is fucking amazing. What synths there are is held so far in the background that they matter little.
In the end I like this a lot especially listening to it late at night. I give props to the drum work on here because it's savage. The vocals come across as agonizing as well as sorrowful. And the song structures on all six tracks are interesting. Stella Pandora just has a good flow as it plays out. Melodic Symphonic Black Metal ain't a band sub genre anymore.
https://www.debemur-morti.com/en/
LISTEN HERE:
https://arkona.bandcamp.com/album/stella-pandora
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