Insane-voices-labirynth.it
Dalla Russia e questa volta non con amore, arriva il secondo ep “Bad Math” per la label “Metalscrap”, della band “DRUKNROLL” che contiene tre nuove tracce. Dalla foto della presentazione dell’ep, i “DRUKNROLL” vengono presentati come: progressive symphonic thrash/death metal band, e già da qua si capiscono molte cose (che ovviamente non vanno), perché è un miscuglio di generi che denota che la band non sa cosa vuole fare e, non avendo un genere ben specifico, si è descritta in tal modo. Inoltre sempre sulla presentazione viene scritto che questo ep è per fans di: Children of Bodom, Soilwork, Mercenary, Degradead, Dark Tranquillity, Svartstorm and In Flames, tutto questo fa pensare a una buona influenza ma all’ascolto abbiamo tutt’altro che una buona risposta. La band si rifà agli ultimi periodi dei gruppi citati in precedenza, ed inoltre pure rifatti male, le canzoni dell’ep sono cose risentite e ripetute da molte altre band sia dai suoni, dalla voce e da tutto il comparto tecnico. Non viene trasmesso niente di particolare e soprattutto niente di emotivo dalle tre canzoni presenti.
Quello che scaturisce, è che la band non è formata da ragazzini nati ieri, ma da persone adulte che hanno vissuto gli anni migliori del metal, almeno del melodic death metal, che sarebbe il genere che vorrebbero fare e, magari, portare anche un po’ di genuinità al genere che negli ultimi tempi sta diventando sempre più vicino al metalcore ed al nu metal ed invece niente si peggiora sempre di più.
Il comparto tecnico dell’ep, è formato da una registrazione molto puntata su voce e chitarre marcate e si nota la meccanizzazione dei suoni, che sono computerizzati e finti. Solo l’inizio della prima canzone sembra qualcosa di promettente ma, quando parte il riff cantato, cade tutto e durante l’ascolto, non si capisce il perché di questo ep e soprattutto dove si vuole andare a parare, resta tutto sempre piatto ed informe e senza nessuna aspettativa, si denota durante l’ascolto una voglia di fare ma di fare troppe cose in una e non si capisce dove si vuole arrivare; solo nella prima canzone ci sono tre assoli di chitarra e che fra le tre forse è la migliore, nella seconda traccia inoltre viene usato anche la voce growl dopo una prima parte con voce pulita come se si volesse rendere pesante e cattivo la strofa e addolcire il ritornello e renderlo orecchiabile. Nella terza ed ultima traccia dopo inizia con un carino arpeggio di tastiera e ovviamente va a cadere abbastanza in basso con quello che ne segue ed il tutto puntato su una scia nu metal molto blanda ed insignificante, solo ogni tanto ci sono dei piccoli riff che riprendono il death melodico che sfortunatamente si è trasformato verso una scia più metalcore e nu metal, l’unica cosa si sente e si capisce è che, ovviamente, i musicisti non sono scarsi, però se producessero cose più serie sarebbero veramente un’ottima band. Sfortunatamente il mercato tira in una direzione e magari a volte, non per colpa dei musicisti ma delle etichette discografiche, una band è costretta a produrre una certa cosa per non essere tagliata fuori dal mercato. Tutto questo nella speranza di una rimonta e di una maturità, non solo della band, ma anche di tutto il genere musicale che ha molto da offrire ma ovviamente non a queste modalità di suoni di voci che, ormai, fanno di tutte le band uguali e ripetitive solamente perché è il genere più commerciale o più in voga al momento.
40/100
Marco Omrachk Toscani (https://www.insane-voices-labirynth.it)
https://www.insane-voices-labirynth.it/metal-scrap-records/recensioni/druknroll
The True Bringer Of Death Zine
This is another review of a recording from Druknroll with the music being a progressive and symphonic mixture of death and thrash metal and the ep is called ‘Bad Math” and was released by Metal Scrap Records.
News samples start off the ep before going into a very fast and heavy symphonic direction which also uses a decent amount of blast beats along with the synths also mixing in progressive elements while the vocals are aggressive thrash style vocals which also mixes in some death metal growls.
Throughout the recording you can hear a great mixture of slow, mid paced and fast parts and clean guitars are also added into certain sections of the recording while t he solos and leads are done in a very melodic fashion and as the ep progresses melodic vocals are finally added onto the recording.
On this recording Druknroll plays a more aggressive style of death, thrash and heavy metal while still also having its melodic and symphonic moments, the production sounds very professional while t he lyrics cover dark and real life themes.
