It's summer. Who wants to do anything else than sleeping, going to the beach, flirting beautiful women, and going to clubs and bars every night? Let me answer the question: None! But when I was on holidays, I took the new ARKONA album with me to listen to in the car. And I'm really happy I took Ot Serdtsa K Nebu with me!

Even though I thought that this is a new band and this is their first album, ARKONA is active since 2002 and already has three more releases and a live CD/DVD!  During the same year they released their first demo and started performing live. Late 2003, the band disappeared, since almost all of its members lost ....interest for the further musical creativity..., as the official bio says. But vocalist Maria Scream Arhipova, the heart and soul of ARKONA, didn't give up. With new comrades by her side, she started recording again new material and in March 2004 the first CD, Vozrozhdenie, was recorded. From then on, Maria (aka Masha) and the rest of the guys released two more albums, Lepta and Vo Slavu Velikim in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

So, here we are with their fourth album. By that time, by taking a look at the titles of the songs and the cover of the album, you'll probably understand that we are dealing with a band that plays pagan/folk Metal. All the lyrics are in Russian so I don't have a clue what they are saying. The only thing I know is that they are dealing with ancient national beliefs and history of Slavonic Russia, as I read in their site. The nice thing about those guys is the complexity of their compositions. The riffs are going from death/black to Russian folk ensemble! Same thing happens with the vocals. You'll listen from clean folk melodies and choirs to death growls. You'll even listen to polka rhythms! Even though you may think that you can't combine all those, the outcome is interesting. As for the singing? Masha is doing a great job, no matter if she shouts, growls or sings with a clean voice. Believe me; in the beginning I thought that they have two or three singers!

This is not an 'easy listening' album. It needs time to understand its structure. But if you are patient, a beautiful world will reveal in front of you. Since my rating stars always counting down from 9/10, the rate you will see for Ot Serdtsa K Nebu is relatively good. If you like pagan/folk Metal, make yourself a favor and buy this album.