Band: Alkonost (Russia)
Album Title: Каменного Сердца Кровь (Stone Heart Blood)
Label: Metalism Records (Russia)
Released: 2007 (November)
Some bands are in a constant state of progression. Alkonost does not seem to be one of them, which is just fine, for the most part. Though they've spent the last several years dwelling on the same folk-influenced gothic metal sound, Alkonost has managed to keep their fans satisfied. I only began listening to the band within the last six months of 2007, so I have no sense of perspective on this issue, but this is the impression I get from the five CD's of theirs that I've bought in that timeframe.
2006's excellent The Path We've Never Made saw the band experimenting with some faster rhythms and a more aggressive sound at times (granted, this is within the construct of their pleasant, accessible style), but their brand new release, Stone Heart Blood, seems to be a bit of a regression. When I listen to it, I sometimes wonder if the band put too much of a burden on themselves by re-recording so much material in the last few years (as a bit of background, Alkonost used to sing in English, but they've recently been going back and re-recording many of their old songs with Russian lyrics) that they were unable to come up with a worthy follow-up to The Path We've Never Made at this time.
That's not to say that Stone Heart Blood is not a good album. There's nothing wrong with it, really. If it had switched places with The Path We've Never Made and was released as a follow-up to 2004's Between the Worlds (or its 2006 Russian language re-release Межмирье), the progression would have sounded more natural. However, The Path We've Never Made raised my expectations, and the expectations of many others, perhaps too high for the band to reach such a short time later.
On the positive side, the band sounds great. Alexey's great harsh vocals once again are featured quite a bit, and Alena's operatic-style voice is stronger (and a bit lower in pitch, I think) than before. There are some nice choir vocals on some of the choruses, which I don't recall hearing much, if at all, on previous albums.
However, the songs themselves aren't terribly catchy. There's no real equivalent of "The Night Before the Battle," "Waiting," or "Heat-Lightning Thoughts" (the latter being the awesome closing song of The Path..., complete with guest vocals by Arkona's Masha). The music is all quite pleasant, but I have difficulty remembering any of the melodies later. Catchiness is not a requirement of folk metal, but this is something that Alkonost is normally very good at. Also, the tempo of the album is always kept mid-paced. Perhaps if they'd thrown in a faster song or two, it would have made things more interesting.
Let me reiterate and say that Stone Heart Blood is not a bad album. Not at all. It's a good album. But it's not up to the level of The Path We've Never Made, and unfortunately every album by a band will be compared to its predecessors, which is where this one falls short. If you are interested in listening to Alkonost and are looking for an album to start with, I wouldn't dissuade you from Stone Heart Blood, as it's certainly a decent representation of their sound. However, if you only ever want one Alkonost album, I would direct you to The Path We've Never Made before I would recommend this one.
No comments:
Post a Comment