Band:	Drudkh
Album:	Відчуженість (Estrangement)
Style:	Atmospheric black metal, Pagan black metal
Release date:	August 2007

01. Самiтня Нескiнченна Тропа (Solitary Endless Path)
02. Небо У Наших Нiг (Skies At Our Feet)
03. Там, Де Закiнчуються Обрiї (Where Horizons End)
04. Тільки Вітер Пам'ятає Моє Ім'я (Only The Wind Remembers My Name)

Those once so glorious, those once so brave. Those who disappointed us with their Songs Of Grief And Solitude, those who scared us all with the boring waste of vinyl that was Anti-Urban. Of course the band in question here is Drudkh, who have partially redeemed themselves with their latest achievement: "Estrangement". Specifically mentioning the word 'partially', because in my humble opinion, they haven"t redeemed themselves completely (yet).

The main thing with "Estrangement" is not the music itself. As a matter of fact, this is one good release on it"s own. The riffs are once again repetitive as hell, wavering on in their endless solitude and damnation. Both the keyboards and the guitars are focusing on painting the best landscapes for the mind's eye, with only sparse company of vocals. Close your eyes and wander through the forests they built, drenched in Ukrainian folkstories. If you care for their lyrics, you might want to try and hunt down the special limited edition release by Supernal only, as it contains an extended booklet with lyrics trandslated to English. Not much to say for the drummers among us, as they won't be amazed with the technical skills that are shown. They could see this as a lesson in effectivity, though.

So what is exactly my problem with this release? After all, I specifically stated that they have only partially redeemed themselves. And Drudkh is a one-of-a-kind band, there are no bands out there that bring us the forests in our bedrooms the way they do. Yet, even if they are a unique band, they still sound pretty much the same on each release. On it's own, there is not much wrong with doing the same thing over and over again. As a matter of fact, many bands do it. There is only one thing that I ask, no, that I demand, and that is improvement. If you are going to stay so close to what you did last album, then at least make sure you do it better. And that is where they fail.

For a couple of closing words, this is not a bad album by any means. "Estrangement" is one hell of an improvement from Anti-Urban and it also beats the sheer boredom of "Songs" by far. In comparison to "Autumn Aurora" or "Blood In Our Wells" however, it bites the dust. But who really expected they could top these albums so quick? The only thing that matters for me is that they are definitely back on the right track.