''The Swan Road'' ( uk, Лебединий шлях, Lebedýnyi šljax) is the third album by the
Ukrainian
Ukrainian may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to Ukraine
* Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe
* Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine
* So ...
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
band
Drudkh
Drudkh is a Ukrainian black metal band. It currently consists of (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 ly ...
, released in
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. It is characterized by shorter songs and more prominent lyrics than are found on previous Drudkh releases. The lyrics are all taken from the epic poem
''Haydamaky'', by Ukrainian national poet
Taras Shevchenko
Taras Hryhorovych Shevchenko ( uk, Тарас Григорович Шевченко , pronounced without the middle name; – ), also known as Kobzar Taras, or simply Kobzar (a kobzar is a bard in Ukrainian culture), was a Ukraine, Ukrainian p ...
,
about the Ukrainian
anti-Polish peasant rebellion of 1768. The name of the introductory track refers to the year of the greatest
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
anti-Polish uprising set in Ukraine. The final track is an epic song on the destruction of
Zaporizhian Sich
The Zaporozhian Sich ( ua, Запорозька Січ, ; also uk, Вольностi Вiйська Запорозького Низового, ; Free lands of the Zaporozhian Host the Lower) was a semi-autonomous polity and proto-state of Cos ...
by the Russian army in 1775. This album contains an increased use of
distortion
In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signal ...
in the mix and more frequent usage of
blast beat
A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, ''PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed rev ...
s, but the last three tracks are considerably more low-key for Drudkh, with the final track ("Song of Sich Destruction") being a folk ballad, presaging the direction they would pursue further on the following year's ''
Songs of Grief and Solitude''.
Additionally, "Song of Sich Destruction" is not performed by Drudkh, but is a recording of a traditional Ukrainian
Duma
A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions.
The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...
(folk song) performed by the
bandura
A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings ...
-player Igor Rachok.
Track listing
Critical reception
The album received critical acclaim.
Link
''«Лебединий шлях»'' Encyclopaedia Metallum''«Лебединий шлях»'' ofsite
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan Road
2005 albums
Drudkh albums
Season of Mist albums