Year: 2026
Label: Handful of Hate
Rating: 7,5 / 10
The young band DREKAEVATZ, or rather its founder with an identical pseudonym, is obviously a fan of the most rounded forms of Black Metal, which I can only welcome. The reader of Bagnik Zine is already familiar with his project NIABOŽČYK; on a debut album, DREKAEVATZ moes in the same direction, but in English language and with all the necessary traits of the full-length record.
At the beginning, the album works in a heavy angular sound with a brutal character, which is closer not even to ARCHGOAT, but to Swedish or Finnish Death Metal of a very old school. Our beloved ”Jama" provided the album with a strong and rough sound. On the fourth track, the album gradually shifts to a more traditional form of Black Metal-first with blast beats and tremolo, and then to a deep floating darkness a la ONDSKAPT. Then, the album jumps between these styles, but remains equally aggressive and angry at low and high revs. It's only in the final track that the band gives a bit of drama.
In general, "Heretical Blessings" is associated primarily with performance, not content. DREKAEVATZ work very aggressively, ruthlessly and cocky. The guys beat the shit out of listener with a jackhammer, living no inch of his skin and bone intact. But if you go into the structure of the songs, it turns out that the riffs are pretty good, but so far not interesting enough. The only thing that remains in my memory is the theme "Ancient Ritual", as there are two guitar solos. DREKAEVATZ already have some traits of their own style at the moment, but it is still far from being fully revealed. Well, at least they have a lot of time ahead of them!
The album was released by Handful of Hate in a traditional jewel case with a strict black and white booklet. All the lyrics are available, and they're a little rough (the biggest error is the title of the final track, since Death is masculine in English), but consistent and understandable. The cover was drawn by a good South Korean artist Vhan. G.W. and Bauglir (ex-BONEHAMMER, ACWEALD) helped with recording. Details on the video. on a video.
