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Drudkh > Кров у наших криницях (Blood in Our Wells) > Reviews
Drudkh - Кров у наших криницях (Blood in Our Wells)

Somewhat of a letdown compared to their other releases. - 65%

li6vi6di6ty, March 20th, 2024

To begin with this, I'd like to mention how lacking this specific album was in comparison to Drudkh's other albums (Autumn Aurora and Microcosmos to name a few.) Something about it in particular just makes it feel a little sluggish or I guess more noise-driven than their other albums. It fails to capture me, but I suppose it leans better into the black metal part of the theme it wants to take on. Personally, I feel like Ukrainian Insurgent Army was my favorite track in this whole album especially even now that I've been into this band for a while (coincidentally it's the song that led me to discover this band) and even now it still captures the melodic folk aspect that Drudkh wants to express.

While not completely true to my tastes I can certainly appreciate the variety this band has in their albums. Some black metal adjacent, some folk metal adjacent, so on so forth. Like I said, Blood in Our Wells was the first album I've discovered, and being the new generation listener I am, I've only listened to this online. There's nothing quite notable to take from this album and while I certainly don't have much to say like the other people on this website, I recommend this to people who genuinely enjoy listening to actual black metal. Perhaps it's the instruments that I find don't go quite well together or pair well with the vocals, but I find this album to be quite... unimpressive. The vocals themselves I'm not a huge fan of given I'm more partial to the gurgling and pig squealing of death metal & goregrind, but if you like music that makes you think of Burzum's Filosofem, then I totally say give it a shot.

As for the instruments, I just don't think they go that great combined. The rhythm is there, but it's very lacking in the sense that it just doesn't sound quite as melodious as, say, Glare of Autumn from the aforementioned Autumn Aurora. The snare doesn't go well with the electronic sounding guitar in the background or whatever it is, and I guess you can say it's quite bland, at least to me. The guitar you'll occasionally hear is genuinely beautiful but it's ill-placed and sounds awkward in the midst of the chaos of the drums and other instruments. Sometimes there'll be relief periods where it's the equivalent of angels playing trumpets while descending down to earth, then it's followed by some garble of disappointing chaos.

The lyrics themselves aren't horrible, which is more of a letdown than if they were horrible to begin with. It's poetic, yes, and it captures the pagan-folk energy that the album is trying to convey, but also it just feels like good writing wasted on mediocre (at worst) structuring and vocals. It doesn't feel nearly as impactful as I'd like it to, much to my horrible misery. I wouldn't say this album is bad or crappy, it's just not something I'd go out of my way to listen to repeatedly or like that much. Many of the good snippets within this album are far within in the songs, and I just don't think waiting five minutes to hear a piece that's thirty seconds at longest is really worth it.

If you like black metal more than you like the other genres that Drudkh makes, I'd tell you to buy it, If you don't, then refrain from doing so.

Their Well Hasn't Run Dry - 96%

Thumbman, April 14th, 2018

Swan Road was a growing pains sort of album. While it did have some standout moments, Drudkh's implementation of new ideas into their sound came off as a tad awkward. Blood in our Wells suffers no such fate, with the inclusion of Ukranian folk melodies and more uplifting passages welded seamlessly into their atmospheric black metal. Autumn Aurora was such a singular moment and such a perfect encapsulation of melancholy autumn atmosphere that trying to stick to that template would be folly – every subsequent album would be a race to second place. Blood in our Wells is imbued with nationalist sentiment (despite what clickbait tabloid “metal journalists” at places like Metal Sucks and the AV Club may tell you, this does not automatically make them nazis), with a lingering sense of tragedy hanging over the album, just as it does over Ukranian history.

Perhaps a stepping stone album was necessary for the evolution of their sound, but Blood in our Wells is everything that Swan Road should have been. Here the folk element is mixed in much more seamlessly – weaving it into the fabric of the music is way more impressive than ending an album with a traditional folk song. The experimentation with dynamics is much more natural this time, with the shift from a groggy bittersweet tremolo to a a more energetic uplifting riff making all the sense in the world. While Blood still has atmosphere in spades, the lead guitar has gotten more shreddy than ever. Thankfully still possessing potent melody, these solos prove to be more than a masturbatory sideshow. Remember that awkward duel guitar solo in “Eternal Sun” where the two melodies didn't really sync up very well at all? In songs like “Furrow of the Gods” and “Solitude” they now pull it off with flawless dexterity.

