You would be correct in thinking there have been a lot of reviews featuring Drudkh. The Ukrainians have had all their past albums reissued by SoM after changing alliances from Supernal and are pretty damn prolific as it is. You certainly will not be seeing them crop up in the interview or live review section either, there is no change there and nor is there ever likely to be. Handful Of Stars is album number eight in a short seven year time span. The thing that does impress about the band is that whilst they are easily identifiable and you always know you are listening to Drudkh within a couple of minutes, they are adept at making each and every album different.
This one was apparently mainly inspired by the lyrics of Ukrainian poets Oleksa Stefanovych and Svyatoslav Gordyskyj. I am sure that if you are not au fait with their work it will not spoil your enjoyment, Thurios is always going to sing like a wounded bear without any evident poetic annunciation and you will not be alone unless you happen to be an Eastern European poetic scholar who has a penchant for extreme music.
Essentially this is four long tracks wrapped around a brief opening and closing instrumental. It clocks in under the ¾ of an hour mark and does leave you hungering for perhaps that bit more but then again another track could prove superfluous. After a short passage of maudlin classical piano we are thrust into ‘Downfall Of The Epoch’ and the lush spring uncoiling guitar sound stridently leaves you in no doubt exactly who you are listening to. Again the flow mesmerises but the song bounds off and canters away into the waiting trap that is those distempered vocals. The mid-paced tumult is just right for fist pounding exercise and the music bristles with a proud fervour, one that Ukrainian groups excel in providing. It is easy to lose yourself as more acoustic parts come into play, the melody is totally riveting as it flows through things and counterpoised with slightly gentler but no less indignant vocals, the song really gets beneath the skin.
There are times when the guitar structures strike as more expansive than on previous albums as we progress, transgressing into ‘post’ rock and even Indie territories. The central melody on ‘Towards The Light’ is as suggests light and airy and full of romantic yearning and heartfelt passion. As it drops into a simple drum signature and guitar chord you are struck by the fragility and momentarily catch breath before it sets to build up again. Watch out for a classic sounding guitar solo which soars like an eagle then dropping into vocals swooping as it goes to snatch up its prey. I’m pretty sure I have enjoyed this one more than Microcosmos. It seems a bit more accessible even, due to the songs organic sounding simplicity. It is easy to find the melody of numbers such as ‘Twilight Aureole’ (a Drudkh title and a half) embedding themselves in your head and massaging you in their dream laden flow.
As ever this takes the listener on a musical journey and one which is both masterful and majestic. Drudkh are somewhat unique and even if they had imitators that is all they would ever be. The one thing that I am not so sure about here is the album artwork but with music so good beneath it, this is somewhat irrelevant and who am I to question their muse? This glistening handful of stars is pure magic.
http://www.myspace.com/drudkhofficial
