I have never been to Russia. I imagine they have cities and cars and year-end clearance sales and pizza delivery just like anyone else. But that’s just being boring and realistic. I would rather think of Russia as that savage, untamed land to the east, from whence road the Hun and the Mongol–a mysterious, Dionysian place in which primeval landscapes produce warriors with the spirits of beasts. Arkona seem to perfectly capture this. Their music dances care-free about you but is poisonous to the touch.

There’s something about Slavic languages that sounds ruthlessly vicious when screamed–a very different vibe from the power and command of Germanic tongues. At the same time, that typical deep Russian chorus sound is always so encompassing, embracing everything around it except, perhaps, the listener. Arkona employ ample quantities of both, and fuse it with brilliant folk. If someone described a sound as “one with nature” to me I’d probably roll my eyes, but the nature here presented is a pack of wolves delighting in the kill.

I don’t know, this particular song has just really struck me lately. Ot Serdtsa K Nebu is one of my most listened-to albums, but perhaps because of the lengthy intro I never took sufficient notice of the opening track before. “Shrouds of Celestial Sage”, or “Pokrovy Nebesnogo Startsa”, or “Покровы Небесного Старца”, however you want to write it, isn’t Arkona’s most beautiful song, but I think it might be their greatest success at melding such meledies with a characteristically eastern savagery.

The explosion at 5:03 is one of the most epic moments in metal, and the sound quality of a youtube video cannot do it justice. Also, Miss Masha Arhipova is the most awesome person ever. Yes, that’s her screaming.