The guitar tone is more crisp than on previous albums, which would have never worked if this was purely forest worship. No doubt inspired by notions of national pride, Blood in our Wells is littered with hopeful uplifting sections, which do a lot for the album's dynamics and provide some nice variation from the more slow burning hypnotic riffs. The vocals are quite fitting, they function like the usual black metal rasp but are generally much lower. While hardly the most depraved out there, they are rather forceful for atmospheric black metal. Once again, the drums prove to be one of Drudkh's greatest assets. If there's one way to spice up decidedly repetitive atmospheric metal it's with interesting drumming. This dude is the shit – he can play the expected beats better than most but it's the little touches that make him so great. The way he sneaks in little embellishments on the cymbals, the way he'll anticipate a new riff with cascading tom rolls – if you want proof that you don't need to be ultra technical to be a top-tier metal drummer, here's your man.

It's no secret that Ukraine has historically had a rough go at it – just looking at the last century we have the brutal famine-genocide of the Holomodor and the recent annexation of Crimea by Russia. The cover art perfectly gives us a snapshot of what Drudkh are going for here – encapsulating both beauty and tragic struggle. Autumn Aurora will always remain their magnum opus, but Blood in our Wells comes damn close and is the peak of their integration of black metal and traditional folk music. Their discography would become rather inconsistent after this, but it's not without some pretty damn strong highlights. However, none of them can hold a candle to Blood in our Wells.

Tragic Ukrainian art. - 86%

ConorFynes, September 4th, 2015

Drudkh are a band of mixed messages. In the light of certain 'accusations', they've outwardly declared themselves to be apolitical in nature, that their music is primarily intended as a reverence of nature. That may have been true for Forgotten Legends and Autumn Aurora, but by the time of Blood in Our Wells, it's clear that that statement was forged to some degree of bullshit. The album's cover (drawn from the work of 19th century painter Vasily Perov) Romanticizes an extremely traditional way of life. The lyrics are taken from the work of Ukrainian poets. Even titling a song "Ukrainian Insurgent Army" doesn't give a lot of space to argue that Drudkh have their hearts purely set on admiring trees.

Most telling of all, however, is Drudkh's dedication of this album to the memory of Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian nationalist fixed on claiming the Ukraine's independence throughout the Second World War. I've no doubt Drudkh have shirked away from directly discussing their politik either as a way to keep their label happy, or as a way to prevent needless hassle. And why would they want to entreat that nuisance anyway? Any talk of nationalism sparks the ire of a braindead Left, with misguided hearts set on quelling all regional, ethnic or otherwise exclusivist pride in the name of justice and tolerance. Any fan of Blood in Our Wells who somehow holds Drudkh's nationalism begrudgingly against them is probably missing the point. They're certainly capable of creating masterpieces purely inspired by nature-- Autumn Aurora is living proof of that fact. But there's something else working on Blood in Our Wells, a tragic quality you could never feel from nature-worship alone. Much as the case was for Varg Vikernes' work in Burzum, the fact that Drudkh are so passionate about their ideology is a good part of the reason why the atmosphere on Blood in Our Wells is so rich and penetrating. They're extremely proud, sad, and angry on this album, and every minute of music here serves as testament to that fact.

When all is said, I think I'll always prefer the pristine atavism of Autumn Aurora over all else in Drudkh's discography. Blood in OUr Wells is up there however, and I don't think I'd have liked it half as much if it had continued trying to repeat the band's early glory. The unveiling of their Ukrainian pride was hinted at on The Swan Road, but it wasn't manifested full-force until this album. Here, native Ukrainian folk instrumentation is largely used between the cracks of the album's long (10~ minute) compositions. While black metal by itself isn't usually tied to a specific region, folk music often is, and the inclusion gives their black metal mainstay a greater weight as a result. With Autumn Aurora, Drudkh created a pastoral atmosphere that could be related to by anyone who felt at one with nature by themselves at some point in their life. Blood in Our Wells is far more specific to their personal identity and circumstance, and that gives it an even deeper emotional resonance.