In my opinion this is another great sounding recording from Druknroll and if you are a fan of progressive and symphonic death/thrash metal, you should check out this ep. RECOMMENDED TRACK “On The Hook”.
8/10
OccultBlackMetal (http://extrememetalzine.blogspot.com)
http://extrememetalzine.blogspot.com/search?q=DRUKNROLL+%22Bad+Math%22+2017
Astarta
This stern Saratov choir, whose history already takes up more than ten volumes-years, surprised us more than once last year with its steel creative eruptions, and with the onset of 2017, it once again does not let fans of non-standard metal products and music critics get bored, having released its latest three-track mini-album “Bad Math” on the Metal Scrap label, which is already familiar to this formation. Reviewing their previous release, I called the music performed by the Saratov group “metal of the new millennium: aggressive, tough, fresh and convincing”, and now we are about to see for ourselves once again, which I have no doubt about!
What can I say, the leader of the team, Druknroll himself is clearly still in the game (that’s exactly it – “In the Game” was the name of the previous, fourth longplay of this group – approx. A.I.) and is not going to lose, bluff or cheat – he does not need to, because the goals and aspirations of his team are absolutely diametrically opposed. Experience with iron clamps makes the hellish machine DRUKNROLL more and more impressive, fast, professional and irresistible. Gourmet symphonic progressive from these Saratov craftsmen comes out from album to album more and more impressive and harmonious, a wonderful testimony to which is their newest EP with the English title “Bad Math”. Yes, yes, even in my review of the album “In the Game” I complained about the fact that DRUKNROLL is practically unknown outside of their native Saratov despite the presence of the deepest potential and chances for a real breakthrough in the West, where the band has long ago acquired heaps of positive reviews. And everything indicates that the mini-album “Bad Math” offered to our attention now is evidence of precisely such a massive attempt to penetrate into foreign lands and finally conquer the listeners there. The band has changed the language of Dostoevsky to English verses, which is clearly evident even when visually familiarizing yourself with the booklet. Is this good or bad? I would say this: it was inevitable.
The disc opens with the title track, which has even more of the specific modern-industrial aggression that reminds me so much of Judas Priest during the time of “Jugulator” and partly Over Kill with their “The Killing Kind” than before and than usual. The assertive old riffs that you could easily hear from Exumer, go well with the aggressive, quacking vocals, choirs, samples, rich symphonic lining and modern quality. In anticipation of the coda, you will find a melodic-progressive solo against the background of unexpected industrial landscapes, and the change of language… If I didn’t know that these guys are our compatriots, I wouldn’t have thought that it was so! From now on, DRUKNROLL sounds not only modern and high-quality, but also at the level of Western stars. No worse. Maybe even better.
The second track, “On The Hook,” takes the contrasts that these Saratov natives love to play to the max: high-speed thrash riffs are easily combined with clean voices, a completely avant-garde, almost noise-like guitar grinding and the overall tense atmosphere, where there is a feeling that just a little more, and not only the speakers, but the air itself will catch fire with hellish flames! Listening to this track, I involuntarily recalled the classic albums of King Diamond and the incredible skill of his musicians, whose technicality seemed simply limitless. “On The Hook” evokes similar thoughts. But it certainly sounds an order of magnitude heavier and more ruthless.
The mystical, almost frightening beginning of the final CD track “Heroes Of The War” turns into a gloomy industrial-dark-metal epic in the spirit of mature works by Samael, Amorphis, Crematory, Tool, Deftones and many other similar bands. Slow atmospheric fragments go hand in hand with fast aggressive parts, and melodic, soul-stirring solos complement the ambient cosmic hum, against the background of which we hear bone-chilling vocal melodies, reminiscent of the latest creations of gothic metal pioneers from Crematory, which sounds like a fat and promising ellipsis.
DRUKNROLL is exactly the kind of band whose albums should be accepted with a bang without any doubts, without trying the next shilling: is it real or not? Of course, devoted fans of this formation have become incredibly picky over ten years of commitment to their favorite band, and I can almost see with my own eyes kilometers of angry comments on the topic of the increasingly smooth and digestible musical material of the lineup, and most importantly – about the transition to a foreign, incomprehensible language. And these doubts are from the evil one. The armored train DRUKNROLL is moving at full sail towards its sacred goal and for it you can (and should) only rejoice. Well, if you still have dilemmas and cognitive dissonances, then especially for you the latest video of the band on the final piece from this loud and odious EP. Enjoy.
5/5
Alexey “Astarte Eel” Irineev
http://astartaview.ru/druknroll-bad-math/
Metaleyes.Iyezine.com
Thrash metal progressivo e moderno, attraversato da umori death ed elettronici per una proposta molto interessante, peccato solo che questo Bad Math sia un ep di tre brani.
