ALBUM REVIEW: Їм часто сниться капіж (They Often See Dreams About the Spring) – Drudkh

Within black metal, integrity is, or at least should be, everything. A great many bands fail to understand this fact, viewing themselves as rock stars or compromising their music to sell more merchandise. This failing has been with the genre since it’s beginnings, as have those bands who rise above it and for whom the music is everything. One such is DRUDKH whose unwavering commitment to this belief in art above all is such that they refuse to do interviews, play live or have any form of public face. All the band can be judged on is on their music and they have not been found wanting, with every record bringing something different to the fundamentally unchanged Slavic black metal sound they have created.

Їм часто сниться капіж (They Often See Dreams About the Spring) is no different in this regard, with fans of the band’s sound knowing what to expect already, with only the execution a mystery. Indeed the album wouldn’t have sounded out of place as a follow up to the band’s sophomore release Autumn Aurora, with its massive sweeping soundscapes lending themselves more to the atmosphere and melodies found there than their more recent, harsher albums. This is not to say by any means that DRUDKH have become another of the dime-a-dozen atmospheric bands that forgets to play black metal. Instead the relentless riffing conjures the image to the mind’s eye from within, in a similar way to the atmospheric quality of early BURZUM records managed, with the quality of the songs speaking testament to the skill of their creators.

Musically there is very little change between tracks with this repetitive, almost hypnotic style of black metal dominating the entire run time. Variation does occur but on a small level within the tracks to great effect as the minimalist structure empathises these. As with previous releases DRUDKH have written in their native tongue and used the works of Ukrainian poets as their inspiration for the record. While rendering these unintelligible to a large part of their audience, it is clear that the band believes that they can only convey their true spirit through these. While translations will no doubt appear in time, it is unlikely they will capture the lyrical essence of the tracks in quite the same manner as originally envisioned.

DRUDKH hold an almost unique place within the black metal genre. Refusing to engage with their fans or other bands on or off stage, refusing to explain the intricacies of their work in interviews, refusing to even allow a face to be put to the names behind the music. Words cannot do justice to a record delivered in such a manner but despite all of this they have a large and devout following for whom the repetitive early black metal sound given a unique Slavic interpretation clearly resonates. Fans of the band already have a good idea what they can expect here and as always DRUDKH delivers with another worthy addition.

Rating: 8/10

Їм часто сниться капіж (They Often See Dreams About The Spring) is set for release on March 9th via Season of Mist.

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