Most all of Drudkh's ideas are good or great. That could be said in relation to any of their works. Where the superb is distinguished from the fair and middling is the way they structure those ideas. Like many in atmospheric black metal, Drudkh love to use repetition in their compositions. On Autumn Aurora, they struck a minimalist's perfection, giving each idea the time it needed to thrive. When one of their albums, like Forgotten Legends is less impressive, it's usually because they've stretched an idea out too long. Well, I can say with certainty that Blood in Our Wells has many of Drudkh's finest ingredients, with some of them (such as the gorgeous closing minutes of "When the Flame Turns to Ashes") even surpassing anything on Autumn Aurora.

Some songs, like "Furrows of Gods", are immaculately penned and structured. Despite the brilliant earthly atmosphere throughout the album, I do think some of the motifs towards the latter half of the album overstay their welcome, if only a bit. Blood in Our Wells is fifty minutes long, and it does sound like it might have fared better with a few minutes shaved off that tally. Because the album generally lurks around a driving mid-pace, I usually find myself wanting a change of speed around "Solitude" or "Eternity". I've recently come to love Blood in Our Wells , and know now that I didn't give it near as much credit as I should have when I first heard it years ago, but I'm left with the consistent impression that either or both of those tracks could have used a little trimming around the edges.

Drudkh may withhold themselves from making any explicit statements, but there's a very specific kind of melancholy at work here. The folk accompaniment and pastoral imagery carries an anger that could only be fuelled by some external anger. Even if I don't see Blood in Our Wells as the band's best, I have no problem with the fact that it's seen as the band's canonical masterpiece. What they began to work with on The Swan Road, they almost perfected with this one. Some of the melodies on this album will haunt me forever.

Quintessence Of Drudkh - Part II - 99%

Killer_Clown, May 3rd, 2012

After "The Swan Road" comes their fourth - "Blood In Our Wells".

The most harmonious, exact and appropriate one from all the Drudkh's works. The measured and quiet sounding of this solid album was as necessary as if it was prescribed by the doctor (especially after "The Swan Road", so underrated by the majority of fans). Actually, "Blood In Our Wells" elevated ukrainian band up to the mark of the top-band known throughout, not only in Ukraine but everywhere in the metal society.

Probably, my words will seem foolish and immature, but in my opinion, latest Burzum's works are not to be able to hold a candle even with the masterpiece made by Drudkh. Absolutely. I repeat myself - this is just my opinion and nothing more. I do not attempt to blame Varg of lack of ideas or to say that the fact is that Burzum is worse than Drudkh. But if we want to compare these two great bands by some special stylistics present both in music of Varg and music of Drudkh, we can observe with some kind of regret (for the fans of Burzum cvlt) that Ukrainians do better than Norwegian.

Despite the fact that the band formed only in the beginning of the 00s, the time black metal had arisen long before, Drudkh has brought something new into already formed genre. Their music is their own style; they have offered their own mite in the music. So, the fascination and the main merit of Drudkh is kept exactly in founding of the new subgenre for black metal going out. The rich and longing sounding of melancholy tuned guitars, raw riffs and monotonous solos, which stick in your mind for a long time, brilliant drumming without blast beats and amazing severe vocals that tell us all the essence of slavonic spirit. All of I have enumerated before are the constituent parts of Drudkh's music. Something similar we can also hear on "Blood In Our Wells", most likely because it seems to be their best.

The other interesting feature of this album is the lyrical theme. Lyrics in here are dedicated to Stepan Bandera, the leader of ukrainian nationalists, who was fighting against the USSR during the World War II and after. That fact has slightly disturbed me, but nevertheless I took a risk and listened to "Кров У Наших Криницях" and, you know, I wasn't disappointed at all. But, honestly, that was the only emotions I had. And only after some time has passed, I was really filled with the beauty and the meaning of this release. Now, I am able to call "Blood In Our Wells" one of my most favourite albums ever.

I think, this gets what it deserves - 99/100.

To highlight: When the Flame Turns to Ashes, Solitude, Eternity.

P.S.: The only trait I do not like about the album is the high popularity of the band. Although, in principle, I easily understand why Drudkh is so famous. But, actually, if they were at least a little bit less popular, I would revere them more and value them higher.

Drudkh Died As A Result Of Dysentery - 15%

OzzyApu, June 19th, 2009

Damn do I hate hype: Forgotten Legends and Autumn Aurora I heard were shit compared to this release – hailed as Drudkh’s magnum opus. If I were to believe that, then I’d be jumping on the bandwagon when in reality this album is some of the most boring, uninspired music I’ve ever heard in black metal. Now drone is meant to suck ass, but repetitive black metal in this style is meant to be soothing, entrancing, and invigorating. Autumn Aurora had these characteristics in a blender with perfect atmosphere, natural sounding melodies, and a heart’s worth of allure. All I hear with Blood In Our Wells is sewage stacking higher than the shit I usually take – diarrhea style.

