Krallice : "Scour Order"

This band's 2022 album earned a 9, which is impressive considering how their angular math rock takes on black metal had begun to dull on me over time. Yet this album dials back the math and puts songwriting and nuance back in focus, rather than letting a technical labyrinth of buzzing riffs take center stage. This is not to say some of the more adventurous sonic trademarks of the band are not still in place, but the vocals sit differently in the songs, the drumming is more deliberate, and everything has more organic space in the mix. Things had almsot become clinically sterile with them, so the changes made lure me back into what they are doing here. Granted, six minutes into the eight-minute opener makes me wonder how long they can jam on this, but somehow they make it work without boring me.

There is a more racing, thrashy feel to  "Grievous Corrector". The vocals return to their older, more death metal howl. The higher tempo makes things feel like a busy blur of ringing notes, rather than riffs you are following. Lots of accents fall out of the corners of this arrangement. The melodic passages work best for me, though thi si clearly hipster metal. The patter of blast beats runs under the chors that are allowed to breathe in the storm of guitar they unleash. There is more aggressive metal crunch to "Kill the Guardian," a more traditonal metal songtitle for sure, and the pounding riffs accent this fact. The vocals are more shouted than growled. At seven and a half minutes, they leave me unsure how they are going to keep this going for another five minutes when I am two and a half into the song. The anser is shifting guitar tension while keeping the tempo brisk. 

They slow things down going into "Unceasing Path," though it is clear once again that their intention are more in line with being a technical death metal band than a progressive black metal band. The drums revert to the pitter-patter of blast beats. There is something creepy about this song's angular nature. Palm-muted picking once again creates the tension.  We are back to the more familiar buzz of blast beats on "Living Useless Ritual," which should find them doing something more interesting as the song progresses in order to keep my interest.  The second half of the album finds them cruising along in a high-speed jam that runs together but is still somewhat effective. 

The 13-minute title track closes out the album. The first mintues seem like they are trying to get their bearings and figure out where to go. The direction turns out to be in your more typical blasty mcnasty black metal tremolo picking drone. There are some darker dissonant undertones sburied in this din, but there should be for black metal, and this might be the only actual black metal song on this album, as it is the only one with sinister vibes. At four minutes in, I am uncertain if this warrants nine more minutes of said vibes. There is a hypnotic amabient break down that does not last that long before swelling back up into the more typical black metal. At the eight and a half minute mark, a guitar melody emerges over the slow throb. I will give this one a 9, putting it on par with the last album I heard from them. I respect what is being done here, but overall it is not dark enough for my tastes, and feels more like hipster death metal, but there is still an audience for this, and they deliver it well. It drops September 8th on Profound Lore. 

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Bekor Qilish : " Throes of Death From the Dreamed Nihilism"

Rather than try to be a one-man band this guy has the sense to recruit players who can bring his vision to life. While this is being marketed as cosmic metal, it's black metal that happens to be more angular and obtuse in the sounds and arrangements. This works more often than not because they do not take the easy way out. His wisdom in bringing on some hefty talent plays in his favor in terms of execution, Colin Marston from Krallice and Gorguts is handling the guitar heroics. The drumming is handled by the drummers from Fleshgod Apocalypse and Sadist, not a huge difference in styling they could interchangeable as there is yet to be a song, where I was like 

"Woah the drumming is different on this one".

The modes of playing seem to be tremolo picked guitar or more atmospheric angular passages that are less aggressive. Not a mathy as say Krallice in its attempts to solidify itself as a progressive band, though jarring at times, as otherwise more in line with Cynic, though never as catchy.  "Verminous Barrier' at least manages to keep me engaged when normally when the focus shift to acrobatics I would have been ready to check out. If you are thinking that I must not like progressive music then you might not have read much of what I write as some of my favorite artists are Cynic, Frank Zappa, King Crimson, Mr. Bungle and John Zorn. Ye,s the drumming on "Oceans of Malic" is impressive but it sounds like the guitar is just trying to keep up and the snarl of the vocals is not really contributing that much in terms of songwriting. This album comes out June 17th on I, Voidhanger Records.  

