Phonebook Eater 6/10

"Eternal Turn Of The Wheel" is a traditionally executed, yet pretty effective Atmospheric Black Metal.

Drudkh in 2012 are already considered Black Metal veterans. But the problem with veterans is that they get so used to the fact that they reach this status, that often they don’t try as hard to make good music. Though it does, after a while, come out pretty naturally. “Eternal Turn of the Wheel” indeed feels almost effortless, in a good way, but you can tell that some of the excitement of the earlier albums is gone.

With the usual, rough production, the band delivers a pretty standard, typical Atmospheric Black Metal album, that remains extremely consistent with Drudkh’s style. There is an overall less emphasis on the keyboards, which are used much more subtly. The vocals are probably the biggest change: much lower-pitched, less shrieked and a bit more human sounding, in contrast with the banshee vocals of the previous albums, a definitely interesting and quite different approach.

One of the darkest albums of the band, “Eternal Turn Of The Wheel” has a really intriguing, fascinating and gloomy atmosphere that reminds of a nocturnal, spectral, and especially, sylvan sight, where ancient ghosts roam around. The five tracks that together are only slightly more than thirty five minutes long, all feel very connected to one another, not only length-wise but also in terms of atmosphere: “Breath Of Cold Soil”, “When Gods Leave Their Emerald Halls”, Farewell To Autumn’s Sorrowful Birds” all feel like windy, crispy tracks that aren’t at all estranged from the rest of the band’s discography. They still deliver great, memorable moments and haunting atmospheres.

The closing track, ”Nights Woven Of Snow, Winds and Grey-Haired Star” feels a lot sludgier and crunchier, still however maintaining the chilly aura of the previous tracks. “Eternal Turn Of The Wheel” is a interesting and enjoyable Drudkh album that offers hints of originality occasionally; tradition though is a big aspect of this record, and as a consequence it doesn’t feel that different or distinguishing from other releases of this legendary Ukranian band, who I personally will always follow, no matter how habitual they might become.

J-Man Ukrainian black metal masters Drudkh have never been a band resistant to experimentation, and 2010's Handful of Stars showed the band adding more post-rock influences into their sound than ever before. Rather than signaling a change of direction for their future releases, Eternal Turn of the Wheel shows that this was more of a brief detour than a radical turnaround. The music here is dark, gloomy, and progressive black metal that signals a slight return to form for Drudkh while still remaining unique from the rest of the band's output. Eternal Turn of the Wheel is a good way to usher in 2012 for black metal fans; its ice-cold atmospheres and unique stylistic traits make it a highly worthwhile listen for fans of the forward-thinking variant of the style. Although I need to brush up on the rest of Drudkh's discography before I can claim that Eternal Turn of the Wheel is one of their finest works, there's not a doubt in my mind that this is one of the more impressive black metal records from the last few years.

While I've heard Eternal Turn of the Wheel described as Drudkh's return to their black metal roots, that shouldn't at all imply that this album is your standard-fare black metal effort. Drudkh still inject their raw sound with plenty of atmospheric soundscapes and progressive overtones, and the entire album is laden with a thick layer of gloom. In addition to plenty of somber chord progressions matched by miserable sounding vocal shrieks, an obscure fog of synthesizer melodies can be found throughout a majority of the album. The depressive and somewhat epic approach of Eternal Turn of the Wheel can make comparisons to acts like Burzum inevitable, but there's also a progressive edge that sets Drudkh apart from your average act in this increasingly stagnant genre. The beautiful acoustic break in "When Gods Leave Their Emerald Halls" is a section that always jumps out at me, and the generally long compositions all have an epic sensibility. This is the sort of album that's absolutely perfect for appreciating with a pair of headphones on a pitch-black evening - the nature-based imagery that Drudkh's music portrays, while often dark and frightening, can take me to the emotional highs that I look for when we're talking about this style of atmospheric black metal.

Though most experts will argue that black metal is past its peak, albums like Eternal Turn of the Wheel prove that the genre is still alive and well in 2012. This atmospheric, mature, and intense journey shows Drudkh at a definite creative peak, and while it lacks that extra 'something' for me to call it a masterpiece, there are a number of times where I'm inclined to do so. Eternal Turn of the Wheel is an excellent listen for fans of Drudkh and atmospheric black metal in general; though 2012 is still young, this should stand the test of time as one of the year's strongest extreme metal releases. 4 stars are very well-deserved.