A year goes by quickly with Drudkh.
For this new EP, titled Thaw, the project led by Roman Saenko continues its collaboration with the French label Season of Mist and its subsidiary, Underground Activists.
We are immediately drawn into a majestic and melancholic world with Memory, the opening track haunted by a violin but also by wilder, darker screams that create an intriguing contrast, directly in line with the band’s latest album. We also find livelier sections where harmonics express themselves freely, ensuring a complementary balance with the slower, haunting parts that eventually lead us to Somewhere, Sometime, which begins with a certain delicacy but soon brings back its oppressive saturation. The blend of these two opposites is intriguing, even allowing for a few softer choruses to emerge, lending an intimate atmosphere to the instrumental that accompanies the rain all the way to A Moment in Eternity, which gradually returns to the first track’s tones as the vocals reappear, yet taking on a more ethereal touch thanks to intoxicating leads with distinct folk roots, or conversely a rawer edge when the blast beat takes the lead before silence reclaims its place.
Although fairly short, this new EP allows Drudkh to build on the sound of their last album, offering slightly more experimental tones. Thaw will quickly find its place on the shelves of the band’s fans alongside its predecessors.
85/100