The switch into "Total Infection" is the first that did not run together, and things get even more interesting the further you get into the song, which might be the album's best track. There is not a ton of melody to be found on this album. It is also not very dark as the choices for atmosphere provide more spaciousness and breathing room rather than mood.  The last song feels like a more aggressive extension of the previous song. Some of the taunt chugging almost makes you want to bang your head until they add a wanky jazzy solo over it. If the question surrounding this album was are these guys great musicians, the answer would be yes. If you were to ask me if they write songs that are going to stand the test of time, I would be more reluctant to answer. If synths that dominate the second half of the last song, do not make it any easier to answer this question I will give this album an 8, they are good at what they do, what they do could be more effective if they shifted their focus to darkness and melodies. 

 

Black Metal History Month - Krallice : "Crystalline Exhaustion"

 Once upon a time I used to be into the more innovative sound of black metal coming out of the hipster cesspool that is Brooklyn. Then it became less sonically groundbreaking and more tedious. Krallice was one such band though they got tangled up in the math of their music and it lost a great deal of feeling amid this. They have stepped back and recaptured some of the earlier wonderment by not being as progressive and focusing on songwriting.  So if you like the dazzle of what they were doing more than the black metal side then you might not be as pleased as I am. The album opens with a ten-minute song, but it does not sprawl out in a manner where it feels like ten minutes. 

"Telos" is more compact. The more overbearing presence of the vocals in mix give it more of a death metal feel. The guitar off set it somewhat and add dissonance to take away the more single-minded aggressive dynamic of death metal. "Heath Swill" is a more effective song. If finds the snarl of the vocals mixed further back into the the ever-shifting guitar, which is progressive in how it is ever changing but also maintains a shadowy vibe. "Arclights" might have too much going on despite the improvement in the overall sound with a measure of atmosphere to counterbalance things. There is just wandering and less focus on the song. 

The drumming on this album is top notch. The guitar does not revert to shred soloing, so there are some tasteful elements in play. "Dismal Entity" is more focused, but it is also more angular. The vocals do not feel as much like an afterthought. The bass also plays more of a role than it typically does in black metal. The fourteen-minute closing track could have had the four-minute synth intro trimmed down. The undercurrent of bass and drums that glides in is pretty cool. It kind of sweeps you along. I will give this one a 9, which is an improvement from where they have been in the past.  

Withered : "Grief Relic"

After  six years this Atlanta based band is back for their Seasons of Mist debut. Their return roars up from the depths with a cavernous blasting. Very dense and heavy, the intensity it hits you with from the onset begs a question we ask most bands that are this heavy after the opening song plows us over ...O.k what else can you do? Write Songs? "A Realm of Suffering" answers with a very similar roar. New addition Colin Marston's bass playing adds another sonic texture to this. Known for his technical death/black metal projects, he serves the songs more than one might expect. They add a layer of sonic dissonance midway into the song, to help give it an identity apart from the first song. This is very ugly and sonic death metal. There is more of a classic death metal sound on "Withdraw" which digs into the grime filled groove. The guitars are well layered thanks to Ethan from Primitive Man who has also joined their ranks, as the band now only holds tow of it's original members.

They flirt with some blackened elements on "Feeble Grasp", but return to the brand of death metal they are best at. The riffs morph back and forth on this one some of Beau's most impressive drumming. I had heard other drummers sing his praises, but never heard anything to really convince me until this song. There is one riff that takes you back to the early days of Mastodon where sludge met death metal. This is not surprising considering that Mike Thompson got his start with Troy Sanders in a band called Social Infestation. They take the song out on a dark and noisy note. I had already heard "Husk" going into this so it will be interesting to see how it feels in context of the album. I remember not being to taken by the initial listen though thought it sounded better than what I had previously heard from the band. They come out of a more chaotic beginning into a solid death metal groove. The vocals work best in the lower growls, the higher rasped screams seem a little forced when meshing with the overall vibe. They return to a more straight forward grinding death metal on "Downward". You can hear some punk under lying their sound at the onset, which is not surprising considering the bulk of Atlanta metal bands started out in the punk scene. The first guitar solo isn't a shred fest but more of a melody.

