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Drudkh > Лебединий шлях (The Swan Road) > Reviews
Drudkh - Лебединий шлях (The Swan Road)

Unattractive - 50%

Felix 1666, April 17th, 2020
Written based on this version: 2010, CD, Season of Mist Underground Activists (Reissue, Remastered)

Drudkh’s discography is impressive in terms of quantity. Eleven full-lengths and a lot of miscellaneous stuff speak volumes. Moreover, there can be no doubt that they have released some good albums, but “The Swan Road” is not among these works. Despite the atmospheric and stylish artwork of the Season of Mist edition, the album exactly lacks atmosphere. The first regular track “Eternal Sun” shows this painfully. Its fast parts seem out of place, the slower sections lead us to suspect that they could have done a much better opener and the fade-out at the end appears as the final proof of creative underperformance. And indeed, there are no melodies that draw me into the song. The real classics of Drudkh give me the feeling to be in their epicentre, in the eye of the storm. But on “The Swan Road”, there is always a significant distance between the songs and me. I am consuming the material without becoming a part of it.

One reason for this is surely the material itself. The compositions fail to present outstanding melody lines or hypnotizing harmonies. The more or less medieval “Glare of 1768” illustrates the dilemma. This is no bad track and its melody cannot be blamed for a lack of substance. Yet it remains fairly expressionless and it needs nearly five minutes until I feel attracted by the song – and this period is definitely too long for a piece with a playtime of less than six minutes, if I am not mistaken. By the way, the production also does not convince. The album suffers from a lack of transparency and Definition. Furthermore, its thin sound is not able to put the guitars into the focus. Their insufficient force cannot be ignored. Aggravating this situation, they sound really terrible during the mellow moments of “The Price of Freedom”, another track that passes by without explaining the listener why she or he should take the album into her or his heart.

Drudkh’s best tracks have repetitive song patterns and given this fact, it would be unfair to banish this album for its equally repetitive structure. But it needs high quality riffs or melodies to avoid boredom when it comes to this kind of song material and especially the guitar work on “The Swan Road” is far away from brilliance. The guitars exist, that’s true, but they do not take the lead and also fail to bring out the main points. Their mediocrity breaks the album’s neck, because it does not trigger emotions and – once again – it fails to create atmosphere. Of course, atmosphere is not the only criteria in black metal, but without this feature it is really hard to pen a strong genre work. Fortunately, Drudkh have too much talent to release a true stink bomb, but “The Swan Road” can be ignored – and, warning, its folkloric closer must be ignored! This track truly sucks.

Not Their Finest Hour - 71%

Thumbman, February 19th, 2018

The Swan Road often feels like a bit of a forgotten Drudkh album, no doubt due to being sandwiched between the band's two crowning achievements. So how does Swan Road stack up? Well, it is better than a fair chunk of their discography but it can't really compete with the heavy hitters. It doesn't begin to capture the same wondrous atmosphere of Autumn Aurora and a lot of the ideas here would be greatly improved upon on Blood in our Wells. Nevertheless, Swan Road is a solid album and perhaps the growing pains on display here were necessary to achieve what they did on Blood.

Atmosphere is indisputably the predominant factor in what made Autumn Aurora such an enduring classic. Not to say Swan Road doesn't have any, but it just doesn't draw the listener into another word like Aurora. The shift to an increasingly Slavonic folky sound does fortify the atmosphere in some respects, but the guitar tone is weaker and the warm lushness just isn't there anymore. Despite being quite melodic at times, this is a more aggressive album, with more blast beats and the vocals meaner and higher in the mix. As much as I am for hard-hitting black metal, aggression isn't Drudkh's strong point and it's hard not to feel like atmosphere - their greatest strength - is sacrificed as a result.

Swan Road shows an expansion of the Drudkh sound and while this is largely a good-but-not-great growing pains album there are some moments where it really pays off. There are more guitar solos, which can be surprisingly flashy. The melodic one in "Glare of 1768" is especially killer. The only real flop on the solo front is the counterpoint solo in "Eternal Sun". It sounds like they're trying to add some shred to the type of lead guitar you'd find on Bergtatt, and while what each individual guitar is doing is cool they just don't sync up in a convincing way. The Slavonic folk influence is best showcased in the instantly memorable acoustic section in "Glare of 1768". As for riffs, for the most part they don't nail down the hypnotic repetition thing as well as their best albums but one notable exception is the brooding main riff on "Blood". As for the traditional folk song tacked onto the end, it is fine but does kind of come off like superfluous window dressing shoehorned in to double down on the Ukrainian national heritage theme.

