Drudkh
Songs Of Grief And Solitude

Every year-end in the metal field, there's the sadly tedious game of rankings: best album of the year, best band, worst album, worst band, breakthrough act, and Italian album (as if it were a category for the underprivileged…), etc. Even sadder is my condition, as I live in the past and rarely buy new albums.

However, for once, I can voice my opinion, and I sincerely feel (what a relief!) that among the best metal bands of the year, you can count the Ukrainian band Drudkh. Ukrainians? Drudkh? Sure, these guys are not among the well-known names of the extreme scene, but believe me, they are one of the most interesting and genuine projects in recent years.

Drudkh ("oak" in Sanskrit) formed a few years ago as a side project of Hate Forest and Lucifugum, becoming the main band of Thurios and Roman Saenko. "Songs Of Grief And Solitude" is the second album to be released in 2006, after the excellent work of the previous "Blood In Our Wells": this surprising continuity made me consider them as one of my reference points for the year that's now past.

After several albums dedicated to elevating their peculiar style to the highest levels (you must listen to "Autumn Aurora"), a truly significant blend of Folk and Black, with strong Depressive shades, Drudkh decided it was time to write an entirely acoustic album, inspired by the atmospheres of their country (it may not be Norway, but I assure you that sadness dwells here too). In itself, this clarification should no longer surprise, given that most (let's say all) of Black Folk bands have dedicated a chapter of their discography to these extra-metallic sounds (Ulver's Kveldssanger is the model): to this day, however, no one has composed an album like "Songs Of". And I'm not talking at all in terms of quality, inspiration, or adherence to the musical heritage of their land. I'm referring to the atmosphere that an album of such depth carries with it.

This uniqueness is created through some rather rare expedients in an album of its kind (and these are the elements that critics have criticized in reviews): the album is completely devoid of any vocal tracks; the melodies are entrusted to a pair of guitars, sometimes accompanied by traditional instruments, mostly wind instruments, and brief Ambient parts, with samples of rural life. No Ulver-style choirs, no Finntroll-style Humppa. None of this. Moreover (as if that wasn't enough, you might say) the compositions have a simple structure, often repetitive and monotonous. I wrote all this to warn you against any purchase aspirations, driven (only if you're fans of these sounds) to grab every single Black-Folk-related album. Now one wonders: why such a high rating? And most importantly, why buy it?

Well, "Songs" is an album that makes the poverty of means a very useful tool, turning limitations into virtues. The album exudes a deeply felt, painful, and sincere chill: the simple and repetitive structure of the tracks, in relation to the sometimes very long duration of the chapters, ensures that the soul gets lost in its own thoughts, accompanied by notes with a sorrowful heart, but wrapped in a melodious and clear envelope. The impression is thus of an airy album (the true trademark of the band, even when it ventures into black metal territories), sunny and relaxing: but when the music ends, you feel only a sensation of emptiness, of absence.

The chapters are all different from one another, alternating between more lively moments with a more typical and popular flavor, and longer, more painful, and repetitive ones, almost ambient-like in mood. The album's masterpiece is perhaps "Why The Sun Becomes Sad", where the intertwining of guitars is joined by bass and wind instruments to create very fascinating combinations; but one could also mention "Milky Way", the longest track, where the repetitiveness of the main theme generates desolation and dismay, and "Sunset In Carpathians", which opens the album with its frenzied flutes, forming a piece indebted to local atmospheres with the guitar. Drudkh's music is much more assimilable for us than Norwegian music: the chill created by Nordic music is evoked by images of snowy expanses, icy lands; that of the Ukrainians, however, has the desolation of the misery of the countryside, where nothing grows, of wind-swept steppes.

Give it a listen.