From Ukraine, a country devastated by civil war and internal divisions, Drudkh give another admirable sample of their refined art. I have been following Drudkh for many years now and they have never disappointed me. I myself reviewed their previous album The Eternal Turn of the Wheel (2012), which marked an improvement in production and the abandonment of their typical slow and gloomy tempos in favour of a certain harshness, but it still retained the unmistakable folk touch that has always characterized the sound of the historic Ukrainian band.
The new album A Furrow Cut Short (the English translation provided by the band for БОРОЗНА ОБІРВАЛАСЯ) is the tenth and longest of the band so far with its seven songs for a total duration of 59 minutes. But it is not as one might think, I mean an album full of acoustic guitars, keyboards, experimentations and the like. On the contrary, the new album is the most straight-to-the-point that the band has ever released. All the folk sections are not to be found on this album, in favour of a sound that is totally pure black metal, even if not of the harshest kind. In fact the band has kept its evocative and melancholy atmosphere; the long duration of the album is due to the fact that the band leaves a lot of space to the instrumental part of the music with evolutions and melodies, but this time no arpeggios or solo breaks the flow of the distorted guitars, with the exception of a light background keyboard here and there. For this reason A Furrow Cut Short is a very intense and engaging listen, and if you are not familiar with Drudkh do yourself a favor and start listening now.
Notes:
Release date: May 19 2015 on Season of Mist. All the texts and title are in Ukrainian; the titles shown here are translations provided by the band. Both album and merchandise are purchasable through the Bandcamp player below.
Tracklist:
1. Cursed Sons I
2. Cursed Sons II
3. To the Epoch of Unbowed Poets
4. Ember's
5. Dishonour I
6. Dishonour II
7. Till Foreign Ground Shall Cover Eyes
Personnel:
Roman Saenko - Guitars, Bass
Thurios - Vocals, Keyboards
Krechet - Bass, Keyboards
Vlad - Drums, Keyboards
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com
The new album A Furrow Cut Short (the English translation provided by the band for БОРОЗНА ОБІРВАЛАСЯ) is the tenth and longest of the band so far with its seven songs for a total duration of 59 minutes. But it is not as one might think, I mean an album full of acoustic guitars, keyboards, experimentations and the like. On the contrary, the new album is the most straight-to-the-point that the band has ever released. All the folk sections are not to be found on this album, in favour of a sound that is totally pure black metal, even if not of the harshest kind. In fact the band has kept its evocative and melancholy atmosphere; the long duration of the album is due to the fact that the band leaves a lot of space to the instrumental part of the music with evolutions and melodies, but this time no arpeggios or solo breaks the flow of the distorted guitars, with the exception of a light background keyboard here and there. For this reason A Furrow Cut Short is a very intense and engaging listen, and if you are not familiar with Drudkh do yourself a favor and start listening now.
Notes:
Release date: May 19 2015 on Season of Mist. All the texts and title are in Ukrainian; the titles shown here are translations provided by the band. Both album and merchandise are purchasable through the Bandcamp player below.
Tracklist:
1. Cursed Sons I
2. Cursed Sons II
3. To the Epoch of Unbowed Poets
4. Ember's
5. Dishonour I
6. Dishonour II
7. Till Foreign Ground Shall Cover Eyes
Personnel:
Roman Saenko - Guitars, Bass
Thurios - Vocals, Keyboards
Krechet - Bass, Keyboards
Vlad - Drums, Keyboards
Text by Herjann
herjann@unholyblackmetal.com