Darkestrah

Darkestrah is a Kyrgyz pagan metal band, formed in 1999 in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Throughout their career the band has blended folklore music with metal elements. In its lyrics and in musical composition, the band uses national folk musical instruments, such as the komuz and kyl-kyak, and references shamanism and Tengrism. The band also takes influence from genres such as progressive rock and post-rock, generally constructing lengthy, rhythmically complex songs that often feature several discrete movements.

The word "Darkestrah" is a portmanteau of two words: "dark" and "orchestra"; however, in one interview, the band's drummer Asbath stated that there is still mystic and hidden meaning in the name of the band.

Since its formation in 1999, the band has released six studio albums, three EPs, one split, and one live album.

Biography

Darkestrah, the Kyrgyz Pagan metal group, was established in Bishkek, and their first demo, ''The Black Pagan Act'' was recorded in December 1999. In 2000 December, their second demo, ''Through the Ashes of Shamanic Flames'' was released by the German label Curse of KvN Sadistic. In 2003 February, the band recorded their first full-length album, ''Sary Oy'', which appeared on the same label in January 2004. In this album, traditional folk songs with traditional Kyrgyz instruments were combined with metal. It is a concept album about a Kyrgyz legend.

In March 2004, the EP ''The Way to Paganism'' was recorded; the German label No Colours Records released on 14 April 2005, along with the full-length album ''Embrace of Memory'' on 25 October. In 2007 they recorded a new album, ''Epos'', with a new studio called ''Kick the Flame Studio''. ''Epos'' is almost fully dedicated to Issyk-kul Lake. It is filled with Pagan motives, and it consists of a single track that runs for more than thirty-three minutes.

In 2007, Darkestrah cut its ties with No Colours and it signed a contract with American Paragon Records. In 2008 March, they released their new album, ''The Great Silk Road''. This earned them the attention of the French label Osmose Productions, on which they released the EP ''Khagan'' in 2011 and their fifth full-length album, ''Manas'' (based on the Kyrgyz Epic of Manas), in 2013.

The band's releases up to this point were fairly unique in the largely male-dominated world of black metal for featuring female vocalist Kriegtalith, who utilised occasional clean vocals and an unconventional style reminiscent of Tuvan throat singing alongside the traditional shrieks of black metal. She left the band in 2014, however.

An "official live bootleg", ''Everything Becomes Fire'', was self-released in 2015; it was recorded in Germany in 2006. A split with the Saudi band Al-Namrood (Darkestrah's side being a re-recording of the track "Akyr Zaman", previous versions of which had appeared on ''Embrace of Memory'' and the multi-artist compilation ''Stimme aus der Tiefe #1''), on the Canadian label Shaythan Productions, and Darkestrah's sixth full-length album ''Turan'', again on Osmose, were both released in 2016. Shaythan Productions has also released vinyl editions of some of Darkestrah's back catalogue (thus far, ''Epos'' and ''The Great Silk Road''). In 2019, Casus Belli Musica and Beverina Productions co-released the 5-CD boxed set ''20th Anniversary Chronicles of Nomadic Conquest'', which contained reissues of the band's first four albums (''Sary Oy'', ''Embrace of Memory'', ''Epos'', and ''The Great Silk Road'') as well as the EP ''Khagan''.

Members

Current
* Asbath – drums , percussion
* Resurgermus – keyboards , guitars
* Cerritus – bass guitar , temir-komuz
* Charuk – vocals, percussion
* Magus – traditional instruments

Past members
* Kriegtalith – vocals
* Oldhan – guitar , vocals , bass, traditional instruments
* Tartar – guitar
* Anastasia – keyboard
* Sharthar – keyboards, cello
* Shagan – guitars
* Anti – guitars , bass
* Ragnar – guitars
* Merkith – vocals
* Scythe – guitar
* Dushman – guitar
* Warneus – guitar

Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:18
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:90 top:10 right:20
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1999 till:01/01/2022
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1999
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1999

Colors =
id:vox value:red legend:Lead_Vocals
id:guitar value:green legend:Guitars
id:bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:drums value:orange legend:Drums,_Percussion
id:keys value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:perc value:claret legend:Percussion
id:trad value:pink legend:Traditional_Insruments
id:Lines value:black legend:Studio_Album

LineData =
at:01/31/2004 color:black layer:back
at:10/25/2005 color:black layer:back
at:01/23/2007 color:black layer:back
at:08/31/2008 color:black layer:back
at:05/17/2013 color:black layer:back
at:04/27/2016 color:black layer:back

