Style: Atmospheric black metal...?
Primary Emotions/Themes:
Thoughts: Change. The one constant in the universe. Everything is always in motion, nothing is stagnant. Change is inevitable. Drudkh needed change.
After eight albums most bands will have gone down one of several paths. They could have evolved well beyond their roots, branching out in directions never even thought from the early albums. The band can repeat the same album over and over again, never progressing yet never risking failure either. The band also be stuck in a sea of mediocrity, trying different things in a desperate plea to bring a spark, something fresh to their sound.
Handful of Stars sees Drudkh changing their sound in the most drastic way in their entire catalog. The basics of what makes the band Drudkh is still present... but it's interpreted from a different vantage point. From the very first moments of Downfall of Epoch several things are immediately noticed: the guitar distortion/tone, and the structure of the music.
The guitars no longer have an outright distortion on them, instead it has more of an overdriven sound... like you would find in '70's classic rock. The riffs are also no longer outright black metal, they are played in a more open chord fashion, and have significantly less aggression to them than any of the previous metal albums.
The question is then, is this a good or a bad thing? I think that is highly dependent on the listener. For me, this is an absolute win. Drudkh had done the atmospheric black metal sound to death, and besides the excellent Microcosmos, the sound was starting to wear on me. I was no longer interested in the new Drudkh, I knew what was coming... until this one.
The four songs on this album, while less agressive, contain some of the most sorrowful and mournful sounds that the band has ever created. The guitars being more audible than ever before, along with a well played bass guitar makes these riffs some of the best that the band has created in a long time, probably since Blood in Our Wells.
Handful of Stars is the oddball in Drudkh's discography, and it's one of my favorite albums from the band. The fact that they took such a huge risk with the sound and it paid off so well is to be commended. Even if it didn't work out, I would still respect the hell out of the band for taking such a huge risk. Too bad they went back to their standard sound after this album. I would have loved to see some more experimentation.
Written August 11th 2024
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