It was a late Tuesday evening November 12th as the line grew larger outside The Joint in Los Angeles. The show did not start for hours but fans were too excited to see Arkona headline their first North America Tour. The Joint itself is a tiny bar-like venue with friendly staff, nice interior décor, and a very small but high up stage that lets the whole standing room floor to view the band regardless of who is in front of them. There were a few local opening bands on this evening, with two bands which stood out in particular in Sirion and The Dread Crew of Oddwood.
First up is Los Angeles’ favorite Sirion. If you are from Southern California and you have never heard or seen these guys play, you are totally missing out! Over the past couple of years, this 6-piece band has taken over the Southern California metal scene with their brutal harmonies of melodic metal. Opening up for bands such as Holy Grail, Turisas, Gene Hoglan, and now Arkona; this band is definitely going places. Every show they play, you are in for a treat because the set is always changed up. Tonight they surprised the crowd with a cover version of the track “Rasputin” by Boney M but in the style of Turisas’s rendition. The crowd erupted in pure madness! They also had a few pits going on during songs “Interstellar” and “Beyond the Depths”. If you missed Sirion’s set or you have yet to see them, be sure to catch them again promoting their upcoming EP debut on Dec 20th with Holy Grail at the Whiskey A Go Go.
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Next to take the stage was The Dread Crew of Oddwood, a pirate themed band from San Diego, California that blends Heavy Metal, Celtic Folk, and Progressive Rock to proclaim a new genre: Heavy Mahogany. Unlike most pirate metal bands out there these guys stand out due to the fact that not only do they act and dress like pirates on and off stage, but they also use unique acoustic instruments to play their music rather than the typical electric guitars and keyboards you see on stage now a days. They managed to perform a really great set tonight with the crowd raving for more because of the pure entertainment you get when you see this band live and on stage.
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The time was now passed 11PM and you can hear some people chanting “Arkona, Arkona” while others chanted “Masha, Masha”. After a brief pause before the set, Arkona emerged one by one onto the stage and opened up with “Ot Serdtsa K Nebu” translated to English as “From the Heart to the Sky”. Previously touring with Korpiklaani in 2011 and Turisas in 2012, coming to us all the way from Mother Russia, it was the first headlining tour in North America for Arkona. Unlike most bands in the pagan metal or folk metal genre, Arkona does not sing about Vikings and their gods. All of their songs are about Slovic gods and history performed in the native tongue of Russian. This band gained their popularity due to their powerful female vocalist, Maria Arkhipova (aka Masha Scream). She is one of few female singers that can sing in death growl style successfully. And tonight, that she did! Her vocals were very spot on. On stage they are full of crazy energy as they all synchronized their head banging during “Goi, Rode, Goi” and commanded huge pits. The best pit of them all broke out on the encore as people ran around in circles around a guy performing his rendition of the Russian dance.
This was an epic show and one that won’t be forgotten. Not many bands from Russia come to North America to tour and it is awesome to see a breakout band like Arkona do so. Thank you Arkona for the wonderful memories!
Written by Karina Diana Parker
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