Growing pains is the best way to describe The Swan Road. The captivating atmosphere of Autumn Aurora is all but eroded. Every new idea added to the fold would be executed exponentially better on Blood in our Wells. This is by no means a bad album and is fairly enjoyable when it's on, but it is dwarfed by the two leviathans of atmospheric black metal it is squeezed between. Swan Road has its moments and is still better than the average atmospheric black metal album, but besides from the developments in their sound, it is not a particularly essential component of the Drudkh discography.

Drudkh - Лебединий Шлях (The Swan Road) (re-issue) - 90%

Witchfvcker, April 24th, 2014

As a part of being signed to Season Of Mist and because of their rapidly growing reputation, Ukrainian black metallers Drudkh are getting their back-catalogue reissued. While being a decidedly strong album, The Swan Road holds the odd position of being squeezed between what is often considered Drudkh’s two masterpieces, Autumn Aurora (2004) and Blood In Our Wells (2006). In spite of this, there is no doubt that the album stands out perfectly well on its own, taking us back to those now familiar Slavonic steppes and golden forests.

All the characteristics that made the first two Drudkh albums unforgettable can be found here; from the distorted organic-sounding production and the vaguely repetitive Burzum-worship, to the longing for pre-modern times and nationalistic pride. Acoustic strumming especially helps lifting the atmosphere from your standard melancholic black metal to a unique folk-tinged sound, while vocalist Thurios harshly recites lyrics adapted from the Ukrainian national poet Taras Schevchenko.

After the eminent Blood In Our Wells Drudkh has gained a solid following, not only amongst the self-professed underground-elite, but by black metal fans as a whole. One doesn't need to listen through The Swan Road many times to understand that this is one band that has deserved their peculiar rise. From being a rather obscure eastern-European project consisting of members from various NSBM-bands, to one of the premier bands of genre, Drudkh’s journey is a strange one indeed.

The memorable riffs are plentiful, the solos are subtle and powerful, and there is genuine emotion to be felt behind every song – the closing number “Song Of Sich Destruction” is a fully acoustic folk song. Due to the consistency in its depressing yet wonderfully patriotic anthems, name dropping particular tracks would be a waste of time since this album is best taken in as an individual piece of art.

Most black metal fans should already be familiar with Drudkh, and their at times immensely powerful display of genuine and heartfelt work. Even though The Swan Road is sometimes overlooked when compared to its preceding and subsequent releases, it remains an obligatory album and comes damn close to being a landmark of the genre.


Written for The Metal Observer

The Quintessence Of Drudkh - Part I - 99%

Killer_Clown, April 21st, 2012

After "Autumn Aurora" comes their third - "The Swan Road". One of the most contradictory releases in Drudkh's history. How does that one differ from others, you may ask? I gonna explain right now.

Okay, for a start, it differs from their previous albums by the raw and distorted sound, which is inherent sooner in True BM than in here. Also, there are some more distinctive features of "The Swan Road". Firstly, "Лебединий Шлях" would never set you bored. Even if we take into account the fact that other albums are super-duper cool, we can really get bored on some songs, can't we? So, this one will never set you bored. Probably, this trait is due to the special stylistics of the album (I'll describe it a little bit later).

The second thing I want to mention is the big variety of different melodies, divergent clever and successful tricks and moves, which make "The Swan Road" much more full and interesting in its musical content. Probably, it is connected with some alteration to more raw and atmospheric sound. They have disposed of almost all of ambient insets in tracks, but in my opinion that cannot be reckoned as a disadvantage.

What about the special stylistics? It seems I told much in the previous paragraph. The raw sound, catchy melodies (I can't physically mark out any of the songs - every is cool in its own way) and they are not dragged out as on the preceding albums. They excel because they're the some kind of fast and various.

One more feature is that "The Swan Road" will surely arouse emotions in you. They can be either positive or negative. That mean it won't set the listener indifferent to the music in here. Exactly this point makes music music. Sorry for the tautology.

What do I personally think about "Лебединий Шлях". The slavonic folksy tunes and themes are very close to me in principle. So, maybe, I like Drudkh's music most likely because I can feel the slavonic soul and exactly because of that fact their music touches me so. I do not really know what the real matter of the fact is, but Drudkh's works still continue to rage wild in me. And I wish you would feel the same.

To highlight: every song.

