All Belong to the Night
Drudkh
From their EPK, "The year is 2022. Pop culture has decayed to the point where social media platforms set the narrative and by the sheer force of ubiquity, rule the day. On a recent popular television show, heavy metal devotees were portrayed and once again, nothing has changed. Despite all of its nuance, 'metalheads' are still the quaint, anachronistic, congenial oafs they were thought to be in the 1980's. Social media then faithfully broadcasts the fad of the moment to everyone. And while all of that may be harmless, one would have to search long and hard for a genre of music that more seriously reckons the larger questions of the human condition than metal and all that falls beneath its banner." The album has four songs.
"Нічний (The Nocturnal One)" is the first. The opening tones are pretty straightforward Black Metal mixed in with some backing ambiance. There are a few bumps along the way in terms of some variance in sound, but overall, it stays pretty true to the roots of the genre. "Млини (Windmills)" is another lengthy offering, beginning with some eerie spoken words. Then, the Black Metal sound comes pounding in. Again, there is a little variation, but the band has clearly decided to hold true to many of the FWOBM sounds that started the genre decades ago.
"Листопад (November)" is the first song that begins with some variation in style. Melancholy tones ease from the rhythm guitars; November is the first month that marks the return of winter on the horizon. Depressive Black Metal tones follow; horrid and bleak. The sonority picks up well along the way, decimating the listener into darkness. The depressive tones are totally gut-wrenching. The fifteen-minute "Поки зникнем у млі (Till We Become the Haze)" closes the album. Beastly tones eventually give way to more melancholy ones, but with a fair amount of haste along the way. There is a slow down at the half-way mark for several bars, then it picks back up. The closing sequence is bleak and beautiful.
Although the sound was fairly interesting, the four songs didn't present enough diversity in my opinion, and the band played it too safe with the FMOBM inspired approach. The band has talent, but I feel that they can push themselves in the future with a little more exploratory leanings without giving up their core sound.
7 / 10
Good
Songwriting
Musicianship
Memorability
Production
"All Belong to the Night" Track-listing:
1. Нічний (The Nocturnal One)
2. Млини (Windmills)
3. Листопад (November)
4. Поки зникнем у млі (Till We Become the Haze)
Drudkh Lineup:
Anonymous
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