Then yeah, most certainly the newer records are a better fit. To me they have more of a nostalgic value I guess

I've been turned off by the "folk" label so far. Really not an enjoyer of folk, usually. But I keep being told Arkona give it their own spin, and 'progressive black' should be up my alley.

I might be biased, but in mid 2000s there was a huge resurgence of folk rock and folk metal in Russian scene, and it produced the most earnest records. But everyone's different

I have yet to listen to Arkona :D

Arkona is one of them, yes, I still need to give Grima a proper listen too

And obviously a lot of people are very fond of Arkona, but I'm not sure they're still Russia-based.

Grima are pretty good