Comus

Ukraine’s answer to basically any great black metal band ever improves greatly with this release; yeah I didn’t know it was possible either. The album structure composed of three ten minute songs and one four minute closer seems incredibly strange, but if you listen through it you’ll understand why. There seems to be a sort of playing off between the songs, which adds tension to the album and makes it more and more enjoyable the more you listen to it. The vocals sound desperate, desolate and haunting, what more could you want from a black metal album?

Parts of this album are very reminiscent of 70’s Canterbury scene bands, with quite whimsical melodies and awesome guitar solos played quite low in the mix below the droning riffs and drums. A perfect example of this comes in at around halfway through Solitary Endless Path. Also prevalent are the Ukrainian folk tunes that appear throughout Drukdh’s other albums.


Sties at Our Feet see Drudkh venture into new territory, the whole sound of the song is very progressive, and it really does seem like they’re going to take that road from now on. The whole song seems to work through a few general concepts, expand upon them and then relate it to the next which works incredibly well and lets you run through the song in a very enjoyable manner. It also makes the whole song seem criminally short, and as such leaves you wanting more and more. The melodies and guitars and higher in the mix here and it makes it even more enjoyable.

Where Horizons End is probably the strongest song on the album, the shifts, the solo, the vocals everything just works for them here. And the atmosphere has been nicely established by the first two songs. The whole thing shifts from Progressive Black Metal to Progressive Folk Metal through the song, and creates a massive tense atmosphere with the change, the whole thing sounds like a massive morph and it’s absolutely incredible.


The album closer Only The Wind Remembers My Name gives good closure to the album. The only huge drawback about Estrangement is the length, only 36 minutes long, and it leaves you wanting so, so much more. I really hope their latest album continues this trend because this album is seriously epic.

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