The ugliness continues on "Distort, Engulf" as the band proves they are  as nasty any death metal going today. This song is more straight forward than the previous songs in it's single minded attack. They close the album with a touch of atmosphere going into "To Glimpse Godliness". These guys don't need to drone into the ten minute mark to prove their point. They storm back into the heavy with authority. When the song drops down into the slower throb it reaches it's most powerful moment. This is a vast improvement for a band who previously  failed to win me over. Gone are any allusions to black metal as they have embraced their role as harbingers of some ugly death metal. I'll round this up to an 8.5.
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Krallice : "Hyperion"

Krallice tried to slip this one under the table, it's a three song ep and it's also the last chance I am giving the band. They haven't put out a stinker yet, but I feel they are trying to wow me more with their technical prowess more than they are trying to write songs, which is a waste of my time. The guitar tone on the title track that opens the album has than clean ringing black metal from Brooklyn sounds that older Liturgy also employs. That works for me and the vocal exchange varies a little in the range of raspy gasps.They drone on and throw a dizzying array of punches in. Of course all instruments are well played, though the drummer might be playing fast it doesn't sound like he is hitting that hard. Note to drummers if you are playing metal, how fast you are playing is a mute point if you don't hit hard. At around seven minutes they are not over doing things compositional sense, so in some ways that makes this better than their last one. Nothing I haven't heard from them before so it that sense it's not blowing me away either.


 Slightly more sonic ground is touched upon on "the Guilt of Time". The vocal roar is lower and more death metal like, but delivered with less pretense to give it a rawer black metal feel. The melodic section midway into the song does give it some atmosphere that this project could stand to put of the technical dazzle when making their song writing to-do list. So I am hearing some slight improvements and some times a few degrees of change makes all the difference in the world as this begins to remind me of what I liked about earlier Liturgy.This song also stays under the seven minute mark, so maybe they will inspire this trend in future Brooklyn based black metal bands. "Assuming Memory" is the third and final offering on this ep. It does hit the ten minute mark , but if that time is used wisely I will not hold it against them. I like how the drums come in, however mix wise they could use more balls.  Though it might be the pains of not hitting hard enough coming in. They come together in more typical black metal fashion.   They play this one more straight forward aside from a few flashy embellishments along the way. So do they get applause for playing it safe here when they can't seem to win for losing when they go overboard, so I suppose this restraint is an improvement.

So maybe they are overrated, maybe I'll except this and see where they go from here as I don't really feel like those three songs wasted my time. The fact certain elements were streamlined might be what I needed. I'm not particularly blown away even by the more impressive elements, however all together it works well, I'll round it down to an 8. There are some good ideas and they are doing this better than many American attempts to replicate this hip take on black metal. Perhaps if they build upon the discipline they adhered to here they will make an album as great at what people are giving them credit for.

Krallice : "Ygg huur"

Are these guys up to their same old tricks? If you mean churning out a  technically dazzling their almost math rock brand of black metal. In some ways yes, but the opener is more angular and shows they can do more than just blast at you. This is not to say they do not go into blast beats. They do . In fact those come on strong in "Wastes of the Ocean".  While I have always felt this band has been more invested in the math of  things than other bands such as Liturgy whom they have resided alongside on a similar sonice plane , on this album they have taken a step away  in favor of something more metal and technical in  the vein of what  tech death metal bands find themselves doing. The vocals are almost more like Converge in the fact they are barked out more like hardcore vocals than black metal.

There is more chaos to the angular "Over Spirit" which despite its adventuring guitar passages , can still blend into the second song if you are not paying attention. They have some interesting ringing guitar tones that do not clearly adhere to the metal rue book, and their bass player is clearly having fun. The song accelerates to a dizzying speed past your average blast beat. They cruise along at a bpm of slightly ore scenic speed to deliver the punches on "Tyranny of Thought". Racing along they begin to pass through the song at such a speed that you do not really get a good listen to all o f the sounds being thrown at you.

"Bitter Mediation" find the riffs more of a blur with the drums stirring up a storm behind them . The bass tone feels thicker on this album which has added to some of the heavier frequencies. While the execution of this sort of thing is spot on, does it do more for the song than provide masturbatory access? "Engram" really doesn't do a whole lot to distinguish itself from the other songs on this album, a few darker tones when the bass lingers on a more dissonant note here an there. Overall if you just like chaotic displays of technical prowess then you can peg and extra point onto the 7 I am giving this album as aside from typical faux metal anger, it loses emotion and it's a little disappointing from a band that has all the talent in the world to forsake song writing.

