This episode of Balkan Express will take a look at a foundational piece of North Macedonian rock music. Arhangel or Archangel is an alternative rock band led by Risto Vrtev which has had massive influence of the Macedonian rock scene.
Arhangel are considered by many to be the best North Macedonian rock band of all time. They came into existence in early 1989, when Risto Vrtev quit a punk band called Badbintons to pursue a more conceptual line of rock music, which included alternative rock, post-punk and elements of Macedonian folk music. Thus Arhangel appeared.
Risto Vrtev, Arhangel
The band’s lyrics are often deeply introspective and poetic. They explore exsistential and spirutual questions and are often dealing with life, universe and everything. Seeing as Risto Vrtev was already something of a known quantity on Macedonian rock scene, getting people to pay attention wasn't really a problem. But the music of Arhangel was still something completely different.
In a way, Arhangel shares the fate of its country of origin. A gem, culturally and othewise, that is too often ignored by the wider world, either because it is just a bit behind the curve, or just because it is too far down on a map. More than one critic has asked themselves, just how big Arhangel would have become in the region or even the whole of Europe, had they been formed just few years earlier. But it is what it is and perhaps it's for the best.
Despite the fact that Arhangel have been around for almost four decades, the lineup had changed surprisingly little. In fact, of the original four-member lineup, vocalist and band leader Risto Vrtev, and guitarist Dragan Ginovski are still there, while drummer Panta Jambazoski and bass player Petar Jankov joined some time later.
In terms of production, Arhangel are not something to write home about. In all the 35 years of their existence on this planet, they managed to release four albums. And the latest one is twenty years old, so there's that. Nevertheless, the band is still very much around and performing. That said, their act today is a far cry from a disoriented rock band of the early 1990s. Today, you might even call them a conceptuallly philosophical band.
By far and large, Arhangel have written the book on Macedonian rock. Granted, they weren't the only one, and we've covered bands like Mizar on this here show as well, but Arhangel have managed to trully embrace rock as an art form and not simply as an opium for the masses. For that, they deserve their place in the pantheon of Balkan rock.
And that's all the time we have for today. Check out Arhangel on YouTube, Spotify and wherever you get your music from, and Balkan Express will be back next week.
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Balkan Express brings you the latest and/or the greatest in music from the Balkans. On air every Tuesday at 11am on Ara City Radio, it is hosted by Aljaž aka @pengovsky who once did the world a solid and vowed never to sing again in public. Which is how he ended up doing radio.