Onward To The Recycle Bin! (Part IX) - 25%

OzzyApu, September 17th, 2009

Here begins Drudkh’s descent into mediocrity and, eventually, pure shit. This isn’t as bad as Blood In Our Wells, but it’s a true step down into a puddle of shit, rather than the sewer system that would be BIOW. Gone are the beautiful sounds of nature blissfully coexisting with hypnotic black metal, discarded pompously in favor of a more rural / folky sounding Drudkh. The guitar tone is much weaker and replaced with slightly-heard lead folk melodies and a wall of distortion. These not only make the album a whole hell of a lot weaker and less easy on the ears, but also incredibly boring, lagging, and dry. BIOW would really take these negatives and stretch them out, but here there’s at least a little bit more room to cope with benefits like melodic breaks and solos that are actually worth a damn.

With the first two albums, the sound was encompassing and lured the listener into an uncharted world where the problems of society could not yet taint the innocence that was discovered. With this, that connection is lost and the feeling is nowhere near as invigorating or valuable. I could literally see the colors jovial and magical before my eyes with the entrancing atmosphere of Autumn Aurora or the dark, melancholic voyages into the great beyond with Forgotten Legends, but I don’t really get anything from The Swan Road. The atmosphere is lacking, the tone is putrid, and the bass is substantially less impressive or useful than it was when filling the gaps on the first two albums.

The drums still manage to capitulate all envious bastards with wretch cymbal crashing patterns and ballistic tom attacks. Double bass is incredibly quiet and isn’t really something heard when casually listening to the album. The wall of sound just buries the entire thing like a canvas over a cake – you never get to taste it! Vocally its still pretty decent – tormented growls that yearn for a new hope. They’re clear while sounding a bit distorted, but still grasping with emotion and turmoil.

The whole thing reminds me of a Burzum album – like a cross between Filosofem and the shittiest parts of Hvis Lyset Tar Oss, which seems nearly impossible since that album was a near-masterpiece. It’s got that droning, constant lack of appeal instead of the hypnotic, elegant pleasure that made the first two albums so full of vigor. Some moments it manages to pull itself up for a while (the song “Fate,” for instance) and a solo or two make up for the lack of thought, but they’re easily forgettable when it comes down to the entire picture. The last song also I can’t stand, even if it is meant to be culturally significant – I think it sucks shit. It does nothing but leave a bitter taste in my mouth while at the same time has no lasting value, nothing to hold it together, and nothing keeping it from sitting at 200m on the firing range while I let loose a 5.56mm round from my AR-15.

One shot, one kill…

The Same Road. - 80%

Perplexed_Sjel, November 19th, 2007

After a while, the sound of Drudkh does tend to merge into one. You could easily take one or two songs from one full-length and switch them on to another. You wouldn't really notice the difference, but this is where 'The Swan Road' came in and changed things drastically. The public perception of this band is beginning to change, slowly. Where they were once seen as masters of a Ukrainian style of black metal, they're now dwindling in their abilities to persuade a tough crowd. People expect so much of Drudkh because of their first four full-lengths. They inspired the world. They created a whole new fanbase. They gave Nokturnal Mortum fans a place to turn if they ever made a bad record.


Drudkh are known for their successful blend of folk music with black metal. Generally, I don't like folk music. But if it's incorporated into a genre I do like, well, we'll have to wait and see what the results are. Usually, when the results are good, they're very good and when they're bad, they're very bad. Fortunately, Drudkh always seem to fall into the positive category, which is a great thing for me. I'd simply hate having to sit through failed attempt after failed attempt before finally finding some sort of gem, at the bottom of the pile. 'The Swan Road' isn't an obvious picked for best Drudkh full-length, but it's a decent offering. It's never going to compete with 'Blood In Our Wells', which seems to be regarded as the fans favourite, but it will cause enjoyment whenever anyone gets the urge to listen to Drudkh's take of folk inspired black metal.


Much like any Drudkh record, this, as i've said, incorporates folk music successfully into it. This folk feel is induced by using keyboards, which lay down a smoother and more sleek sound. The way in which Drudkh use keyboards to enhance the atmospheric folk feel is stylish. It's an ability which gives them a fresh feel every time they create a new record. Despite the fact that Drudkh do have a similar sound on every record, the use of keyboards to help audiences sample the atmosphere really does help make Drudkh appealing, time and time again. The acoustic sections are also a blessed relief. They, as well as the keyboards, structure the songs into a more folk inspired way. They add a subtlety to Drudkh's game, giving them a new dimension. The sounds of the buzzing guitars doesn't constantly stay top dog, Drudkh shift around elements of their music to suit the atmosphere they create.


