Arafel comes from Tel Aviv, Israel and were formed in 1997. They released a four song demo in 1999 titled Skazki Starogo Lesa. They started out playing black metal with Slavic folk influences. The demo is tempered by a lack of co-ordination from the band members though this is to be expected as it's only a demo and the band still needs time to evolve. The subsequent follow up and there first studio album, The Way Of Defender would be a massive improvement on their previous work and would garner critical reception. They would incorporate more folk instrumentals which would give them more native feel. If only to help solidify there presence in this genre it would be clear that any future work would be gold. They then released there second studio album, Second Strike: Through The Flame Of The Ages and received even more praise. This became Israel's best selling album in 2005. They started to stray further away from blackened sound and really worked the folk instrumentals. Shortly after the albums release they hired new band members for live shows and then began to return to there black metal roots. In 2009 they changed there course completely and hired Helge Stang of Equilibrium. The band changed it's musical core even further to a more refined folk atmosphere and rough death metal elements with the hiring of Helge. The band then released there first 3rd studio album, For Battles Once Fought. With Helge at the helm they would stray from the success of their second album and go back to there roots. This albums doesn't hit you like their second one did. It took subsequent playthroughs to appreciate this album so it plays second fiddle to there previous one. Hopefully it won't take to long for another album and violin and drums in Serpent Land is the epidemy of awesome viking/black/folk metal.
Quality: Skazki Starogo Lesa (Demo) (1999) - 192 kbps MP3 / CBR
The Way Of Defender (2003) - V0 MP3 / VBR
Second Strike: Through The Flame Of The Ages (2005) - V0 MP3 / VBR
For Battles Once Fought (2011) - V0 MP3 / VBR
- Skazki Starogo Lesa (Demo): MirrorCreator
- The Way Of Defender: MirrorCreator
- Second Strike: Through The Flame Of The Ages: MirrorCreator
- For Battles Once Fought: MirrorCreator