Production is much more confined but still retains the buzzy guitars akin to Autumn Aurora, yet the repeated riffs are so lame and uninteresting here that it makes me want to listen to that album instead. It drags on and on, with the vocals buried under all of it like its masked in a pool of shit. The vocals sound so useless and inert compared to before that they should have been omitted. I thought the second track was completely worthless until the very last minute where it barely cleaned up its act with the acoustic, folky outro. You’re telling me this entire song moved at a slugs pace for eight minutes just so you could throw in a minute of effort? Drumming is pretty tight – a mix between intrinsic double bass and toms amongst more tin sounding cymbals. This combination gives the album more of a chilly sound and is the only element of the music to actually make me feel cold. They’re catchy and hypnotic with their tribal ethics and unorthodox method of communication with the rest of the band.

The guitars are like this on pretty much every song, sometimes going for a more intricate take on things like in the beginning of “When The Flame Turns To Ashes.” This really isn’t such a spectacle like on Autumn Aurora or even colossal like on the debut, though. No, here it still is dull, unimaginative, and contains no flavor at all. Once again it takes forever in building up to a superior conclusion – one that could have easily done without the previous six minutes of useless bullshit. Drudkh moved towards a more rural tone for this album, which is a big mistake since they lost the presence of nature that kept them alive for the first couple of albums. Bass also doesn’t give any really standout performance since the riffs themselves aren’t as stimulating as they once were. You can’t even hear it that well over such muddy music – the whole thing sounds like some thick, pulpy mess with no appeal.

Let us recap: bland vocals, lazy arrangements, boring riffs, a hazier atmosphere, and hefty drumming - not a good report card to bring home to mother Ukraine, no doubt. The last album was step down, everyone could tell, but people are somehow praising this one when all I see is doo doo butter. It’s tedious, intangible, chunky, and isn’t worth the time to hear. A few tracks have good sections in them, but when you have to build up to get to them or hear the crap roll on forever after it, then you really need to get to writing again. The first two albums are worth way more for your buck and your time.

There's Blood in Our Wells... - 95%

Unorthodox, June 15th, 2009

There's three ways a band can receive a lot of attention. The first is by having a really good image to bring forth. Dimmu Borgir's flamboyant dress brings forth a lot of attention, while the almost comic appeal of Slipknot has brought them to the frontline of the mainstream media. Of course, these bands have done more than bring an image for they also brought some interesting ideas to the table, but it's fair to say that their image has really helped them go far. The second kind of band is the band that receives a bunch of notoriety. Mayhem, Sex Pistols, Burzum and Gorgoroth all are classic examples of this kind of band. They may have an image and even masterful pieces of work, but the fame regarding issues outside of the band has made them receive a bunch of attention as well. Then, there's the third kind of band, and these bands don’t come around all too often. There's the "mysterious" band that never really shows anything but music. These bands make damn sure there's a minimal amount of interviews being displayed by the members, while few or almost no pictures are seen around the internet or magazines. The only source these guys have to promote their music is… well, their music. When you hear a whole ton of discussion about these bands, it has to make you wonder what is so damn good about their music, for that is the only thing that could possibly attract people to them.

Drudkh falls under the third category of bands. I, along with many others, know little of this band. I know the members nicknames, a few of their real names, their former members (possibly not all of them), and that they are not into "extreme political views". I've seen a few images of the members in other bands, but as Drudkh; they are a mystery to me. So, all I have got to judge them on is their music....

And wow; I am absolutely blown away by what these guys have created. When you listen to albums like Blood in Our Wells, you don't need any visual from the band because the sound drills an image of what the music looks like in your head. Blood in Our Wells in one of the only albums to do that to me without knowing the bands image (in which Drukh has none). The whole album flows so well together, and when it ends it leaves the listener begging for more. People often credit Dark throne’s “Transilvanian Hunger” as a black metal album to put you almost in a trancelike state. This album seems to goes after the same thing, however I find it to accomplish the aesthetic even better because the whole thing is simply beautiful, while there can be some parts of Transilvanian Hunger that just bore me.

