They’re back!… well, kind of. I think after how much of a chore Furrow’s was to get through, I’d take anything better and this certainly delivers in that way. Though the way it deliver that is what I have issue with. This certainly sounds like a classic Drudkh record, but it doesn’t have the same soul as their classics. I listen to Autumn Aurora and I feel like I’m walking through the forest of an ancient lands, and my guide is telling me old tales of the great history of those lands. The droning, almost lullaby like nature of the music makes it all seem like a dream, or a vision of some sort, and the biggest key to it all is that it all sounds so damn WARM. Whereas you can have Paysage with the comfy snow music, Drudkh feel like an early September wind, just when temperatures are starting to cool off, and the weather is at this perfect balance point of nice enough to wear a t-shirt, but cold enough to not sweat your ass off.
This album on the other hand, feels like someone broke into the Ukrainian Krusty Kvlt and found the secret formula to Drudkh, and then Plankton and his robo wife go nutzo with it, all while forgetting the whole message of the episode which is something something, friends r kewl whatever. It just doesn’t have the soul of the older music. And I mean, I’m very much overplaying how much this affects my rating, because even if you get the tofurkey version of Drudkh, it’s core elements are still so damn good that it’s hard to fuck up.
The thing I’m more worried about is how damn neocrusty/post-rocky some of the melodies sound on here. I swear I’ve heard some of the guitar tones on here on a moshcore album at some point, and the melodies sound often sound like they came from an Ancst album. Kinda minor though, might just be random inspiration of sorts. It’s not like atmo black doesn’t do unholy breeding with post-rock all the time, especially now. This is a good album, although I feel like long time fans who are really trying to be fair might be disappointed when comparing it to the bands previous efforts.
LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4dFZu-yyXE buy links in the description