DRUKNROLL - RUSSIA

DRUKNROLL – IN THE GAME – METAL SCRAP  
The band’s monicker is something of a mystery to me. What does it mean? Did they drop an ‘n’ accidentally? Were they actually drunk when they invented the monicker and hence… well, you understand.
This Russian-based band believes itself to be “modern metal.” Fine, call yourself whatever nonsensical, meaningless or abstract label you wish, but is it any good? The answer mostly is ‘niet.’ There are the old cliché clean vocals mixed with growls. The good old K&F (Keyboards & Female Vocals) and the standard-issue final track, appropriately named Tears here that have the shrieking menstruating woman, er, proving her worth. My Role is a Russian foray into the world of slow and acoustic intros showcasing the band’s sensitive and hurt feeling. Incidentally, the songs are in the band’s mother tongue. The band has picked an English album title this time around, but its previous releases carried Russian titles. The pits of the album, however, are reached on The Loop Of World Creation. It features the band’s attempt at modernity and for bad measure throws in a clone keyboard of dummy burger and a clone of Poptera’s guitar sound. For my money, there probably are no two worse bands in the world than Pantera and Dimmu Borgir this side of Metallica so a special hatred and disdain goes to this terrible track.
With all that said, why is this a 40/100 and not a 0/100 or similar? The album has several isolated redeeming elements. First, the guitars can be impressive and on occasion quite listenable. The Wolf has a dual guitar harmony that is quite fine. My Role has a soaring solo and an impressive bass sound. The title has a worthy guitar lick. Such moments and a good sound are interspersed throughout the album.
The problem with Druknroll and bands of its ilk is that in its quest to be different and original they stray too far from the realm of fine taste and appeal and go where they should not. – Ali “The Metallian”

DRUKNROLL - UNBALANCED - METAL SCRAP RECORDS  
These Russians' fifth release starts thrashy and speedy and for about a minute exudes potential but the clean vocals, piano et al bring it back to earth. The solo and riffing raise it again. In other words Hundred is all over the place. The title track introduces keyboards even earlier than one minute in, the song can even be a Kamelot one for about 30 seconds but travels into metalcore realms later. Bad Math is about numbers and math?! As expected it does offer a pinch of variety so perhaps it is about calculus and geometry at the same time. It's Not My Way is a 2018 version of power ballad. Philosophy Of Life features a mix of progressive and hardcore-ish sounds aided by some catchiness and proficient solos courtesy of Denys Malyuga. Malyuga does the lead work on six songs and shares the spotlight with Max Perepyolkin. On The Hook is as aggressive as the songs before it but suffers from the clean vocals dread. Eternal Confrontation suffers from the keyboards dread instead. Mirror and The Heroes Of The War keep the varied mantra going with pianos and more. Dark Matter starts very promisingly and is mostly enjoyable. Unbalanced is indeed unbalanced. – Anna Tergel

DRUKNROLL - FREAKINGFACE - METAL SCRAP  
Freakingface opens with a short acoustic intro to the opener Dead Phone. The 12 seconds long acoustic section is somewhat similar to short acoustic intros on thrash metal songs such as Testament's Apocalyptic City. However the song itself and its accompanying music video border on the bizarre with verses like My cool phone died in agony. It might be claimed that the band are parodying the modern addiction to phones but one can't really tell. Musically the song is mostly a good example of metalcore. Fermat's Theorem cites a math theorem as if to make up for the silliness of the song before it. Musically little distinguishes the two songs. Both songs do feature a good solo at least and a bit of programming or what the band calls 'sounds designs'. Incidentally Freakingface is recorded with 'drum programming' by Andrey "Druknroll" himself. The title track doubles down on keyboards and the so called groove. A solo aids the song. I Multiply The Pain is again aided by the solo. It has intense or aggressive moments much like the rest of the album so far. A few Pantera, Dimmu Borgir and even Voivod type vocals courtesy of Horror keep the song going with touches of progressive elements. Maria makes an appearance on My Fateful Day to throw in another extra sound. Perhaps the band thought that Freakingface wouldn't be complete without female vocals. Her vocals and the song combine for a somewhat atmospheric and haunting song. Destruction Inside speaks of self destructing and failing, naturally. Musically it moves all over the place. My Doomed Love has a brief horror soundtrack sounding intro. The best part of the song, to little surprise, is the solo. Forever Young is the power ballad that Druknroll feel the need to offer the listener. I'm A Parasite features more prominent keyboards. A Black Hole is almost seven minutes long and features a plea for a black hole to swallow Druknroll! - Anna Tergel