With A Furrow Cut Short, DRUDKH are continuing on the course charted with their previous release Eternal Turn of the Wheel, where the black and bleak sound of the band's roots seemed to overshadow the progressive and lighter tone of Handful of Stars. Mastermind Roman Sayenko is heavily drawing inspiration from 20th century Ukrainian poetry once more, which often deal with the bloody struggle of this old country to build a nation from foreign oppression. DRUDKH still refuse any kind of interview or promotion and demand to be understood through their music alone. This album equally represents the blood soaked sound of black despair and full hearted resistance to vile treachery and evil as well as the beauty of landscapes and culture. Listen carefully to hearts breaking.
Artwork taken from The Tale of Igor's Campaign by Vasyl Lopata.
Review
But while the riffs evoke a whole range of emotions, from anger to desperation, I certainly wouldn't call this a work of resigned defeatism. Through the power of songs like "To The Epoch of Unbowed Poets," there is that always fragile notion that - despite everything - somewhere between the peaks of the Carpathians and the banks of the Don, one can still find a sense of redemption, perhaps even hope. - Metal Injection 4/5