Drudkh is a Ukrainian black metal band. It currently consists of Roman Saenko [uk] (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. The band is associated with far-right politics, but rejects any explicit connection to a political ideology. 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.
Blood in Our Wells (Ukrainian: Кров у наших криницях, romanized: Krov u nashykh krynytsyakh) is the fourth album by Ukrainian black metal band Drudkh, released in 2006 and dedicated to Stepan Bandera, former leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The name of the album comes from a line of the 1935 poem by Oleh Olzhych and, like its predecessor, it features lyrics taken from classical Ukrainian poetry, and the sound is more influenced by folk music and pagan metal this time around, with most compositions consisting of two or more interlocking movements.
As with The Swan Road, lyrics are taken from classical Ukrainian literature. The lyrics to "Furrows of Gods" are adapted from a 1980 poem by Lina Kostenko; the lyrics to "When the Flame Turns to Ashes" are adapted from a 1908 poem by Oleksandr Oles; the lyrics to "Solitude" are once again taken from the 1839 work of Taras Shevchenko; and the lyrics to "Eternity" are lifted verbatim from the 1929 work of Yuriy Klen. Several tracks also sample the Ukrainian poetic film Mamay (2003), and for this reason Blood in Our Wells has been described as "more cinematic" than its predecessors. The inlay cover of the CD edition contains the text of a 1957 patriotic poem of Ukrainian poet Vasyl Symonenko.
Blood in our Wells was released in two non-vinyl formats: normal jewel case (unlimited and available everywhere), and super jewel case plus (limited to 1000 hand-numbered copies and made available only through Supernal Music). It was the first Drudkh record to appear in Terrorizer Top 40 year list, achieving the 35th position. In 2010, it was re-released as a digipak with new artwork via Season of Mist.
Track listing
- "Навь (Nav')" 2:25
- "Борозни богів (Furrows of Gods)" 8:57
- "Коли пломінь перетворюється на попіл (When the Flame Turns to Ashes)" 10:37
- "Самітність (Solitude)" 12:24
- "Вічність (Eternity)" 10:38
- "Українська повстанська армія (Ukrainian Insurgent Army)" 5:02
Total length: 50:03
Dedicated to Stepan Bandera (1 January 1909 - 15 March 1959).
Lyrics of Ukrainian poets were used on this album:
- Track 2: Lina Kostenko "І засміялась провесінь...", 1980.
- Track 3: Oleksandr Oles "Колись здавався ти мені орлом підтятим", 1908.
- Track 4: Taras Shevchenko "Думи мої, думи...", 1839.
- Track 5: Юрій Клен "Попіл імперій", 1929.
The intro and folk music are taken from the film "Mamay".
Cover painting by Vasily Perov "Last Journey", 1865, The Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.
Recording information:
Recorded in the Summer of 2005 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
