New Drudkh Album “Handful of Stars” Coming Soon
Season of Mist’s announcement of Drudkh’s new full-length took me completely by surprise, mostly because I didn’t think the band would be cranking out another album so soon after 2009’s Microcosmos. Handful of Stars, which will be coming out Sept. 20th (Oct. 12th for us Americans) immediately becomes one of the albums I’m most looking forward to for the remainder of this year.
What I don’t look forward to is holding the album in my hand and having to stare at the newest grotesque visual creation courtesy of Drudkh’s union with Season of Mist. The new album art, supposedly rendered by Fursy Teyssier (Alcest, Amesoeurs) would easily be the band’s worst if it weren’t for the awful artwork on this year’s reissue of The Swan Road.
On the plus side, Handful of Stars appears to continue Drudkh’s recent move away form their typical autumnal visual style towards a more celestial aesthetic, which means that Handful of Stars will likely also continue the clearer production values and songwriting conciseness found on its predecessor. Drudkh’s first few albums still stand as some of the most masterful expressions of the atmospheric black metal sound ever created, and since it’s unlikely the band will ever top those, I think it makes sense for them to explore this slightly different approach. The new album may not be much to look at, but I’m betting that musically these guys will not disappoint.
December 23rd, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Cool review, i agree to it.
By the way, how amazing site!