1 post tagged “atmospheric black metal”
Drudkh made the news recently signing to French metal label, Season of Mist. However, this is a band that's been around since 2003 and has quickly risen to the top of the legendary Ukrainian black metal scene (home of such hordes as Hate Forest and Nokturnal Mortum). Today, I'm talking about my favorite of their albums, Кров у Наших Криницях (translated into English as Blood in Our Wells - translations will just be in brackets as they're listed on Wikipedia from here on out).
Drudkh have always been a sort of unusual band, mixing atmospheric black metal with more traditional elements of metal, like harsh, almost proto-death metal style vocals, guitar solos and occasionally riffs more reminiscent of Bathory than of Burzum. The lack of constant blastbeats is also refreshing. The result is at once heavy, cinematic, and utterly mesmerizing.
The first “real” song, “Борозни Богів [Furrows of the Gods]” goes more places in its 8 minutes than some black metal bands go over the course of an album. “Коли Пломінь Перетворюється на Попіл [When the Flame Turns to Ashes]” starts with a folky intro and then suddenly your face is being melted off by an awesome guitar solo. From there, it's the blackest of the black atmospheric exploration with the occasional ray of hope shining through. “Самітність [Solitude]” starts off sounding more like the soundtrack to an epic battle before entering more depressive territory, with Roman's vocals tearing angrily through. “Вічність [Eternity]” is a faster song. The opening riff and guitar solo kill, and then the vocals come in. This one has a really strange melody to it for black metal. Almost upbeat, but not quite. The last track, “Українська Повстанська Армія (Ukrainian Insurgent Army)” is a slower, but shorter song, clocking in at just over 5 minutes. It's really not the most interesting track on the album, but it's a fitting closer.
This comes as a highly recommended black metal classic. Check it out.
