Temnozor

This is a very interesting band from Russia. They do all their vocals in Russian which makes them stand out immediately and their lyrics are supposedly wrapped around Slavic pride and Slavic paganism. The band has gotten some bad press for harboring some hardcore right-wing views, hence the association with national socialist black metal but I can't comment on this as I have no idea what they are saying.

The majority of the vocals on the newer stuff is clean and reminds me of the grandiose yodeling of the band Root from Czech Republic which has a very old world type of sound to it. However, Root does a much better job at this type of singing. The music on this album is pretty light and folksy. To be honest I enjoyed their "Horizons" album more as it was much more on the black metal side of things. This band really has their own sound which allows them to standout in a sea of forgetfulness but they really are not that good. Musically they can barely play any of the instruments they touch but some of the songs really kick ass and have a really cool anthem vibe to them. In fact most of their musical ideas are cool yet their lack of formidable execution at times takes away from it. Regardless of what does and doesn't work, this band deserves to be heard because they bring a unique approach to the metal world. I actually like their lack of skill because it adds to their tone and some of the songs are really cool. Sometimes the songs are just too folksy though. The second and third songs on the album are really cool they have a very typical raw black metal sound but they have cool flutes and pagan melodies over the top, similar to the first track on the Horizons album. I find myself liking the band the most when they stick to raw black metal with tons of pagan melodies on top. If you are a fan of this band you will probably enjoy this album and if you have never heard this band you should check them out because they are not your typical black metal band.

http://www.myspace.com/temnozor