SATANAKOZEL „Rogatiya”

Music: Folk/Pagan Metal
Website: http://www.myspace.com/satanakozel
Country: Russia
Cool songs: Strah Da Tuman, Karlik Zlobniy, Kuznets, Pivovar, Podopri-Gora

Created in 2003 by Nikolay Kuskov and Vasiliy Kozlov, SATANAKOZEL is one of the most promising Russian metal bands. “Rogatiya” is their debut album and it contains compositions created during the five years of existence. It is also important to stress that during those five years of composing, the band line up changed frequently, so the final outcome is a fruit of work of different people, therefore the whole is quite multi-musician like. The current team started recording the album in March 2007, which has been released in a limited number of 999 copies through the Finnish Varjot Productions.

Damn those Russian guys from Petrozavodsk! Damn all of them! Damn everything! Since I’ve heard their album I cannot sleep at night without listening to at least one song from it. All those fantastic compositions… but from the beginning. How to describe the music? Well, it is pretty simple. Put a pint of FINNTROLL and a full spoon of KORPIKLAANI, add a bit of TURISAS and some ENSIFERUM hints and you have it! Quite simple receipt, although the music is not a dull or dumb cliché. It is a fully mature and concept material, prepared with huge attention to technical details and with heart.

First of all the music is quite original – it is not as heavy metal oriented as NOMANS LAND, it is rather more folk based and concentrates mainly on Russian legends or drunken stories (hilarious ‘As Priest Sivoldai Lost His Way in a Forest). So, pure folk with pagan sound. The opening ‘Veter’ is a really interesting starter, melodic and quite noble sound, created by balalaika-like instrument, played by Vasiliy, with strong male vocal, very clean and so Russian. By that I mean very cold and hard, but still human. It is that thing that only Russians can do – listen to their songs or poets and you will know what I mean. They have that unique manner of articulating sounds, which is absolutely fantastic when they do it in their mother tongue. Coming back to the music, the whole is kept in a true pagan atmosphere of folk hymns. Accompanied by balalaikas or accordions, the music is pretty cool. I have to admit that FINNTROLL’s or KORPIKLAANI’s folk influences do not sound as fresh as SATANAKOZEL’s. They managed to create an atmosphere of curiosity and mystery, embellished by furious pagan force. The songs are truly folk and pagan, but they are really far from a church fair, which, from some time ago, is being a part of the one or the other Finnish band’s performance. Luckily enough, the Russian boys are still healthy and not contaminated by that fucking commercialization, which makes those others eating their tails.

The compositions are varied, they spread from very alive and wacky folk tunes to vicious pagan rhythms, blowing everything on their way. ‘Fear And Fog’ is representing the cool folk stuff. The melody is fantastic, accompanied by accordion, pushing it to the higher level of cognition. I’ve heard many metal compositions with accordion, but SATANAKOZEL is the first one who made it the indispensible part of the instrumental team. It is not pretentious, it is real and extravagant, without being eccentric. ‘Spiteful Dwarf’ for instance, is a true pagan hymn blowing your mind to pieces. Dan it again! I want to hear them live! The power, the energy, that fucking great atmosphere of a feast! No one would do it better.

The technicalities are diabolic! Everything chops and changes, it is a pure kaleidoscope. Want some more statistics? Thousands of riffs, cool intros and outros, cool solos (although a few)… but there are also accordion solos! The motifs do not repeat, they just overlap and one jumps from the another, just to change into yet another and smite the listener with its surprising feature. And everything accompanied by those cool Russian choirs creating the feast atmosphere. Real folk feast for real folk fans. This album is really worth all the money you can pay for it.

It has been long since I heard some good folk stuff. And believe me, getting something valuable from the Finnish stables nowadays is comparable with a miracle. Today, when there are thousands of folk based bands, playing pipes and claiming that their music is the one and only true folk. Well, Scandinavia should try harder, as it is being overran by the Russian SATANAKOZEL or, for example, Argentinean SKILTRON, who are more modest and create music with pure heart power. Today, keeping on the folk scene does not mean playing some old instruments and dancing in skirts or kilts. You need to be original and play from your fucking heart, you need to show that you have got the character, iron balls and long curly hair on them. SATANAKOZEL have got all those attributes. Therefore… salute them!

note: 9/10

Tracklist

1. Veter (Wind)
2. Strah Da Tuman (Fear and Fog)
3. Kak Pop Sivoldai v Lesu Zabludilsa (As Priest Sivoldai Lost His Way in a Forest)
4. T`ma (Darkness)
5. Karlik Zlobniy (Spiteful Dwarf)
6. Kuznets (Blacksmith)
7. Vyuga (Blizzard)
8. Pivovar (Brewer)
9. Podopri-Gora (Podopri-Gora)
10. Pustota (Emptiness)

Total playing time 42:05

Line-up

Vasiliy Kozlov – guitar, vocals, bass, folk instruments, keyboards
Nikolay Kuskov – drums
Dmitriy Dobrynin – keyboards, backing vocals
Dmitriy Voronin – guitar
Evgeniy Tikhonov – bass, backing vocals (guest)