Search - Rakoth :: Planeshift

Amazing and unique

Brian Fischer-Giffin | Sydney, Australia | 08/21/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rakoth is a Russian band that is making some of the most inspired and interesting music you're likely to hear. Starting off with the standard semi-orchestral instrumental intro piece, Rakoth then plunge headlong into an amazing and diverse album that must be heard to be fully appreciated. Lyrically drawing from Tolkien's canon-like 'Silmarillion' and Celtic legend, Rakoth's album is a heady brew of progressive black metal and folk, stunningly presented. The very first song, 'Fear (Wasn't in the Design)' wears so many musical guises it's almost hard to keep up, beginning with a very lively and folky-sounding progressive style before tumbling through various shades of power metal, melodic death and black metal before winding up pretty much as it started. 'Noldor Exodus' is basically a flute chorus that leads into the equally schizophrenic speed-metal laced, folk-flavoured 'Dark Heart of Uukrul'. Later tracks are nothing less than epic progressive extreme metal with many varied twistings and turnings through introspection and violence, fusing flutes, woodwinds, keyboards, clean, almost Bal-Sagoth like vocals, blast beats, vicious guitar and acoustic sections into a kaleidoscopic, multi-faceted musical adventure. An amazing and unique album."