This limited-to-666-copies 12-inch split EP is one for kvlt diehards (and the men who love them). We get Drudkh – an acquired taste dragged into sunlight by a high-profile label – offering tribute to esoteric acts Hefeystos, Unclean and Sacrilegium, from the depths of their eastern European roots.
Drudkh are revered for their elusiveness and the way they conjure atmosphere is truly unique. This quality is sadly absent from some of their more back-to-the-roots recent efforts, so it is a delight to hear it return, especially on Unclean’s Ten, Ktery Se Vyhyba Svetlu, with its atavistic, ritualistic undercurrent. It is present to a lesser extent on the two more orthodox covers, but an undeniable presence it is.
Winterfylleth cover The Gates by Drudkh leader Roman Saenko’s feral, unsavoury kvlt horde Hate Forest, unravelling its rabid glory and taking it a tiny step further from orthodoxy and closer to Blut Aus Nord’s maelstrom as it exposes the shared primordial roots of all shades of BM along the way.