The acoustics and keyboards allow for greater musical expression also. This can only be seen as a positive as Drudkh pull it off so well. The most pleasing element is probably the focused riffs the guitars produce. They mellifluously mould themselves around the other elements of the music and control the proceedings. They dictate to everything else where it is going and how it gets there. The mellow feel to the riffs, despite that buzzing sound the production gives off, is pleasing to the ear. However, as i've touched upon briefly, the production isn't crystal clear.


Sometimes that buzzing lo-fi feel can become annoying. It doesn't allow the audience much of a chance to fully engage with the musicians attempts at producing euphonious and well executed soundscapes. The production isn't always the same either. It has a tendency to change. From buzzing to a more subtle presence is what we're given. I do happen to prefer the latter. The vocals don't really need to be addressed as they're standard Drudkh vocals. Rasping qualities and coarse textures. Highlights for me are; 'Glare Of 1768' and 'The Price Of Freedom'.

I Eat Swans for Breakfast - 33%

oVerCaffeinated, March 24th, 2006

I hold Drudkh’s previous two albums in high regard. They weren’t anything too different or exciting but they had atmosphere. You pop “Autumn Aurora” (for the rest of the review abbreviated to “AA”) in your CD player, layback on your bed and suddenly you’re sitting up against a large tree looking over a lake covered with bright red and yellow leaves. You pop “The Swan Road” (to be abbreviated down to “SR” for the rest of the review) in you CD player and you get nothing.

As you can probably already guess SR is quite a departure from what Drudkh has done in the past. The main difference is there is more variation. Usually more variation is a good thing but in this case it is not. AA created a Trance-like state of mind with its riffs, similar to how Burzum does it, which is all but gone in SR. Instead of flowing tracks we are interrupted with short bursts of speed. This is when the vocals kick in. They are a bit more aggressive than AA which suits the faster sections.

The production also detracts from this album. It is slightly better than AA and does not have the tape-like quality of AA. Probably the most notable difference is the drumming, there’s more of it. Again this is a step in the wrong direction because the minimalist drumming on AA suited the music very well and gave the guitars more room to breath. They play around less with the kick drum on SR too, another red cross to add to the SR report. To end off this disappointing album Drudkh treat us with what sounds to be some kind of traditional Slavonic song. Very interesting but it is unfortunately tacked onto a rather uninteresting album.

The atmosphere from Drudkh is gone and what is left is another plastic disc to throw onto the pile of Black Metal albums you will never listen to again.

Drudkh doesn't disappoint. - 95%

Nocturnal_Art, February 28th, 2006

Let me just start by saying that I can't believe I ever doubted this album. I don't understand people saying that Drudkh has lost track because they are wrong, dead wrong. The difference between this piece and the two previous releases is that Drudkh took a slightly more aggressive approach this time around. Even the vocals have increased in volume, still raspy, harsh vocal pattern, but just louder and more angry like.No, Drudkh is not playing fast, standard bland black metal. They still got that unique sound that pulls them away from all the other bands, at least that I've heard. The music here as far as guitar technicality is the same as Autumn and Forgotten, but with more frequent changes in the songs, a whole new song structure takes place here. Which is what made this album a little different. Roman keeps on switching his sound back and forth, not losing you in the process. The hypnotic riffs are not as present here, but there are still touches.

Six songs which equal about the same time of the previous albums. One thing that I did notice is what may make people believe Drudkh has changed is that is that it's not so emotion based as the great Forgotten Legends or Autumn Aurora, this one sounds more about pride and they didn't hide it in melancholic passages in this opus. You can feel the pride of their land and their surroundings wrapped around in these songs. Yet, it is still present. The solo's, which can't be forgotten to be mentioned. What you thought was great a taste in Autumn has increased much more in "The Swan Road." They pop out when you least expect it, only making your experince a much more interesting one. Acoustics sound sharp, creating a very relaxed epic vibe before it all goes back to the full force that we know Drudkh brings to the table.



http://saintvitus.proboards77.com/index.cgi

one of the most vital BM releases in a long time - 97%

michinoku, June 11th, 2005

I would call Drudkh's latest disc, The Swan Road, a vital piece of BM, because it pulses organically despite the inclusion of elements that can really drag a work into the mud if mishandled - extremely melodic songwriting, simplistic bm repetition, heavy folk awareness in both the lyrics and the compositions. Basically Drudkh moves closer to post-Burzum folk/black territory then they ever have, and they handle it extremely well - so well, in fact, that this album is one of the most listenable works in the genre in a damn long time.

