DRUDKH

Drudkh's latest is being touted as a return to the band's black metal roots, abandoning the more progressive flow of its predecessor, Handful of Stars. There's definitely something primal about Eternal Turn of the Wheel, a "back to nature" chill signalled by the wind and acoustic guitar duet of the short opening track, which quickly succumbs to the onslaught of distorted guitars, blasting drum beats and surging synth chords. The track titles (and, presumably, lyrics) echo this ethos, with phrases like "Cold Black Soil" and "Night of Woven Snow" representing the band's original texts this time around, rather than appropriations of Ukrainian poetry. As ever, Drudkh remain masters of atmosphere. In roughly 26 hypnotic minutes, Eternal Turn of the Wheel creates a swirling vortex of eerie imagery, like dark earth spirits rising and taking possession of musical tech, infiltrating the modern world.