Drudkh - Handful of Stars Review

As soon as I saw the cover art for this album it became one of my “Most Looked Forward to Albums Of 2010”. The artwork has a really cool astral theme and this coupled with the name “Handful of Stars”, I was expecting something completely different for this album. At the least, I was sure the lyrics would be about space or astronomical themes, or more fantastical because of the Elf/Wizard like character on the cover. This is the main reason I didn’t immediately warm to this album. It was so different to what I was expecting that I was initially disappointed. But like many progressive albums, after 10 listens it grew on me immensely.

The first thing you will notice about the album is that the production is so much better than any other Drudkh release. It is clean and smooth and all the deliberate rawness is gone. The guitars and vocals are clearly audible which is a nice change from previous albums and the guitars are also less aggressive. The second thing you will notice is the music itself. It’s no longer straight up Atmospheric Black Metal. The template that has been used up until now for Drudkh has honestly been used to death by them. The change that subtly began with Microcosmos has come to fruition on Handful of Stars. The sound is a subtle amalgamation of post rock and black metal but it is still very recognisably Drudkh.

The post rock sounds may come as a shock to some but this album really grew on me. Enough to buy the leather book edition and rank it as one of my favourite Drudkh album so far. This is also an excellent album for people trying to get into the band that aren’t big fans of their rawer work. I dropped this album 5 points because the art didn’t match the music so it gave a false first impression and the lyrics also don’t match the art. It’s also a bit short at under 45 minutes although this is standard for a Drudkh album and hopefully the Slavonic Chronicles cd coming with the leather book edition will make up for this. So in conclusion, this album sounds like Drudkh has bought a fancy suit and had sex with post rock.

Score: 95%

Edit: So two years later Drudkh have a new album out and they have gone back to their roots over this fuss this album caused. Now that this album has been out i can see that they wouldnt have been able to take this style any further and that starting Old Silver Key and taking Drudkh back to their roots was the right decision. OSK's debut was interesting at first but it didnt hold much replay value for me. Unfortunately neither does Drudkh's new album Eternal Turn of the Wheel. I can only look forward to a new Blood of Kingu album now. Hopefully that will be his next release and hopefully it will be out before the end of 2012.

Now that I'm a bit older and a lot less enamored by this album (a post rock Drudkh cant ever compete with Alcest) i give this album a much lower score.

Revised Score: 75%.

I still like the album and stand by what i said about it being an excellent gateway album for Drudkh but i find myself only listening to it once every six months at least.