Alkonost (band)
Encyclopedia
Alkonost is a Russian heavy metal
band formed in Naberezhnye Chelny
, Tatarstan
, Russia
in 1995. Starting small and gradually building a local Russian fanbase, they are now known to rock fans throughout Eastern
and Northern Europe
.
fans in their native country of the Russian Federation. However, their music has been discussed and shared on the internet, particularly on Usenet
, and they have found new audiences in Nordic
Europe
and the United Kingdom
. Signed to Metalism Records, their albums are available with English titles, although the songs themselves are predominantly sung in Russian
. In 2007, for the first time, the band was able to perform outside of Russia, touring Ukraine
, Belarus
, Slovakia
and the Czech Republic
., where they were warmly received.
n paganism
and mythology
, and the melodies are drawn from indigenous Russian folk music
, but the arrangements and riffs are drawn from power metal
, death metal
and symphonic metal
, consisting of simplistic power chords under intricate "shredding" lead guitar (characteristic of power metal), male guttural rasping vocals (found in death metal) and soaring female operatic vocals (as found in symphonic metal). This has led them to be categorised in all these genres, as well as doom metal
and folk metal
.
. After recording some experimental demos he decided to switch to lead guitar and recruited Alex Solovyov (nicknamed 'Nightbird') as new bassist. By 1997 the band was touring the local rock circuit and had cut their first promotional demo, titled "Shadows Of Timeless" with a further demo entitled "Shadows Of Glory" following shortly after. In 1998 drummer Vladimir Lousshin was recruited and first proper studio album "Songs Of The Eternal Oak" was recorded. To "fill out" the sound, Almira was recruited on keyboards the following year.
In 2000, "Songs Of The Eternal Oak" was released on the Latvia
n label Beverina. A promotional video was shot and at the end of the year female soprano
vocalist Alyona was added to the band. This lineup recorded new demo "Spirit Tending To Revolt" that December. In 2001 Vladimir Lousshin was replaced by Anton on drums. A further demo, exclusively in Russian titled "Nevedomye Zemli" (translation: Unknown Lands) and promo video, followed.
The band's "big break" came with a record deal with the Northern European label Metalism Records and eponymous second album "Alkonost" was released in July 2002. Albums "Between The Worlds" and "The Path We Never Trod" followed at two-yearly intervals.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
band formed in Naberezhnye Chelny
Naberezhnye Chelny
Naberezhnye Chelny is the second largest city in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia.A major industrial center, Naberezhnye Chelny stands on the Kama River some 225 km east of Kazan near Nizhnekamsk Reservoir. It serves as the administrative center of Tukayevsky District, although it is not...
, Tatarstan
Tatarstan
The Republic of Tatarstan is a federal subject of Russia located in the Volga Federal District. Its capital is the city of Kazan, which is one of Russia's largest and most prosperous cities. The republic borders with Kirov, Ulyanovsk, Samara, and Orenburg Oblasts, and with the Mari El, Udmurt,...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1995. Starting small and gradually building a local Russian fanbase, they are now known to rock fans throughout Eastern
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...
.
Popularity
The band is best known amongst heavy metalHeavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
fans in their native country of the Russian Federation. However, their music has been discussed and shared on the internet, particularly on Usenet
Usenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
, and they have found new audiences in Nordic
Nordic countries
The Nordic countries make up a region in Northern Europe and the North Atlantic which consists of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and their associated territories, the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland...
Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Signed to Metalism Records, their albums are available with English titles, although the songs themselves are predominantly sung in Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. In 2007, for the first time, the band was able to perform outside of Russia, touring Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
and the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
., where they were warmly received.
Influences
The band's material is based on RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n paganism
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
and mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, and the melodies are drawn from indigenous Russian folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, but the arrangements and riffs are drawn from power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
, death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
and symphonic metal
Symphonic metal
Symphonic metal is a term used to describe heavy metal music that has symphonic elements; that is, elements that are either borrowed from classical music or, as with progressive rock music, create a style reminiscent of it, e.g...
, consisting of simplistic power chords under intricate "shredding" lead guitar (characteristic of power metal), male guttural rasping vocals (found in death metal) and soaring female operatic vocals (as found in symphonic metal). This has led them to be categorised in all these genres, as well as doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
and folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
.
Biography
The band was the brainchild of bass guitarist Elk who was interested in the idea of fusing Russian folk music with Heavy metalHeavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
. After recording some experimental demos he decided to switch to lead guitar and recruited Alex Solovyov (nicknamed 'Nightbird') as new bassist. By 1997 the band was touring the local rock circuit and had cut their first promotional demo, titled "Shadows Of Timeless" with a further demo entitled "Shadows Of Glory" following shortly after. In 1998 drummer Vladimir Lousshin was recruited and first proper studio album "Songs Of The Eternal Oak" was recorded. To "fill out" the sound, Almira was recruited on keyboards the following year.
In 2000, "Songs Of The Eternal Oak" was released on the Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
n label Beverina. A promotional video was shot and at the end of the year female soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
vocalist Alyona was added to the band. This lineup recorded new demo "Spirit Tending To Revolt" that December. In 2001 Vladimir Lousshin was replaced by Anton on drums. A further demo, exclusively in Russian titled "Nevedomye Zemli" (translation: Unknown Lands) and promo video, followed.
The band's "big break" came with a record deal with the Northern European label Metalism Records and eponymous second album "Alkonost" was released in July 2002. Albums "Between The Worlds" and "The Path We Never Trod" followed at two-yearly intervals.
Studio albums
- 2000 - Songs of the Eternal Oak
- 2004 - Between the Worlds
- 2005 - Mezhmir'je
- 2006 - Put' Neprojdennyj
- 2007 - Heart Stone's Blood
- 2010 - On The Wings Of The Call
Compilations
- 2001 - Memoris (Compiles the Shadows of Glory, Shadows of Timeless, and Spirit Tending to Revolt demos)
- 2002 - Alkonost (Compiles the Songs of the Eternal Oak album with the Spirit Tending to Revolt demo)
- 2004 - Rodnaya Zeml'a (Compiles the Between the Worlds album with two live tracks)
- 2007 - Pesni Vechnogo Dreva (Re-recording of the Alkonost compilation in the Russian language)
Demos
- 1997 - Shadows of Glory
- 1997 - Shadows of Timeless
- 2000 - Spirit Tending to Revolt
- 2001 - Nevedomyje Zemli