Druj - "Chants to Irkalla" (Godz ov War Productions, 2018)

Band: Druj
Title: Chants to Irkalla
Genre: Death/Doom Metal
Time: 44.55 min
Release Date: 1st October 2018
Rating: 75/100










Have you ever heard a metal band from Alaska? I am asking this because Druj is the very first act from Alaska I ever listened to. And as my first time into the Alaskan metal, I've to say that the impact was truly traumatic, as you'll discover very soon. For the moment, you have only to know that this "Chants to Irkalla" is the debut album of this trio (once quartet) called Druj and was released by Godz ov War Productions. About this label, do you remember that some months ago it sent me a pack of 6 physical CDs? Well, "Chants to Irkalla" is the last reviewed album coming from that pack...and it is also the heavier one!


By listening this 6-track album, you'll face the worst of your nightmares: an oppressing death/doom metal with some blackened tunes. The death/doom style by Druj is very heavy, since the usual pace of every song is systematically so slow to reach sometimes funeral doom vibes while the fast sections are so few to be really countable in the fingers of a half hand! And consider even that the tracks are lenghty, reaching also the duration of 10 minutes ("Ziggurat Ablaze"). So, you understand that we are in presence of a hostile record that isn't easy to digest.

But, fortunately, this album is more imaginative than you can imagine at first glance. In fact, Druj are able to spew forth very atmospheric parts, that can be melodic in a quasi-post-metal way ("Ziggurat Ablaze") or spacey and psychedelic ("Chants of Irkalla") also due to some samples (present even in "Consort of Sin") by courtesy of CT and AK. Other interesting features of Druj comes from incredibly noisy and ripping guitar solos ("Chants of Irkalla"), some tribal drums, a guitar riffing able to be severe or melodic (especially in "Consort of Sin") in according to the specific mood of the various songs, and a vocal department by SH that see also the parsimonious use of really tortured screams ("Consort of Sin"). Interesting are also the lyrics, that are focused on Zorastrian mythology and Sumerian traditions (for example, the same Irkalla is the Sumerian name for the ancient Mesopotamic underworld). At this point, Druj are much better than the monodimensional Eternal Rot, another death/doom metal act belonging to the roster of Godz ov War Productions.

Now, even though I am not so keen on death/doom metal (especially on this slow variety of death/doom that for me, is initially always traumatic!), I have to say that "Chants to Irkalla", that was mixed and mastered at the Devil's Mark Studios (ran by a member of the Italian bestial black/death metal band Demonomancy), deserves a good recognition. In fact, Druj, whose style reminds me a lot of the Italians Assumption, have created an imaginative album which express its better things through its more experimental and atmospheric tracks such as "Ziggurat Ablaze", "Chants of Irkalla" (maybe the best one!) and "Consort of Sin". So, I think that, for their future productions to come, Druj have to play more atmospheric parts in the vein of the aforementioned songs.

Tracklist:

1 - Ziggurat Ablaze
2 - He Who Drinks of Namma
3 - Chants of Irkalla
4 - Consort of Sin
5 - Invoke
6 - Ashes of Immortality

Line-up:

SH - vocals/guitars/bass
CT - guitars/samples
AK - drums/samples

FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/Druj-295196117579413/
Godz ov War Productions: http://godzovwar.com/