The guitars smoothly make their way through the entire album, as if they got all the time in the entire world to produce their melodies and harmonies. Every chord and note played is emphasized by how long they are held, but it's not in the Sunn O)) style of drone. It's as if they know when the note has reached its max in duration and then move right along with no problem. The very light sound of string instruments in the back (obviously played on a keyboard) help back up the guitars and push the emphasis on each note a little more. And of course, the bass puts the icing on the cake for the overall thickness of the sound.

Blood in Our Wells has a mixture of guitar solos and guitar duets. The guitar duets are really well mixed, having one guitar pan left and another right. Therefore, listening to this album with one headphone would probably take away a lot from the listening experience. Both of the guitars in the duets have great chemistry between one another, sharing the melody and harmony with each other. Most of the solos are interestingly enough not on the electric guitar, but on acoustic. Obviously, the band wants to go for an overall folk sound with the acoustic guitar and even with their regular metal sound, but they do it better than most bands. The acoustic feature is used when necessary, but not overused. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that sometimes they put a bit too much restraint on the folk instruments. Perhaps more emphasis on the folk instruments would have been nice.

The vocals, strangely enough, remind me a lot of the Between the Buried and Me vocalist, in that both vocalists are very straightforward about their jobs. His scream is harsh, to the point, and mixed so that the other instruments can be a bit more featured than him. There are plenty of bands that could learn from this, because the way Drudkh produces and mixes their vocals is perfect for this kind of vocal performance. If you are screaming a bland, straightforward part and you sound louder than any of the other instruments, then you’re album will simply sound more bland and straightforward. That’s not to say that the vocals in Blood in Our Wells are pointless, because they do add a thick layer of extremity and expression. However, there are other things going on in this album that need to take the front, and Drudkh realizes this.

The drums are played under a very good amount of control and resistance, but sometimes a bit too much resistance. He’s a great drummer, and understands how to work with the sounds going on around him. However, I get a feeling that he’s being a bit shy, in that he’s not doing enough to show how good of a drummer he is. Every drum break he does fits perfectly with the music, but perhaps a bit more of him would make his overall performance sound just a tad more complete. But that’s an extremely little criticism, because for the most part he does an outstanding job.

Blood in Our Wells has been raved about ever since its release and it’s considered by many Drudkh’s masterpiece. Perhaps it is, but I cannot wait to hear even more from this band. There’s a lot of potential being fulfilled with this release, but there’s even more that I get the feeling is underway.

Totally amazing black metal from deepest nature - 100%

marienbad, August 15th, 2007

Drudkh is a jewel for black metal world. They come from Ukraine and its members are also responsible for the minimalistic and depressing mastery of Hate Forest. Drudkh's fourth album is incredibly emotional piece of musical art, a statement that applies on few other black metal bands only. If I think about Ukraine and folkish black metal paganism, only Kroda comes close to the atmospheres of Drudkh. Blood in our wells begins with a calm and traditional intro and sounds of native people and their instruments. After this begins the main journey in the form of beautifully created and expressed folkish black metal with distortion.

Furrows of gods is the second track on this album. It is a middle paced song beginning with a melancholic guitar melody before stopping for a beautiful acoustic moment, a very typical and yet always fresh Drudkh moment. This was the first song to blow my mind when I first heard this album. It was clear when the ending of the song took place - a unique and folkishly shiny riff that forces everything to dance in pure joy. This folk melody is also presented with an acoustic interruption that is quite close to the atmospheres of Autumn Aurora, the second album.

When the flame turns to ashes, the third track, is also nothing but practically perfect, with little more nostalgic and melancholic overall atmosphere than in Furrows of Gods. The repeating middle part melody of this song is totally amazing and haunting. I have listened to this album for one year now, and still I "heard" something new and felt something new and cathartic with this third song today. This is the uniqueness of Drudkh: their music is extraordinarily emotional and honest. Nothing is hidden, be it destructive, blinding, pessimistic grief and hatred towards modern world or this life-loving attitude of national pride and more-than-valuable memories, heritage and tradition - in other words, love. Also it is clear that Hate Forest concentrated more on this "hatred part" while Drudkh is mainly more towards this "love part" joyfulness of pagans dancing with their folk instruments playing around them.

