Album Review: Drudkh - Shadow Play
Reviewed by Patrick O'Reilly
Grizzled Ukrainian veterans of Black metal return with new album ‘Shadow Play’, their 13th album to date. Shadow Play is conceived as a concept album of sorts, dealing with the juxtaposition of various elements which are listed as the ethereal against the corporeal, light against shadow, silence against storm and ephemeral beauty against the decay of oblivion.
These battles play out in musical terms across the album by way of aggression against atmosphere, metal against folk and electric against acoustic. The brutality of ‘traditional’ black metal competes for you ear with the melody of Ukrainian folk music, heavy distortion and mighty riffs vie for supremacy against subtle layers of keyboards, the resulting battlefield one of depth and texture.
Highlights of the album include the rock and roll assault of track two ‘April’, where pounding mid paced drums underpin a straight forward but exhilarating journey and album closer ‘The Thirst’ which segues from blistering black metal blasts into exquisite acoustic interludes.
Maintaining a consistent sense of grandeur and atmosphere Drudkh have yet again proven to be masters of their art, delivering another masterpiece of emotive black metal, one that is steeped in history and tradition, not just of Black Metal as an art form but of the nation of Ukraine, it’s peoples and it’s struggles.
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