2014
"Точка Кипения" is the official title of this Russian act's latest (their third overall full-length output since forming in 2006) with the translation being "Boiling Point". Between that piece of information and the fact that this is all in Russian then you should have a general idea about what this four-piece is offering (at least lyric-wise). It also serves as a bit of a head's up/warning that if you can't get past the language barrier that some releases come packed with then you should turn back now. For everyone else who has stuck around then let me just say that with this one (due for release here in the states in July from the looks of it) you get pretty much everything on the menu ad then some! And that's just in the first five tracks mind you! We start off with something akin to modern metal on "Злоба" ("Rage") before our attention is quickly turned towards the melodic rock/hard rock of "Моя звезда"("My Star"). That in and of itself was odd (especially as that second track there features acoustic passages and all!), but then track three cuts in and it's heavy rock/thrash n' roll meets death metal with more then a few quirky time-changes to make you question just what the hell is going on with this bunch! Keep in mind the fact that you're but a third of the way through "Точка Кипения" ("Boiling Point") and there are still seven tracks to go! And pretty much that's how it goes with this one. In-between this odd mash-up of progressive power metal and heavy thrash, with vocalist Alexandr "Horror" (Svartstorm, ex-Князь Тьмы) splitting his time between a hard rock style of delivery and a death metal growl(!), "Во власти глубины" ("In the Power of Depth") throws weird sound effects at you (apparently from the hands of lead guitarist Alexey "Alex Knip" Khuzhaev) while challenging your ideas of what can and does pass for "modern metal" here in 2014! All of which brings up a good point about DRUKNROLL's latest. Is it by definition "modern metal"? Or is this band just extremely experimental in it's approach to music? Would you label this one adventurous or write it off as being far too schizophrenic for it's own good? The truth is I don't quite know. Some of ideas here are clearly clever and the combination of heavy metal/thrash metal and keyboards & sound-effects actually works. But there are other times when it's all a system overload and it's almost as if the band had one too many wild ideas for just one simple song and would have been better suited flushing these ideas out over several songs. If I was to grade it we'd be looking at a B- or maybe even a B. That's clearly not enough to recommend "Точка Кипения" ("Boiling Point") to everyone so this one would be better saved for those who are looking for something different and off the grid.
Russian titles:
Title translations:
"Boiling Point"
1. Rage
2. My Star
3. Samurai
4. In the Power of Depth
5. Defense of Sevastopol
6. White Death
7. Tenth Night
8. Playing with Fire
9. Sea God
10. Saturation
Special thanks to the Metal Archives for providing the track listing and subsequent translation.
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