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Nature Black Metal. Now I've seen it all. :) Hailing from the Ukraine, Drudkh is a side-project of Hate Forest members. I have to say right up front that it's been a while since I've run into such a good Black Metal album. "Autumn Aurora" is quite instrumental, using vocals sparingly - a good raspy BM voice - and the focus is really on the ambiance, which overall is quite depressing, to put it mildly (one exception would be "Sunwheel" which is surprisingly upbeat and really stands out from the other tracks.) This makes me think of a mix between the most atmospheric Burzum material (no, not the keyboard albums) and the most sorrowful Graveland tracks. The music almost sounds monotonous and if you don't pay attention to it, it's almost like background music - surely not the intended effect. What I mean here is that this is the type of album you have to stop and listen to attentively to really take it all in. That's the only way you'll realise how good the guitar and drum work are, especially once you get past the omnipresent forward distorted guitar that rarely takes a break. Interesting to say the least.

My only complaint is the lack of lyrics (or just about anything, except the track listing and the year recorded) in the booklet. There are supposedly different releases of this one, so maybe one of them is more complete in that respect. If your idea of Black Metal is high speed drums and guitars, then this is not for you. The pace here is essentially s-l-o-w, but the end result is simply great. Fans of Burzum and some of Graveland's material are likely to find this of interest. Another fine export from the Ukraine, and one of the best albums of 2004, period.