On Wednesday, December 31,
Vladislav Sokolov, drummer of Moscow, Russia-based "Slavic pagan metal" band
ARKONA, was hit by a car. Despite the high speed of the vehicle and the power of the impact, the musician escaped virtually unharmed and has already returned home from the hospital. As the doctors said, "He was born with the silver spoon in his mouth."
The band will play all concerts as scheduled.
ARKONA recently entered the studio to begin recording its fifth album, titled
"Goi, Rode, Goi!" The CD will include 12 tracks with a running time of more than 70 minutes. Musically, the album will pick up where the last two efforts left off, but with the addition of a string orchestra and a live choir. All ethnic instruments will one again be performed by
Vladimir Cherepovskiy, a specialist in old instruments and music. The accordion will be played by
Alexander "Olen" Oleinikov of the
KALEVALA band. According to a press release, "the band plans to widen the list of instruments never being used before. Shaman drums are already ordered from a famous master
Dmitriy Ravich, [along with a] line of jaw harps and some other ethnic percussion."
"Goi, Rode, Goi!" will contain a 15-minute song called
"Na Moey Zemle" ("In my land"), which is being described as "a kind of pagan metal opera about the travelling of Slav around countries of Europe." Guest vocalists on the CD will include members of
SKYFORGER (Latvia),
OBTEST (Lithuania),
MÅNEGARM (Sweden),
MENHIR (Germany) and
HEIDEVOLK (Holland). The CD artwork is being by created by
Kris Verwimp (
THYRFING,
MÅNEGARM). A late spring release via
Napalm Records is expected.
ARKONA's latest album,
"Ot Serdca K Nebu" ("From the Heart to the Sky"), was released on July 4, 2008 via
Napalm.
According to a press release,
ARKONA's "leader is the charismatic frontlady
Masha Scream, who also writes all the music and lyrics, as well as delivering her fierce vocals. The band plays Slavic pagan metal and embellishes their versatile compositions with the use of folk instrumentation."
ARKONA is:
Masha "Scream" - Vocals
Sergei "Lazar" - Guitar
Ruslan "Kniaz" - Bass
Vlad "Artist" – Drums
For more information, visit
www.myspace.com/arkonarussia.
(Thanks:
Gilbert van Hagen /
www.metalfan.nl)
