What’s with all the reissues? It’s like we’re getting bombarded with them at the moment, though I can’t say I’m complaining when thanks to labels like SOM and Peaceville I’m managing to complete various gaps in my collection. Last month I reviewed the debut album, Forgotten Legends, from this exceptionally unique act, and Autumn Aurora was the album that originally followed a year on in 2004. It was only a year or so ago that I got into this band after a friends recommendation and I’ve no cause to look back. Drudkh have something unique about them; a formula that takes on different colours and guises but ultimately remains consistent. They are a solitary breath of fresh, pine-scented air in a city of pollution, noise and scum-of-the-earth humankind. What’s more, they never outstay their welcome and at 40 minutes in length it’s not like one of those super-long hikes that you come out of exhausted and gasping for breath.

This is the sort of album that takes over your world for 2/3rds of an hour and sends you off to another plane; perfect for when you just feel like gazing out of a train window watching the landscapes change and the clouds drift by. For me, it’s somewhat calmer in tone than Forgotten Legends; it’s totally serene and there’s a real sense of being at one with nature. The journey begins with ‘Fading,’ which really sets the scene as we hear birds tweeting and cuckooing above a gentle acoustic strum. It sort of feels like the fading out of summer before ‘Summoning The Rain’ evokes a sense of the first signs of autumn, as the leaves change and drop to the ground and become soaked as the rain pours through the trees. It’s intoxicating melody is incredibly soothing, while a harsh layer of guitars scythe across the melancholic ambience creating a nice contrast. The track fades out and trails seamlessly into ‘Glare Of Autumn’ which really projects the gloomy aura of a typical grey and rainy day as the days become colder. I soon find myself hypnotised by its intense, mellow guitar work and it’s hard not to just gaze dreamily into the distance. The drums are nice and high in the mix and have that clatter to them that backs the harsh melodies well, especially as it all begins to sweep up again.

The music paints a beautiful picture here and there’s definitely a splash of light against the brown hues as ‘Sunwheel’ spirals in, where you can kind of hear the autumn sun bouncing off the strings of the harsh, blackened guitars which play out in a kind of spherical rhythm. The ambient sounds return this time as flowing water washes over the pebbles and transcends as ‘Wind Of The Night Forest’ blows in. This one has a crepuscular vibe rising up from below, and certainly there’s something about this number that I find haunting. The ravaged vocals sound both callous and spellbinding and project a vibe of despair and melancholy that fits nicely with the music. It’s easy to overlook the vocals, simply because they fit so well they do become part of the overall mix and for the most part they are also indecipherable.

There’s an ambient fuzz as ‘The First Snow’ breaks through the fog; this one is heavy on the distortion and drifts along slowly winding down as the landscape begins to freeze and somewhere among the noise some really tender guitar melodies can be just about made out. With its overall bleakness you can feel all living things being killed off by the biting cold and the howling wind at the end really finishes it off nicely. Overall this is a stunning album, and perhaps my favourite of the Drudkh albums I’m familiar with.

http://www.myspace.com/drudkhofficial

Luci Herbert

MTUK HOME