Drudkh is a Ukrainian black metal band. It currently consists of (former member of Hate Forest and Dark Ages), Thurios (former member of Astrofaes), Krechet, and Vlad. All four also belonged to Blood of Kingu until it was disbanded. Their lyrics and artistic themes embrace Slavic mythology and Ukrainian nationalism. Many of the band's lyrics are derived from the works of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ukrainian poets (Oleksandr Oles, Oleh Olzhych, Maik Yohansen, etc.) and especially Taras Shevchenko.
Drudkh have been particularly secretive throughout the course of their career, even for a black metal band, giving no interviews and not releasing the lyrics to several of their albums. From their conception until 2009, Drudkh did not have any official website, but in May 2009, Season of Mist launched an official Myspace, operated by the label rather than the band.
History
Drudkh has released eleven albums, two EPs, four splits, and two compilations of material from the band's early splits and EPs. Their early releases were released on CD through the English extreme metal record label Supernal Music, with the exception of the EP (which was a vinyl release), and, again with the exception of the EP, on vinyl through two Finnish black metal labels, Northern Heritage and Faustian Distribution. More recent releases have been through Season of Mist, which has also issued remastered versions of the band's earlier albums as digipaks.
The band's first album, Forgotten Legends, was released on 18 August 2003. The album establishes the band's trademark epic sound; its three tracks and one outro span nearly forty minutes, with the longest track, "False Dawn", nearing the sixteen-minute mark. Terrorizer included Forgotten Legends in its Top 40 Black Metal albums list.
Autumn Aurora followed on 28 November 2004. While continuing its predecessor's general mood and atmosphere, it distinguishes itself by incorporating synthesizers and other such keyboard instruments. Autumn Aurora has frequently been cited as Drudkh's finest album, although some fans give the nod to the later Blood in Our Wells. This record had a strong critical success: for example, it was chosen as the best album of the year by Chronicles of Chaos web-zine.
After Autumn Aurora, Amorth (drums, keyboards) joined the band and replaced Yuriy.
The Swan Road (Лебединий шлях), released on 14 March 2005, marked a departure in a number of ways. It was well-reviewed and is the first Drudkh album to have Ukrainian lyrics, all of which are adapted or taken directly from the work The Haidamakas (1841) by Taras Shevchenko, narrating about the Ukrainian anti-Polish uprising of 1768. Its CD booklet included prints of Shevchenko's notebooks, which many non-Ukrainian-speaking fans mistook for song lyrics. The addition of Shevchenko's poetry can also be said to have given Drudkh's music a more pronounced nationalistic leaning, a move continued on the next album.
On 23 March 2006, Drudkh released Blood in Our Wells (Кров у наших криницях), once again through Supernal Music, in a deluxe edition (limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies) and a normal CD edition. On this album, poetry from four nineteenth- and twentieth-century Ukrainian poets (including Oleksandr Oles and Lina Kostenko) serves as lyrical material, and the album itself was dedicated to Stepan Bandera, leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. Musically, the album adds progressive rock influences and increased use of traditional heavy metal soloing into the mix, while retaining the band's tradition of blending black metal and Ukrainian folk music. Because several tracks sample the Ukrainian poetic film Mamay (2003), the album has greater use of cinematic elements than its predecessors. It was Drudkh's first record to appear in the Terrorizer Top 40 year list, placing at number 35.
After the release of Blood in Our Wells, Amorth was exiled from the band, and new members Krechet (bass) and Vlad (drums) joined.
On 19 October 2006, Drudkh released Songs of Grief and Solitude (Пісні скорботи і самітності). This release is composed of folk music, with much of the music containing melodic elements from previous Drudkh compositions (for example, "The Cranes Will Never Return Here" is based on a riff from "Solitude" on Blood in Our Wells, and "Archaic Dance" is based on a riff from "Glare of 1768" on The Swan Road). It is entirely instrumental, with barely any drumming, and prominently features wind instruments. The album received mixed reviews, with some fans criticizing the band for reusing old material, and others praising the band's radical reconstruction of its own sound.