I quite enjoyed the debut album from Thunderkraft ‘The Banner Of Victory released in 2005. Although it did not perhaps gel with the greatest of clarity due to the convoluted marriage of styles it was difficult to resist and indeed I found it compulsive listening and have dragged it off the shelf a few times for refresher listens. The group consist of some real cult figures from the underground Ukrainian hordes. We have in the ranks Munruthel and Master Alafern who have served times in live and studio capacity for bands as revered (and at times reviled) as Astrofaes, Dub Bak and Nokturnal Mortem (not forgetting releasing the excellent Manruthel and Quintessence Mystica albums in their own right) as well as vocalist Amorth who also once was in Drudkh as well as in Astrofaes. One thing that the group are at pains to point out, no doubt due to some past associations including that of their previous record label Blazing Productions, is that they are a non-political band; glad that’s cleared up!
This is still a mixed bag genre wise make no mistake. The first bars of ‘A Time Will Come’ are pure Turisas in all their pompous glory but don’t let that put you off. Vocals come in and have Cossack battle fervour about them as the song stomps along bristling and warlike. Once the drums pile in you don’t know quite what you are listening to but it’s kind of a cross between black and what some are calling ‘battle’ metal and it works really well. There are mischievous keyboard canters and moments that now bring to mind Finntroll making one wonder if this lot want to come out of relative obscurity and put themselves up for a Paganfest bill? Having branded themselves “industrial, folk, death, black metal its obvious there are going to be twists and turns after this relatively straightforward opener. It seems that all these Ukrainian bands have a pretty lady present in their ranks and Anna in this case has done a grand job already on keyboard. Now she shows other charms on ‘Mass Defect’ with some sublime tooting on the flute, completely at odds with the gruff and gung ho nature of the songs mainframe. This combined with Manruthel adding a dervish of violin and you have an apocalyptic folk element bristling through this as well as an industrial vibe with spacey keyboard bursts.
I love the Goblin sounding keys at the start of ‘Dance Of The Dead’ which is an apt title as they remind me of the scene in Bruno Mattei’s ‘Zombie Creeping Flesh’ of the living dead contaminating a deserted crumbling industrial factory, which I am sure there could be a few of in the Ukraine! Great guitar solo in this one too. There are still plenty of surprises to keep the 50 minute album flowing. Nobody would probably have expected a graceful ballad etched number but that’s what we get with ‘Death Wont Separate Us,’ passionate and austere with it. Language is not consistent either with lyrics in native tongue, Russian and German. The employed linguistic delivery on the Aborym etched ‘The Future World’ making it sound all the more aggressive.
Seriously there is not a duff moment on this album and you cannot help falling into its clutches. Perhaps it is due to the sense of dynamic and adventurous nature of it but this really makes recent Drudkh seem more like they are treading water. Sounds of laser blasts, hammer clattering on steel, flute and violins going wild and the drive of ‘A Crumpled Story’ is manic despite its somewhat odd title. Oh hold on I forgot to mention is that a burst of brass thrown in too? With atmospheric instrumental passages we flow nicely onto the final assault ‘The Creator Of Life’ which is in line with the cosmological narrative of the album. This brings things to a head with a stomping mindset and authoritative tone commanding head banging whilst the arcane sounding keyboards equally leave you shivering at their icy majesty.
This is a band who deserve to be heard, although whether they will be is another matter and one that is somewhat unlikely considering the somewhat shrouded in obscurity to all but those in the know, that these Ukrainian bands dwell in. It would be interesting to see if Thunderkraft emerge from the darkness and actually go on a major tour. Past affiliations may even stop them doing so anyway no matter how much they deny any NS associations, once marred with that tag it’s hard to shrug off. One thing is for sure this is a great album and if you like dramatic, atmospheric metal with plenty of passion and ideas you need to check it out.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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