Raventale - На хрустальных качелях (2006)^{Release ID: 33499}

Ukranian one-man black metal outfit, Raventale offer a predictable yet well crafted enough selection of earthy and atmospheric tracks that will inevitably bring to mind the music of countrymen Drudkh. According to Astaroth, the brains behind Raventale, his music is "atmospheric blackened metal" which sound suspiciously like atmospheric black metal to me so I am unsure why the wording is different in his version. Regardless of what pigeon-hole we are looking to put Raventale in, when he builds up a head of steam the train motors along nicely enough. The riffs are big and chunky and rely less on a traditional tremolo to get the job done. Backed by keyboards, these repetitive riff patterns seem to pound along forever making the forty plus minutes overall runtime feel a lot longer. The programmed drums tend to just thud along in the background and let the riffs and atmospherics do the bulk of the heavy lifting with Astaroth's guttural vocal style proving a refreshing change from the usual grim vocals associated with black metal.

I wanted to avoid keep referring to Drudkh in this review as it seems a lazy comparator, however it is the most relevant and exact similarity to be referenced. It is not to say that Raventale is a clone of Drudkh (I would argue it is a more clean and heavy metal inspired sound than the grimly melodic music of Drudkh) but quite like his fellow artists, Astaroth manages to make a long and consistent track sound so ethereal and haunting that you cannot tear yourself away from it. Listening through the album again today as the intense heat of the day gives way to a welcome rain shower, I cannot but help to feel that на хрустальных качелях is acting as a soundtrack to the changing forces of nature just outside the window beside me.

As I listen to the melancholic keys of Дождя колыбель clink along to a far off thunderstorm (on the record not outside my window) I think that the Review Draft this month has uncovered an interesting prospect for me to get to know some more over the coming weeks. I would not go as far as to say it is hidden gem, but is most certainly of a high and consistent enough quality for me to revisit. (For anyone wanting to check out this record, I could not find on any mainstream streaming service other than Bandcamp or YouTube - the latter being the source for me on this occasion.)