Arkona (band)

Making and release

After recording the Rus demo, the band began playing live with fellow Russian folk metal bands like Butterfly Temple and Pagan Reign.^[2] The third album Vo slavu velikim! was released in 2005, featuring multi-instrumentalist Vladimir Cherepovsky and members of Svarga and Alkonost.^[4] The fourth studio album Ot serdtsa k nebu was released by Soundage Productions in 2007, with artwork by Belgian artist Kris Verwimp.^[4] A lack of enthusiasm from some of Maria's bandmates caused Arkona to break up in September 2003.^[5]

Arkhipova carried on by herself, composing songs for a solo record that she then showed to members of Nargathrond; the first album, Vozrozhdeniye, was issued by Soundage Production in March 2004.^[5] The second album, Lepta, was cut in the autumn and came out in December of that year.^[5] After playing the Ragnarök Festival in March 2008, Arkona signed with Napalm Records, an Austrian label that then re-released Ot Serdtsa K Nebu and set up a 30-show European tour for the band.^[6] More than 40 musicians, among them a choir and a string quintet, contributed to the fifth studio album Goi, Rode, Goi!, which was issued in October 2009.^[2]

What the cited sources add

That page also lists the first two tracks as "Покровы Небесного Старца" and "Гой, Купала!!!"^[7] The Soundage release page for Ot Serdtsa K Nebu gives the album's year as 2007, its country as Russia, its format as CD, and its genre as Pagan Metal.^[7] According to a 29 January 2014 article on HeadBanger.ru, drummer Vlad "Artist" Sokolov left Arkona in January 2014 for personal reasons—the first lineup change in a decade—and Andrey Ishchenko took over on drums.^[8][9]