Conor Fynes 'Autumn Aurora' - Drudkh (9/10)

While fans may argue whether this, or the later 'Blood In Our Wells' is the bands defining achievement, Ukrainian black metal act Drudkh's sophomore album shows an incredible improvement in their craft, to the verge of being considered a masterpiece. Drawing from nature and an idyllic rural lifestyle, Drudkh's sound on 'Autumn Auora' is as vast as the landscapes that inspired it.

Although Drudkh's classic debut 'Forgotten Legends' showed quite a bit of promise for this ambitious black metal group, it would be obvious to any black metal veteran that their sound was heavily influenced and drawn from the original work of black metal legend Burzum from a decade before. While 'Autumn Aurora' does share a measure of sound with the debut, it does feel as if Drudkh has found a sound of their own with the second album. Here, they are moving away from the over-indulgent sense of repetition and drawn out form that deterred from the earlier work, although the musical ideas on 'Autumn Aurora' are still milked for all they're worth. The album opens with the short introductory piece 'Fading,' which plays a very simple melody on an acoustic instrument over the chirping of birds and other forest fauna. The motif of the album's opening would be heard again in the closer 'First Snow,' giving the album a very cohesive start-to-finish feel.

Leading out with the ambiance of birdsong, the first crashing chords of 'Summoning The Rain' can be heard, a very epic piece of black metal grandeur that incorporates the symphonic undertones of Bathory into the mix, giving a many wide sound, despite the rather low-fidelity of the recording. Underneath the fuzz of the guitars and the thunderous beating of the drums can be heard soft acoustic melodies and subtle details that might easily be overlooked, should the listener have his attention caught elsewhere.

The next three songs follow a similar sound to 'Summoning The Rain;' harmonious tremolo and beautifully melancholic atmosphere interspersed sparsely by some typical black metal vocals. It should be noted however, that - like the band's debut - Drudkh uses very little singing here, instead deciding to concentrate on the strength and atmosphere of their instruments. The power of Drudkh's instrumentation can be heard most fully on the closer 'The First Snow,' in which the motif of the opener is drawn out into a nine minute masterpiece of sound and aesthetic. While it could be criticized as being a little too repetitive (and I occasionally feel this way about the track), the fact remains that the sound and timbre of the arrangement is absolutely stunning and breathtaking.

Leading out with some added natural ambiance, I am truly left in amazement. While not perfect, Drudkh has crafted a masterpiece here, that truly deserves the attention of such. A decade after the height of the genre, out of black metal has emerged another gem.

The Angry Scotsman The buzzing guitars and shrieking vocals remain, but with "Autumn Aurora" Drudkh takes another step from the standard black metal formula.

The songs take on more of an atmospheric feel, and are shorter. There's also some use of acoustic guitar and even keyboard, usually filling the backdrop with haunting melody. As mentioned these songs have less of a black metal feel and are more atmospheric than previously, very drifty.

Don't worry though, the guitars still buzz, the vocals are buried shrieks, the lyrics are a mystery to the world outside of Drudkh, and while not high quality you can still distinctly make out the drumming. Like the previous album, there is extensive double bass instead of blast beats (which make no appearance on this album) though the drumming has a bit more to it.

Drifting is really the best way to describe this album, very atmospheric and perfect to listen to while sitting back, enjoying a nice view of a sunset over the mountains. This album may be a bit difficult due to the lack of riffing and song structure, maybe not the best for deep listening but at the risk of sounding pretentious, really is best for experiencing.

Four Stars

Phonebook Eater Whether you don’t like Drudkh or you do, whether you like Atmospheric Black Metal or not, you absolutely cannot deny that the second album of the band has something to give for everyone. Indeed “Autumn Aurora” is, being so far the best Drudkh album, a near perfect masterpiece, an album full of mystery, darkness, as well as beauty and arcane wonder. It didn’t take much for Roman Saenko, Thurios, Amorth, and Yuriy Synytsky to reach their best quality sound, and, in my opinion, they haven’t been yet able to repeat such emotional intensity.

Things have changed, compared to the decent debut; first of all, other than having a rough, strong sound, the band puts in the music the use of synthesizers here and there, giving a progressive touch to all the songs. The arrangements thus are more refined and interesting, and definitely more Atmospheric. This kind of music in fact is, in my opinion, exactly how Atmospheric Black Metal should be, otherwise it risks to be boring and repetitive, like “Forgotten Legends” was in certain points.The mysterious lyrics are always present, in almost all the songs; even though the sheets were never released to the public, it is known that they’re mainly influenced by Ukrainian literature and poetry, as well as myths and legends.

Beautiful, majestic, intriguingly vague and blurry like a cloudy yet sunny afternoon, “Forgotten Legends” is a wonderful collection of rough, dark melodies combined with dreamy, evocative atmospheres. So it can easily be considered a follow up to “Forgotten Legends” in a way, or, even better, an improvement.

The songs are of rare beauty at times, like in the delicate but creepy “The First Snow”, which presents no drumming nor singing. “Sunwheel” has an unusual touch, since the melody is somewhat cheerful, but the arrangements make it sound frightening. From beginning to end, the album flows with cryptic beauty, in a way that makes every listener shiver, from both fear and pleasure. “Forgotten Legends”, even though it’s a black metal album and not a lot of people would go and listen to this for this reason, is an album that everybody who loves metal or progressive should listen to. Keep aside your hatred for black growls for approximately 40 minutes, and to the sound of distorted nature.

Any Colour You Like The words Black Metal and beauty are not often found together. They seem to oppose each other, such a concept should be absurd. But this is a fallacy, for Drudkh's Autumn Aurora is possibly one of the most impressive albums in the genre for several reasons. Before you ask "why is a Black Metal band on ProgArchives?" Let me explain what Drudkh should mean to you.

Drudkh is a Ukrainian Black/Folk Metal band who is led by Roman Saenko. They play a dense and atmospheric style of Black Metal, with a focus on Ukrainian poetry and folk themes. Beyond the harmonious buzz of tremolo picked guitars, lies a powerful mix of synthesised sounds, clean acoustics and typically abrasive Black Metal vocals. However, Autumn Aurora is much more than a sum of these parts. The riffing is largely melodic and while it lacks a dynamic edge, the layering of the sound is impressive and frankly, beautiful in parts. The ambient atmosphere of the album is serene, and the contrast between the harshness of the vocals and noise can seem quite overwhelming at times. However, the aesthetic of the album feels essentially complete as all the tracks carry a similar style and theme, while developing a subtle soundscape throughout. The occasional guitar solo is nice, and the instrumental passages are oddly soothing. The highlight of the album for me is the final combination of "Wind of the Night Forest" and "The First Snow", two incredible works of ambient Black Metal, Burzum-esqe in approach, but cinematic and epic in scale and execution. My only major gripe would be a lack of dynamic variation - but again, such is the aesthetic style that this doesn't really impact on your enjoyment of the album.

The true beauty of this album lies in the mood. You (more than likely) won't understand the lyrics. You will wonder about the merits of the 'fuzzy' production style. You won't necessarily understand the scope of Autumn Aurora. But you will feel it. Drudkh is all about feel. The fact that Autumn Aurora is capable of bridging the gap between classical Bathory inspired Black Metal and a Agallochian fusion of folk and metal means that this is one album any metal fan could essentially listen to. There's no excuses to dislike this album if you can grasp the vocals, and imagine the dull rusty colours and cool breeze of a Ukrainian autumn.