I Drunknroll sono attivi dal 2006 come one man band del polistrumentista Druknroll e hanno all’attivo una manciata di full length e due ep.
Col tempo il musicista russo ha poi trasformato la sua creatura in una band a tutti gli effetti e questo nuovo lavoro vede i Druknroll esibirsi come quartetto, con Maks Perepelkin alla sei corde, il cantante Horror al microfono, Knip alle prese con effetti, chitarre e tastiere, ed ovviamente Drunknroll che si danna con chitarre, batteria, basso e tasti d’avorio.
Mekong Delta e Voivod aleggiano in un sound moderno ed estremo, qualche richiamo agli Strapping Young Lad ed una predisposizione per il death melodico sono le componenti che vanno a formare la musica del musicista russo.
Thrash metal che ha nell’anima progressiva il suo punto di forza, con le tastiere che creano ricami eleganti in un contesto violento, colmo di cambi di tempo e sei corde trattate con una perizia tecnica invidiabile.
Horror inveisce sul microfono con la rabbia di un singer melodic death e le tre tracce risultano un ottima presentazione del gruppo agli ascoltatori occidentali.
Se questi quindici minuti di musica racchiusi in Bad Math fungono da apripista ad un prossimo full length, state pronti perché ci sarà da divertirsi.
7,2/10
Alberto Centenari (metaleyes.iyezine.com)
http://metaleyes.iyezine.com/druknroll-bad-math/
Amped-up.be
Dat het metalgenre af en toe een gedurfd rariteitenkabinet is weten we allemaal we. Wanneer de ep van bovengenoemde band tot mijn oren kwam, zag ik deze stelling alleen maar bevestigd.
Druknroll is een Russische band. Deze brengt (let op!) progressieve symfonische death/thrash. Tja, de vlag dekt de lading zullen we maar denken. Maar het klopt wel degelijk hoe deze heerschappen hun muziek beschrijven. Bad Math is een open georchestreerd muziekstukje doorweven met verschillende stijlen, maar zonder enig verlies van rode draad of richting. Dit vormt een boeiend luisterstukje waar je aandacht op blijft gevestigd. Kunde is er voldoende aanwezig. Riffs en solo’s zijn ruim aanwezig en zijn mooi gebracht. Er is ruime aandacht voor details en samples.
Zo zie je maar: mooie releases kunnen best wel eens uit onverwachte (Oostblok)hoek komen, in dit geval. Geef deze ep een kans, als liefhebber zal het je niet beklagen.
7,5/10
Bart Van Gestel (amped-up.be)
http://www.amped-up.be/2017/07/04/druknroll-bad-math-ep/
Headbanger.ru
Those who are familiar with the work of the Saratov group Druknroll know firsthand about the constancy of its musical component, which, despite some intricacy, has long-established characteristic features that migrate from album to album. For example, this is a craving for progressive, choirs, recognizable guitar lines, an abundance of pompous keyboards, etc. On the new release, the band presented only three tracks, but they are enough to understand that changes are coming. The most noticeable innovation is the English-language lyrics. I do not know to what extent the creative search of the musicians required this, but, as they say, receive and sign. There are no more lyrics about submariners, crows or samurai, there are others, more incomprehensible to our ears. For example, the first track, as I understand it, is about the harm of mathematics. On it you can track another innovation – the music has become much more straightforward and brutal. The previous inclination towards progressive, of course, remained, but acquired completely different features, due to which the entire mini-album “Bad Math” reminded me of the early work of Mnemic and something from the techno-thrashers of the early 90s (but this is more likely the second track). They also abandoned the choirs, and all the songs were in the power of the vocalist Alexander, who seemed to be given time to develop, but there was catastrophically little English text, and the repeated lines are driven into the consciousness like a nail. Each repetition is a new blow, and by the end of the third track, which, by the way, is dedicated to those who fought in World War II, we know all the “hook” phrases by heart. This seems good, but the feeling of monotony also does not leave, as well as those very chants. Of course, the band did not completely deviate from traditional Druknroll metal, the compositions still have a lot of large-scale sound, and dynamics, and old school, and good solo guitars, and ragged melodies. But the musical direction as a whole has changed, it has become darker and in some ways very heavy. Whether this is good or bad, time will tell, for now we have a decent release, after which many will want a continuation. Although I like the older works more, I can’t help but praise Druknroll for their desire to develop and their readiness for change, because between this mini-album and, for example, the previous work, there is more difference than between all the first three releases combined.
7/10
Petr Fateev (headbanger.ru)
http://headbanger.ru/reviews/album-4180