DRUDKH — Відчуженість (Estrangement) (review)

DRUDKH — Відчуженість (Estrangement) album cover Album · 2007 · Atmospheric Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Vehemency
Estrangement, Drudkh sixth full-length, was a brave move from Drudkh. Where the previous metal album, Blood in Our Wells, was cinematic, almost progressive and more polished and thus received more popularity and recognition, Estrangement is colder and, if I can say so, dirtier black metal. If you compare the production between these two albums, you would guess that Estrangement is a demo perhaps.

From the core, Drudkh sounds as beautiful as always. Even if the music is somewhat more raw, the melancholy is always in presence, provided with the careful use of repetition. Three out of four tracks are over 10 minutes long even if they don’t carry more than 5-6 riffs per song. Drudkh doesn’t need to. Thus Estrangement’s structure is something that is reminiscent of the debut Forgotten Legends.

If you are familiar with the older records, you will notice how the drums have changed. The drummer is not the same anymore and he has perhaps a bit more progressive touch to the playing, although it’s not executed quite accurately. The playing does lack the dynamic range the previous drummer managed to conjure, but it’s still good. The out-of-tune snare drum is a prominent feature here and it adds to the cold atmosphere.

The album is near perfection as usual and has remained so these three years. However, certain moments in ”Where Horizons End” aren’t executed as well as they have probably been planned to, and although the sloppy nature of the whole album is a welcome feature for me, it verges good taste when that sampled slam sound appears suddenly.

Estrangement is an earthly, autumnal record full of beautiful climaxes, from the subtle use of synth in the background in ”Solitary Endless Path” to the rapid blast beats of ”Skies at Our Feet” and to the long guitar solo in the last song ”Only the Wind Remembers My Name”. I can only hope that Estrangement isn’t the final utterly great Drudkh album, as the next album Microcosmos was a step towards more vapid grounds.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Deviance Deathcore
ASHES INTO BLOOD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Equilibrium Atmospheric Sludge Metal
BESRA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tension Between Rot And Genesis Sludge Metal
ANTHESIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Recycle Brain Crust Punk
C.P.G
Buy this album from MMA partners
Cartography Of The Mind Deathcore
TETHERED
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Besra – Unsullied (Music Video)
BESRA
Bosh66· 10 hours ago
Tethered - Breathe (Official Video)
TETHERED
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Walking The Blade (OFFICIAL VISUALIZER)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - The Negative (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Saltwound - Drowning feat. Taylor Barber (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
SALTWOUND
Bosh66· 1 day ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed