Russian Blackgaze duo OLHAVA is back with their new studio album. "Frozen Bloom" integrates some Dronescapes the band experimented with. Multi-instrumentalist Andrey Novozhilov and drummer Timur Yusupov describe their new journey with words of thoughtful contemplation: "when winter is just starting to fade and give some space to the first steps of spring...when life starts to reappear and the very early flowers peek through the thawing soil, a sudden drop of the temperature can leave them petrified and frozen back again, punished by the "Queen of Fields." This statuesque dead beauty, being infinitely alive and dead at the same time is the main metaphor of this album. "Frozen Bloom" is about unfulfilled dreams...about how we sacrifice everything today for some abstract "tomorrow," which may never come. But tomorrow and yesterday don't exist - only this very moment of static contemplation is real."

"The Queen of Fields" leads off the album. It's a 20-minute opus. It begins with a wall of guitars and drums, but also some subtle melodies. The pacing is smooth but fast. It carries on like this for much of the first half of the song. The pace finally breaks around the eleven-minute mark, slowing to a near-halt, with audible bass notes. It picks back up around the three-quarter mark, until an abrupt ending. "Adrift" is a seven-minute track that opens with lush, beautiful clean guitars. The song is aptly titled...you feel adrift at sea...with tranquil waters and a cool breeze on you back. All of your cares are left behind, never to be confronted again.

"Frozen Bloom I" is close to fifteen-minutes in length. It begins without hesitation, like a coiled snake that lashes out at you and sinks its lethal venom into you. Approaching the half-way mark, some twisted strings enter, and then the madness is replaced by melodic bliss. But it doesn't last long. The vocal screams are so long and quiet that you can barely hear them. The incredible staying power of strength and power of such a long song is impressive. "Frozen Bloom II" closes the album, another lengthy track. More of those sublime melodies are tossed out into the abyss to spread throughout the lands. It swells and returns several times throughout. It's also so damn beautiful that it nearly moves you to tears.

These four tracks on "Frozen Bloom" are about as different as you will find on an album. I have to admit, I am more drawn to the ambient dronescape songs, because what they seem to offer is endless possibilities, endless life, and eternal being for me. The hardened Black Metal tracks are of equal interest. It's like the same story being told to you...one from Lucifer, and the other from Jesus. The outcome is the same, but the characters who tell the tale are polar opposites.