Review Summary: Breaking news: Drudkh has been found alive and well after being missing for the past 7 or so years.... Oh and Hades Almighty come back from the dead as well.
It feels like it's been forever since Drudkh has put out anything that has really rocked the black metal scene. The past 3 albums have been, for lack of a better word, forgettable. Some people deeming them to be straight up garbage. Roman kind of replaced his ferocious mixture of atmospheric black metal and Ukranian folk music with a more simple black/post metal sound that just doesn't work how he was planning on. It seems we haven't heard anything excellent from Drudkh since 2009's
Microcosmos. And does anyone remember Hades Almighty? They never got as much exposure as some of their Norewegian counterparts, but they were always a great band when they did put material out. So it's only right that these two bands join forces to release this split in 2016, with two Drudkh tracks and three Hades Almighty tracks respectively.
Drudkh is up first here and Roman wastes no time proving his intentions with these two tracks. First of all he sounds reinvigorated and like he actually wanted to put some effort into this project. Gone are the drawn out post metal moments and half assed attempt at building an atmosphere, which he used to (and still could) do so well. This could be the most black metal that Drudkh has sounded on a recording. Even dropping most of the folk influences from the past, the two Drudkh tracks here wouldn't sound out of place on a new Mayhem album. Ferocious vocals, blistering trems, and blasting drums. Being how mediocre the recent Drudkh stuff has been, I would say this is 100% a step in the right direction and should please any long time fans of the band.
So that leaves us with three Hades Almighty tracks. I'm not sure how familiar some of you are with their music, but I'll give you some background. They started off as a folk black metal band on their first 3 albums or so. With their most recent album,
The Pulse of Decay, they opt for a more experimental black metal sound with heavy industrial influences as well. This side of the split is just as impressive as Drudkh's, combining elements from their early folk days and their more recent experimental leanings.
Overall I would highly recommend this split. Not too much to digest, clocking in at just under 40 minutes and production values are above average. It displays Drudkh coming back into their own and Hades Almighty picking up right where they left off with their last LP.
