Review Summary: Drudkh continue their return to form while Grift impresses against expectation.
So far, all that Drudkh’s ongoing series of collaborative split EPs has served to convince me of is that you can never really count these Ukrainian’s out for long. Sure, Drudkh’s output has arguably been subpar for as long as seven years now, but personally I’ve only really been disappointed by the black metal legends twice in their career. I didn’t bite too eagerly into
Songs of Grief and Solitude, especially after the superb quartet that preceded it. Neither was I enraptured by their 2015 return in
A Furrow Cut Short. Granted, the former had the excuse of being a one-off excursion into pure folk music, but the latter lacks that luxury. It was Drudkh running on fumes to say the least, a repetition of their tried and true style without the
style. So it was fair to be a bit hesitant when they dropped their first split with Hades Almighty this year, though it did turn out to be an impressive return to form after all. Caution told me to hold my tongue in check however, much as I wanted to proclaim it the triumphant and everlasting return of quality Drudkh. But now a second split, this time with Swedish black metal outfit Grift, has arrived and I find the temptation too difficult to ignore.
Opening the EP with a track like “His Twenty Fourth Spring” could have no desired effect other than as a defiant statement. It’s vicious, it’s measured, it’s memorable, it’s what we needed out of Drudkh after the lack of all these things in
A Furrow Cut Short. It even one ups its direct predecessor in most ways, nothing on
One Who Walks With the Fog quite stacking up. The build from 2:23 to 3:20 might even be the most memorable thing Drudkh has written since
Microcosmos, dare I say even further. Comparably, it’s fair to say the second of Drudkh’s offerings here, “Autumn in Sepia”, doesn’t reach the same heights, but realistically it’s a quality delivering of Ukrainian folk fused black metal that needs little more explanation.
On paper Grift’s involvement is more than a little head scratching. The Swedish solo artist dabbles in depressive corners of black metal rather than folky ones. Yet to his credit, the enigmatic Erik Gardefors does an admirable job keeping up with the heavyweights he’s sharing a recording with. “Kallan” plays with ambience and soft guitars for a slow build into the expected blazing tremolos, while “Cirkeln” is delightfully moody until its back half climax sends the EP out on a strong note. There’s grace here, and while the styles are a little strange back to back, the execution is convincing enough to deflect complaint.
Not only did Drudkh come back with a vengeance from their last full length record, they managed to topple the EP that did the original toppling. Yeah, it’s a little early to make grandiose statements like this, but I can’t help it. This just might be the year of Drudkh. Now all I can do is pray these Ukrainians don’t prove me a liar.