BarData =
bar:Kriegtalith text:"Kriegtalith"
bar:Merkith text:"Merkith"
bar:Charuk text:"Charuk"

bar:Oldhan text:"Oldhan"
bar:Tartar text:"Tartar"
bar:Shagan text:"Shagan"
bar:Anti text:"Anti"
bar:Ragnar text:"Ragnar"
bar:Scythe text:"Scythe"
bar:Dushman text:"Dushman"
bar:Warneus text:"Warneus"
bar:Cerritus text:"Cerritus"
bar:Asbath text:"Asbath"
bar:Anastasia text:"Anastasia"
bar:Resurgemus text:"Resurgemus"
bar:Shartar text:"Shartar"
bar:Magus text:"Magus"

PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4)
bar:Asbath from:start till:end color:drums
bar:Asbath from:04/15/2005 till:end color:perc width:3
bar:Resurgemus from:10/01/2004 till:10/31/2006 color:keys
bar:Resurgemus from:10/01/2004 till:10/31/2006 color:guitar width:3
bar:Resurgemus from:02/01/2008 till:end color:keys
bar:Resurgemus from:01/01/2010 till:end color:guitar width:3
bar:Kriegtalith from:start till:03/01/2014 color:vox
bar:Cerritus from:05/31/2013 till:end color:bass
bar:Cerritus from:03/01/2020 till:end color:trad width:3
bar:Merkith from:04/30/2016 till:02/29/2020 color:vox
bar:Charuk from:03/01/2020 till:end color:vox
bar:Charuk from:03/01/2020 till:end color:perc width:3
bar:Dushman from:07/01/2016 till:03/01/2020 color:guitar
bar:Warneus from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2020 color:guitar
bar:Ragnar from:01/01/2013 till:07/01/2016 color:guitar
bar:Oldhan from:start till:01/31/2004 color:guitar
bar:Oldhan from:12/31/2000 till:01/31/2004 color:vox width:3
bar:Oldhan from:01/01/2003 till:01/31/2004 color:trad width:5
bar:Oldhan from:01/01/2003 till:01/31/2004 color:bass width:7
bar:Anti from:11/01/2006 till:09/30/2011 color:guitar
bar:Anti from:11/01/2006 till:01/31/2007 color:bass width:3
bar:Anti from:01/01/2010 till:09/30/2011 color:bass width:3
bar:Tartar from:start till:01/31/2004 color:guitar
bar:Anastasia from:12/01/2000 till:10/01/2004 color:keys
bar:Shagan from:10/01/2004 till:12/31/2005 color:guitar
bar:Shartar from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2007 color:keys
bar:Scythe from:07/01/2016 till:12/31/2017 color:guitar
bar:Magus from:03/01/2020 till:end color:trad

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Sary Oy'' (2004, Curse of KvN Sadistic / Narcoleptica Productions / Shaytan Productions)
* ''Embrace of Memory'' (2005, No Colours Records / Narcoleptica Productions / Shaytan Productions)
* ''Epos'' (2007, No Colours Records / Narcoleptica Productions / Shaytan Productions)
* ''The Great Silk Road'' (2008, Paragon Records / Narcoleptica Productions / Shaytan Productions)
* ''Manas'' (2013, Osmose Productions / Narcoleptica Productions)
* '' Turan'' (2016, Osmose Productions)

Live albums

* ''Everything Becomes Fire'' (2015)

Compilation albums

* ''20th Anniversary Chronicles of Nomadic Conquest'' (2019, Beverina Productions / Casus Belli Musica)

Split albums

* ''Akyr Zaman/Tajer al Punqia'' split with Al-Namrood (2016, Shaytan Productions)

EPs

* ''The Way to Paganism'' (2005, No Colours Records)
* ''Khagan'' (2011, Osmose Productions / Narcoleptica Productions)
* ''Chong Aryk'' (2021, Shaytan Productions)

Demos

* ''Pagan Black Act'' (2003, Curse of KvN Sadistic)
* ''Through the Ashes of the Shamanic Flames'' (2000, Curse of KvN Sadistic)

See also

* Tengrism
* Kyrgyz music
* Pagan metal

References

External links

Darkestrah
at Facebook

Darkestrah
Official Bandcamp profile

Encyclopaedia Metallum

{{Authority control

Asian shamanism
Beverina Productions artists
Black metal musical groups
Casus Belli Musica artists
Kyrgyzstani musical groups
Musical groups established in 1998
Modern pagan musical groups
Osmose Productions artists