Band:	Arkona (POL)
Album:	Stella Pandora
Style:	Black metal
Release date:	September 27, 2024
A review by:	AndyMetalFreak

01. Pandora
02. Altaria
03. Necropolis
04. Elysium
05. Prometeus
06. Aurora

It's Polish black metal, but not quite as we've come to know it.

Any follower of black metal will tell you the Polish black metal scene has been the one dominating the genre in recent years, where so many fantastic releases have been churned out by great bands such as Batushka, Mgła, and Blaze Of Perdition, just to name a few. However, it's easy to forget that Poland isn't entirely new to black metal, as veterans such as Behemoth and the so often overlooked Arkona have been around since the start of the second wave we often tend to associate with Scandinavia. Arkona formed over 3 decades ago in 1993, before releasing their full-length debut Imperium 3 years later in 1996, the same year Satyricon introduced us to Nemesis Divina, and Burzum to Filosofem. Those mentioned bands would go on to become widely known legendary pioneers, while somehow Arkona have remained in the dark underground shadows of those bands, as well as many more.

Fast-forward to 2024, where Arkona now present their 8th album to date, Stella Pandora. Within these 6 lengthy tracks at just shy of a 50-minute run-time, Stella Pandora offers listeners a conceptual insight into the inevitability of death, the senselessness of existence, and the pointlessness of fighting against human destiny when faith is just manipulation. This beautifully dark and intense journey begins with "Pandora", where female, symphonic wails and eerie, demonic whispers are first introduced behind a slow, synth-based build-up. This softly but intensely works its way up to the unleashing of traditional, ferocious, blackened instrumentation, tormenting listeners with devilish shrieks, furiously rampant blast-beats, and black metal tremolos, which is made all the more intense by the constant background of neoclassical, symphonic orchestrations, a style mastered by French black metal giants Seth.

The instrumentation is highly repetitive in structure, but, between the tremolos, rhythm, and neoclassical symphonic elements, there's a real hypnotic feel, and this isn't just traditional black-orientated either. "The Necropolis", for instance, is far from the band's style of old; there's a hint of black-gaze and DSBM with its dark melancholic approach. As the song continues, there's a sense of hopelessness, sorrow, and despair, and it starts to feel darker, almost as if death is getting nearer. The closest song to the band's old, traditional ways for me is actually the closer "Aurora". A real sense of dark mysticism surrounds this song, from the slow, cosmic synth passage, which truly gives you shivers, to the eruption of savage blast-beats, epically driven melodic tremolos, and passionate, agonizing shrieks. All this comes together for an epic, grand finale.

The songwriting behind Stella Pandora is dark, powerful, emotive, elegantly layered, and beautifully arranged, the production is impeccable, all of which the Polish black metal scene is renowned for. But where Arkona differs from their fellow acts from the Polish black metal scene here is their softer, more melancholic approach and incorporation of other genres such as black-gaze and DSBM. The album's repetitive structural approach is what gives it that hypnotic touch, but if you're not touched by it, then it can also be the album's downfall. Arkona have come a long way since their beginnings and in many ways matured. This might not be the most welcome approach for fans of the tvue kvlt ways, but, for those who want to see the band progress and move forward in the modern black metal scene, then Stella Pandora could be a welcome addition from which to move forward.