KRIEG : "Ruiner"

It's been 9 years since this band's last full length album. It seems they are continuing forward in a darker direction, that bears more icy weight than if they just hit you with a bunch of blast beats. Not that those sections are not there. They just have more counter points to work off of. Right off the bat I am more impressed with this than anything I have heard from them previous so let's see if they can maintain this level of writing. They are joined this time around by the former bassist for Woe, who is helping out with guitars on this one. The vocals dip into a lower growl for "Fragments of Nothing". Charges ahead with a more straight forward riff that is draped in creeping melancholy from the atmospheric layering of the guitars. 

"Red Rooms" has a darker throb to it. I appreciate the efforts of the guitars to bring melody into the equation. The scowl of the vocals remains a constant sonic texture, with not articulation allowing you to decipher the lyrics. This song hypnotically lulls you so I had to listen to the song three times to absorb it fully and find where it separates from the song after it. 'Solitarily a Future Renounced" basks in a tremolo buzz. While the white noise of this has a soothing lull, not unlike older Darkthrone, it does not carry a wide range of dynamics.  The movements of the song are dictated by the drummer and when he decides to flood you with double bass. 

The blur of racing blackness sets in with "Manifested Ritual Horror". The tempo shifts marginally under this storm, but mainly smacks you with the wall of sound. "No Gardens Grow Here" is more deliberate , thus making it more effective musically than some of the more rushed passages in previous songs.  There is a melancholy nuance that extends the emotional reach of their sound. When things do blast off , it is dynamically more balanced. They dig into a more serious anger with " An Execution in the Kingdom of Ideas". From that title I am going to assume it's about cancelling their Disney Plus account.  At seven minutes the last song is the longest. The screams are well supported , as the vocals shift to a clean moan, that is more spoken than sung. I like the morose mood it plays around. When it rages back to life the scathing torture of vocal chords works well. Things are broken up with the theatrics of a ringing bell. They push their sound forward , but managed to write songs, I will give this one a 9.It drops October 15th on Profound Lore