Darkestrah

Band: Darkestrah
Formed In: 1999
Genre: Black/Folk Metal
Country of Origin: Kyrgyzstan , Germany (Now)

Album: Sary Oy
Year: 2004

Track Listing:

1. Part I - Sary Oy
2. Part II - Jashil Oy
3. Part III - Kysil Oy

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YGF3UUJM

Album: Epos
Year: 2007

Track Listing:

1. Epos

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YIXW7I11


Darkestrah is one of the few bands lend by a female who does harsh vocals that:

1. Is not gimmicky.
2. Actually sounds good.

The first time I listened to Darkestrah I had no idea their vocalist was a girl; unlike most female harsh vocalists, who sound neutered (or should I say spayed?) or just awful, Kriegtalith's vocals are amazing and capture the feel of how Black Metal vocals often sound like. Getting away from the vocals and to the music, Darkestrah play very unique Black/Folk Metal. The Black/Folk fad has resulted in a lot of samey bands but Darkestrah put an interesting spin on it. Their riffs are atypical and they use interesting folk instruments, my favorite being the use of a jaw harp. All their songs are long and epic, Epos being a single 33 minutes long eponymous track, for example, and make for an engaging listen that doesn't get boring, even though most of the time there are no accompanying vocals. Essential stuff for lovers of Folk or Pagan Black Metal. Also, it should be known that the Anti in this band is indeed the German artist behind the Suicidal Depressive project Anti.