Russian sextet Arkuda's music should be categorized under Pagan Metal and the band shows its many colors on their debut album, Pod Pokrovom Vekov (Under the Pall of the Centuries in English). This Russian-language album contains elements from Black, Folk, Power and Death Metal and reminds me of Finntroll and Ensiferum but with a more Power Metal approach.

To Arkuda's credit, they have done a pretty good job fusing several musical elements together, to the point where it flows well and is delightfully catchy. There are some improvements I would recommend for the next release, though. Some of the keyboard parts are out of place and the occasional clean vocals don't necessarily fit into their songs that well, but perhaps that's just me. On the other hand, vocalist Andrey's Death growls and grunts are convincingly done and remind me of Tomi Koivusaari's performance on Amorphis' first two albums. I wouldn't mind if Arkuda focused 100% on Death growls in the future as they provide a powerful contrast to the melodic and folky parts.

Overall, there are more pluses for the Pod Pokrovom Vekov record than minuses. And if they minimize those minuses they will be drilling holes in our skulls with more impressive stuff in the future.