In my opinion, this first part of Blood in our wells is more amazing than the latter part. This doesn't mean much, however, because Solitude, Eternity and Ukrainian insurgent army are all incomparable pieces of black metal too. They are depressive and non-depressively nostalgic, especially the "outro" song Ukrainian insurgent army that is an instrumental. This song combines a strong background melody with a beautiful and playful yet slow melody played on top of it without plentifyl distortion. Throughout the album there are also brief moments of old women expressing some lines in traditional language around some folk instruments and atmospheres of times long ago. Immediately the listener is forced to the same world that dominates Hate Forest's masterful and epic Battlefields, an album very different to their minimalistic and mystical approach in another albums, especially Purity.

Drudkh is a band that has composed albums that are quite meaningless to be listed or compared together. Meaning that all four metal albums are very emptying experiences to the listener that is honest to his emotions and can dive into the distorted world of folk black metal. Needless to say anything these Ukrainians will compose in the future (summer 2007 offered their first EP called Anti-Urban with two strong tracks) will be a moment worth waiting for. Drudkh is without too much praising pure magic and Blood in our wells is a journey I so willingly take every right moment. As a last notice, their debut album Forgotten Legends differs from another albums in its total "suicidal" feel to it; the songs are extremely depressing, long and haunting, making the album more than strong beginning for this band.

Burzum wannabe? I think not. - 100%

ShadowSouled, July 6th, 2007

Funny how opinions change within a matter of months, isn't it? The first time I was introduced to Drudkh's music a year ago(I believe the song was First Snow), I found it boring and unimaginative; a Burzum wannabe, if you will. About 3 months ago, on a rare fit of spontaneity, I bought "Blood in our Wells". It took me barely 30 seconds to see the enormity of my mistake.

This album, as with all other Drudkh albums to date, is relatively simplistic ambient black metal. This time, however, they decided to put the keyboards closer, but not quite at the forefront of the mix, making it considerably more cinematic. A good example of this is is "Solitude", a twelve minute monster of a track that never gets boring, no matter how repetitive it is. Another aspect that they have added into their music is the use of samples; the folky parts that you hear on every track, and a good part of the introduction, is taken from the film Mamaj. The soloing on this album is brilliant, the one most standing out in my mind being on Furrows of Gods, starting at 2:40. The last track, Ukrainian Insurgent Army, is an acoustic piece dedicated to the Ukrainian organization that fought both the Nazis and the Bolsheviks during the Second World War. This track is the most full of sadness in the entire album, bordering on depressive, a fitting tribute to brave warriors.. The lyrics in this album are only available in Ukrainian unless you have the Deluxe Edition, I believe. To the extent that I can understand, they deal with Nationalism (read:Nationalism, NOT National-Socialism) and Nature as it should have remained.

To sum up, this album in its entirety is heartbreaking, and truly conveys to the listener the feeling that the world has been raped by humanity. As much as it is my job as a reviewer to find negative points for an album so that I can exploit them heartlessly, I cannot find anything wrong at all with this album.

Standout tracks: Furrows of Gods, Solitude, Ukrainian Insurgent Army

What happened? - 50%

caspian, May 7th, 2007

It can be a disaster when bands change their approach to music. Sometimes it works- Ulver, Neurosis and Isis would be good examples, but other times it fails.. Metallica being an obvious example (Although I think they get too much hate...), Disillusion's going from epic stuff into their perplexing Gloria album, and Pelican's transition from epic post metal to crappy instro rock. Why am I saying this? Because compared to the other Drudkh album I've got, the approach to music is different, and it doesn't work. It doesn't work at all. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a terrible album. It's not like Drudkh decided to drop some techno on us or anything. It's not to different from Autumn Aurora, but something's missing.. And here that's the production and the songwriting.

The songwriting is indeed sub standard on this album. That's not to say this album is totally devoid of good riffs.. There's a real nice mellow break in '..Flames turn to Ashes', and Eternity does have some solid Drudkh riffing. Indeed, it would be fair to say that many of the acoustic breaks are very nice, and the riffs aren't that bad.. Competently played, fuzzy mid paced black metal riffs abound here. No, the main problem is that Drudkh sound.. well, boring. Autumn Aurora was quite a repetitive listen, no doubt, but there was heaps of atmosphere, the riffs were melodic, gorgeous and heavy, and most importantly, everything had been arranged really, really well. This album is repetitive, sure, but that never stopped Drudkh before. Hell, Wind of the Night Forests had what.. 3 riffs? And yet despite its ten minute length, it never got boring.