Autumn Aurora, the band's previous release, was an achingly beautiful, very well textured piece of droning/ambient black metal, its only flaw being the lack of flow in song structures - it seemed like once the members had settled on a riff or chord progression, they would play it until exhaustion and then switch, sometimes with less grace than one might expect. While the more ambient aspects of the songwriting is mostly gone here, we have much greater song integration that keeps the songs moving between EXTREMELY clever guitar lines that brilliantly enhance the admittedly familiar chord progressions that this band uses, the harsher vocals, and the layered production. Everything that was accomplished with synthesizers on the previous release is done with warm, enveloping guitar fuzz, and the overall atmosphere of the release is far more aggressive as a result - on occasion, some acoustic guitar is layered into the mix, and the sound in these sections is extraordinarily full.

I'm not of any descent even remotely resembling slavic, but Drudkh's music is capable of granting the listener a type of empathy for their unfortunately dark history. The aggression on the majority of the tracks is not bludgeoning, and there is still enough beautiful melody in the songwriting to also offer some of the more positive aspects of this history - and while on this release the band isn't directly invoking the worshipful respect for nature innate in this culture, it exists as part of the organic vitality of this album, that keeps it from being any of the cliches of black metal that it could be.
And just so they could prove that to the listener, the band closes out the album with the unique Song of Sich Destruction, presumably a slavic folk melody performed with just vocals and a very peculiar stringed instrument that sounds very metallic and imprecise - and as the only full acoustic song on the album, it makes quite an impression, like the band might be the most committed to their folk heritage of any band currently producing records. It is just a further demonstration that this band is really doing something authentic, and the fact that it sounds this pretty, this polished, this well-layered, works to Drudkh's favor.

Depressing, Epic, and Prideful. - 98%

Prugor, March 3rd, 2005

The Swan Road. A very odd name for the third album to the legacy of Drudkh, pretty much Slavic history in the making. This album showcases possibly the best idea of their work, it shows emotion, depth, and the ability to make Black Metal sound intellegent and full of a warm emotion.

The vocals on this album are great. They are the same as the last two albums, but then change to a Folkish style, with the last song, " Song Of Sich Destruction. " His voice turns from harsh and sad to depressing, epic, clean, and almost something you would hear from an old man singing folk tales around the campfire. It makes you wonder, when listening to the last track, that what if this is the new leg of future waves of Black Metal will be doing, adding more Folk and Cultural influences, then the standard Grim, Nekro, Kvlt, Repeat.

The production on this album is flawless, but the tone set from the instruments is on the side of Fuzz and distortion, unlike the last two albums to where the guitars and other instruments were set at normal distortion and repeditive. Also, with this release, the actual use of worth-while guitar solo's comes into play. They are no where near what Black Metal has to offer for solo's, they sound more like from a medium pace Heavy Metal song, set more to make it feel epic then anything else. The riffs on this album are also something of worth, they again, are different from the standard Black Metal riffs. They change, not much, but accent the album in different ways.

This albums is Saddening, Epic, and Full of Pride. After three four listens, I feel in love with it's original feel and wonderful composure. This is something that all fans of Mellow, Depression filled Black Metal need to hear, because screams of pain, anguish, and torture aren't just the only depressing things; tales of lore, legend, cultural morals can be just as bad.

A few new elements added, and still great - 88%

KayTeeBee, March 2nd, 2005

Drudkh's second album, Autumn Aurora, was an album admired by many because it was among the first Black Metal albums to contain such unique and soothing feelings, while keeping a very heavy touch to the music. I personally thought that album was genious, with very good ideas, and without being generic at all. Luckily enough, their new album, The Swan Road, still has a great relaxing feel to it, and it also has some songs that are much heavier, with more vocals.

Something I admired about Drudkh throughout their 2 first albums is that they can make quite long songs that are pretty repetitive, but they never bore the listener. It was probably because of the great atmosphere contained in each songs, or that the riffs were amazing, but whatever it was, that element is still intact in this album. Just like in the song "Blood", which has a few riffs and is about 8:50 in length. Though it never gets boring at all, and it has a few solos here and there, without forgetting the impressive vocal performance by Roman. Drudkh also pays homage to their culture (which is Slavonic, i'm guessing) in the last song, "Song of Sich Destruction". It's very nice, with some type of guitar which I've never heard before and another great vocal performance by Roman. The drums on this album have the almost exact same sound as the one featured on Autumn Aurora, with some pretty simple drum beats that never get boring. The brutal minimalistic parts (like in the second riff of "The Price Of Freedom) are also great, and they show something that has never been done by Drudkh.

So if you liked Autumn Aurora and also like a bit of brutality and agressivity, The Swan Road won't disappoint you. Recommended to all Drudkh fans...