Album 0383: Drudkh – Blood In Our Wells

Release Date: 2006
Genre: Black Metal

Tracklisting:

1. Навь (Nav’) (02:25)
2. Борозни богів (Furrows Of Gods) (08:57)
3. Коли пломінь перетворюється на попіл (When The Flame Turns To Ashes) (10:37)
4. Самітність (Solitude) (12:24)
5. Вічність (Eternity) (10:38)
6. Українська Повстанська Армія (Ukrainian Insurgent Army) (05:02)

Total Length: 50:04

Навь is an atmoshperic intro. I can only imagine it was supposed to sound like the image the cover is depicting. It works fairly well though maybe is a touch long. Борозни богів starts things off quickly once its turn comes. It has some really cool riffs, a good atmosphere, and some neat solos to boot. Коли пломінь перетворюється на попіл has a neat little intro, before getting into a cool riff. The whole song is depressing in a good way and is easy to get lost in.

Самітність also has a cool intro and some great riffs throughout. Very cool song. Вічність adds a folk element at the beginning before going into the best riff of the album. The guitar solo in it is a bit questionable though. Ends up being fantastic though. Українська Повстанська Армія has some okay moments but really doesn’t do anything for me. This album is less unique or flavored as Autumn Aurora, but has some good moments. It’s not something that really sticks with me though.

Final Rating: 7.5/10

Album 0020: Drudkh – Autumn Aurora

Release Date: 2004
Genre: Black Metal

Tracklisting:

1. Fading (01:31)
2. Summoning The Rain (05:41)
3. Glare Of Autumn (05:10)
4. Sunwheel (08:48)
5. Wind Of The Night Forests (09:59)
6. The First Snow (09:11)

Total Length: 40:19

Fading is a nice, calm intro. The sounds of birds and the acoustic guitar really help set the mood. Summoning The Rain kicks off the black metal very well, and is a type of black metal I really love when I get the chance to just sit back and listen. Sure, it’s kind of repetitive, but in a hypnotizing way. The song draws me in with its great lead melody, and it just never lets up. Glare Of Autumn is pretty similar, but doesn’t have that cool lead to come back to.

Sunwheel starts off with one of those melodies, and is just a great song. The vocals aren’t my favorite, but they work in context of the song. Just cool to zone out to. Wind Of The Night Forests has a cool intro before going into the song proper, and is a pretty good track. Not my favorite on the album though. It seems to go on a bit too long, but there are some good points in it. The First Snow is probably the coolest song on here. It’s just a meandering 9 minutes of some guitars and keyboards. Again, it’s repetitive, but I love drifting in and out of the song, and the atmosphere works really well.

It’s releases like this that do make me love black metal, and it shouldn’t get nearly the bad reputation that it does. However, I wouldn’t quite rank this album as one of my favorites, but it is fairly excellent.

Final Rating: 8/10