But here they fall flat. While lack of songwriting prowess is partly to blame, the production is another thing at fault. Forest black metal is not meant to sound crisp. Ulver's Bergtatt defined this style of music's production very well. You want distant sound drums, reverbed guitars, vocals buried in the mix. It may sound like I'm nitpicking here, but this stuff should not sound the way it does on this album! Like it or not, production plays a huge part in determining an album's atmosphere. Here, the production lets the songs down, stripping them of said atmosphere, and taking much of the enjoyment of the music away too.

It may seem a bit rich to make this album so harshly for some sloppy songwriting and production. If anything, this has made me realise just how hard it must be to get this kind of music right. Drudkh's music is balanced on a knife edge.. For this kind of music to sound good, every thing must be executed perfectly. Drudkh don't manage that on this album, and it suffers massively as a result. To put it simply: This album is pretty boring. People who haven't heard Drudkh before should check out Autumn Aurora first, as it's a good example of what happens when Drudkh get it right.

Their most ambitious landscape yet - 98%

TID, August 16th, 2006

DRUDKH - "BLOOD IN OUR WELLS", 2006

One of the most notorious BM acts of recent years is Drudkh, the sideproject of Roman Saenko (better known for his work on Hate Forest, an extinct band that has been outlived by Drudkh) This band poses a different side of BM, lyrical, nature-oriented and with epic trends. It is remarkable that this project is unanymously praised in the underground scene (much more than Hate Forest, which is frankly very underrated). I have to tell you right now, if all of their previous LPs had been hailed as masterpieces, this is undoubtedly their crowning achievement and what may come after this (there's a new album in the works) will have to be inhumanely great to top "Blood in our wells".

In the years that I have heard BM, I had not seen a band perform such synthesis of the elements that conform its sound: the epic aim from "Forgotten Legends" (2002) their debut album, the keyboards, first introduced on "Autumn Aurora", the very personal soloing from "The Swan Road", the slow pace, the melancholy & solitary notes, the folk elements (which are provided by a soundtrack from a movie), all that emanates from their previous material flows together in "Blood...". In any case, what I would hold against this (feebly, of course) is that there are too many elements involved. As we have said before, "Forgotten Legends", the album that was supposed to be "depressive Black Metal", achieved so much with so very few elements, revolving around a main theme; "Blood...", though, is far more ambitious in its scope. The listeners who have payed attention to "Sunwheel" and "The wind of the night forests" from "Autumn Aurora" will have a clear idea of how these songs are written. The songs from "Blood..." attempt to surprise, by featuring unexpected changes between a droning riff and the next one, and thus, provoking a sense of euphoria, resulting in a less minimalistic effect. Ironically enough, "Blood..." represents a comeback to the original epic song structure, for the previous two albums were divided, if quite organically, into more tracks, which weighed around 6 min. The shortest song from "Blood..." is 8 min. long.

It is easy to hear how they have evolved from a rawer sound ("Forgotten Legends" was only about guitar and monotonous drumming) into a more sophisticated project that involves more melody, combining guitar and keyboards. Not only their song formula, considerably simple at the beginning of their career, is now far more advanced (without sounding like musical wankery), but they also allow themselves to play around with their capabilities (some great riffs, like the initial one from "Solitude", some interesting drumming, some complex solos, like at the beginning of "Eternity", etc.) without losing any BM "rawness". The production is a little bit more decent than that of "Swan...", which sounded too shrill. The atmosphere is still somewhat fuzzy but you won't miss any detail. The instruments sound meatier than ever (i.e. the drums and the bass do have a role, specially in the last two songs) so the luminous texture of these landscapes is richer than ever.

Each album has been unique, so maybe we still don't fully know what the future will bring for Drudkh, but meanwhile, we can listen to this true monument to nature and poetry. The CD is accompanied by a very neat booklet.

Drudkh - best new band in a decade - 99%

DaBuddha, August 16th, 2006

This is Drudkh's newest full length album, number four, which is just as powerful, epic, majestic and beautiful as the previous albums. Here we have 5 songs (and 1 intro) of majestic Heathen Black Metal, performed in a way that gives off a feeling of absolute majesty, but at the same time sorrow and despair.

