Style: Atmospheric black metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: Looking at a freshly prepared meal that looks and smells amazing, but you take your first few bites and something feels just a tad bit off
Thoughts: The early Drudkh albums are interesting... interesting good? interesting bad? I'm not sure that I've made up my mind about that yet. But they certainly intrigue me and keep me coming back to see if I truly enjoy them or if this is just another passing fancy.
One of the albums that has me perplexed is The Swan Road. This album feels like the direct continuation of Autumn Aurora... but it falls way short. At first I was conflicted... this album has all of the same components that made Autumn Aurora and Forgotten Legends so amazing: acoustic breaks, slow methodical riffs, emotion filled vocals, and a deep sense of heritage.
As I came to accept over time is that just because you have all the individual makings of a great album, they don't automatically create a great album. Whereas in the first two albums there were a vast majority of good to downright masterful songs, The Swan Road contains a mix of good to poor songs.
The major difference here is the drumming. I'm not sure why the band decided to put blast beats in, but they did. The style of riffing that the band has developed to this point is quite frankly not conducive to blasting. On top of that the drummer does not have the precision to keep the blasting consistent for a long period of time.
There are times when a little bit of sloppiness is actually good. Early Graveland and Judas Iscariot are prime examples of this. Here though, the band has a hypnotic style for there riffs, and the whole point is to get lost in the music. The inconsistency in the blasting pulls me straight out of that. It's unfortunate, and something that would be corrected on the following albums.
Even with the drumming being subpar for a good portion of the album, the riffs themselves seem to be almost an afterthought with the quality that was shown on the first two albums. Almost like these were the left over riffs and the band decided to put these out before writing actual new ones. I hardly think that this is the case, but the album as a whole does not feel nearly as complete as the first two.
The Swan Road is a mediocre album. It's one that in a vacuum would be fine, but considering what came before and what comes after this album feels like a bit of a letdown for the legacy that Drudkh has created.
Written August 9th 2024
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