Drudkh was formed out of the ashes of the mighty Hate Forest a while back and has since then been creating, IMO, the best Epic Black Metal the world has seen since Emperor. The formula here is simple, yet it is not. Guitars are melancholic while retaining a raw sound to them. They play flowing lines of sad melodies but also give off a triumphant vide as well. The frequent solos are also great. They are very melodic and fit in with the music perfectly. The songs are long, usually over 10 minutes, but they never bore you or make you skip to the next track. The drums do what they should do, that is play at a slow pace with fills when necessary. You won't find any non-stop blasting and virtuoso rolls and fills. This music does not call for it and it would be very inappropriate for the drums to follow this pattern. In fact, there is no blast beats at all throughout the entire album. The folk melodies are also what makes this band so special. They are unique IMO and don't really sound like any other Folky Black Metal band out there. The bass is hidden as usual but it's not a problem. The vocals are raspy, filled with hatred and sorrow. They are very harsh in their delivery.

Really there is not much more to say reguarding such a masterpiece as Blood In Our Wells. Everything about it is perfect in my eyes. As the title of the review suggests, Drudkh is the best band to come out of the BM scene in at least a decade, no shit. This is not a Burzum clone by any means. Leave that for Wigrid. Drudkh will keep pushing the envelope of Folk/Depressive Black Metal as long as they desire to and there is no foreseeable end in sight. Along with countrymates Nokturnal Mortum, Drudkh are the future of BM and if this is the case, then the future looks extremely promising.

Appalling.... How incredible this is - 99%

orionmetalhead, April 3rd, 2006

I am taking the time out of writing a paper for honors history to instead focus on a more pressing matter - explaining the shear incredibleness of this newest Drudkh album. It is appalling how this band is incapable of making anything less than legendary. It almost as if, God created Mr. Saenko for the explicit purpose of making bands that creat music that is so good that no one is allowed to not hear it. Sadly, few do hear it, but those who have the opportunity to hear albums like Forgotten Legends, Autumn Aurora, The Swan Road, and now, the most recent album, Blood In Our Wells, are able to experience a journey into the depths of music unlike any other. Not only do these albums portray the earthiness which is so desired by many who enjoy listening to black metal, but its not all blasting like many of the scandinavian bands. This album, rather, this masterpeice is as far as i'm concerned, the best black metal album that i can think of. Epic, enchanting, cold attitude with warm, yet raw production, and melodies which James Taylor could be proud of, it creates a feeling of sheer bliss to be anywhere within audible range of it. Aliens come to Earth for the sole reason that, like us, they too NEED music this good on their planet.

The songwriting is superb on this album. Before this album, I thought that False Dawn was the best black metal song I had ever heard however, with When The Flames Turn To Ashes, all illusions are shattered as far as that is concerned. Each song flows, like Ukranian rivers. The production is, as I said, fantastic. Everything is audible, and clear yet the production has its rough spots. Musicianship is ridiculous and perfect. The drumming of Yuri is precise and groovy. When you play this album, the trees tilt toward you, the beasts hide just a little closer, and life as you know it stops until, once your finished, fifty minutes have passed.

One thing which I will comment on is that, as on The Swan Road, there is an increased usage of Ukrainian Folk music on this album. However, this aspect is used, in my opinion, much better than on Drudkh's last album. It is incorporated better. And, if you play the two albums back to back, the ending of Swan Road, Song of Sich Destruction flows wonderfully into Nav, the first track on Blood In Our Wells.

A Couple of standout parts to mention are aside from everything.. The first true guitar solo on a Drudkh release, which occurs in Furrows of Gods, the second track on Blood in Our Wells (second track is actually the first real track since the First track is a intro taken from the movie Mamaj. Solitude And Eternity are both incredible tracks with short folkish intros and incredible depth. Ukranian Insurgent Army is also an incredible track however the best track is by far When The Flame Turns To Ashes. Eruoting into a blaze then dying out once more only to yet again be stoked and brought back to life, this song is a black metal ode to the power and nature of fire. Two acoustic interludes meander while you can hear the fire being stoked with the sporadic inclusion of subtle yet mind blowingly heavy guitar parts that last for a quater of a second and then are gone only to re-emerge 5 seconds later, all the time making you yearn for the flames which return seeminlgy at a different place every time you listen to the song, as if the song is changing every time you listen to it much like a fire changes every time you watch it. Slowly, the fire subsides leaving ashes in its wake.

In two words: Simply Euphoric. I already cant wait for the next album.