Castevet: "Obsian"

Featuring the bass player from Krallice this New York band releases its second full length of very dense black-metal crossover. It's often hard for me to think of this album s death metal as the vocal lack shrieking and though there is the dissonant ambiance droning even in the thrashier brutality of the album nothing strikes meas being malevolent about their sound, pissed maybe. This is similar to how I feel about Krallice, but these guys are more enthralling than Krallice as they understand their playing must suit the song rather than just be the song.

"Cavernous" gets a little darker than the opener, but also ride the line between what is progressive death metal and what is black metal . The drummer is impressive he keeps a tribal swirl going with his rapid tom work. They strike a really good balance of letting the song breath while keeping a vice grip on the tension. The arrangement's flow really well.  It often strikes me like this is   the ambiance  tech death metal bands would like to do but can't fully realize, like the prog ending to "Cavernous".

The angular ugliness stays the course on " the Curve" , which is not as easy of a listen, as the turns in the riff are jarring before they slow down. The strummed chords ring out to a great effect than when the picking becomes a blur. When riff goes into a more straight forward race with the double bass it doesn't get interesting until the bass player finds a melody beneath it.

There is a cool melodic ring to "As Fathomed by Beggars and Victims" that reminds me of a less  folk tinged Agalloch. The song becomes a sonic trash compactor as it condenses before allowing a melodic burst out in the final minute. In the closing chug fest of "Seat of Severence" a clean vocal comes out as a surprising change. I think is is very effective dynamic, it's layered with a cool melody that reminds me of a less romantic Emperor. Sadly fans of heavier music ignorantly shun melodic singing, I think it allows the music to be heavier around it.This album is worth checking out, I'll give it a 9.

Krallice: Years Past Matter

I think by now we all know Colin's connection to behold the Arctopus and Gorguts, So skipping the metal family tree and going into the work at hand. First off their are going to be those who are resistant to some of the more melodic elements involved here. Far from the kind of compromising selling out would entail for these guys, it is a more interesting and palatable listen as some of the jarring shred pyrotechnics found on the last album are toned down to offer more dynamics.

The album starts full on blasting the nasty, the way some of the chords ring to begin to bring Liturgy to mind.The patterns still carry the almost free form jazz like nature of hipster black metal as the forum boards will lament. Mainstream metal press will remain pretty clueless as how to approach this as its progressive in some sense but not djent or Opeth .

By the second song, the changes become more discernible to my ears although this one still drives full speed ahead. The bass is more prominent in the mix here, the accents later in the song are in and out , go to the bathroom and youll miss them especially on a ten minute song that establishes a speedy drone early on. At the seven minute mark it breaks up into more epic proggy territory before darkening into a thunderhead before they storm of speed with lingering feedback.

Vocals are not the bands forte, I can appreciate it's a different frequency of harsh a lower coarse howl more common place in sludge. They do get close to singing on the third track all of the albums songs are named in the same roman numerals, though by counting them this one would be nine, but I'm ignoring this element altogether as it's silly.

The guitar tone is much warmer and like i mentioned earlier it seems as if they have taken a page from Liturgy's play book. The notes ring out more and it's not a tappy and tech sounding as the previous albums. This gives it the breathing room need for the sense of movement which becomes established in moments which book end some of the more blasty bursts.

I think as far as this sort of thing goes, Liturgy and Woe have a more focused sense of indentity. There is an under lying current of technical death metal shoved down below the sonics of the maelstrom here. The tempest fugit of riffs lost at sea here is astounding if you are able to differentiate them . With ten and eleven minutes songs where this type of intensity is maintained over the course of such time, they are lucky to hold my attention, but still managed to. However the three mins of ambiance at the end of this track breaks the album up it doesn't really add to the song in and of its self.

The fourth song starts with tenderly picked guitar and boils over into jack hammer styled cunt pounding already established though their are some rhythmic accents four minutes in and the washes of octaves cascading into the drone are a nice touch and contrast the almost trashy riff following this section. The slower doom paced riff is a relief at this point and feels like I'm listening to a song rather than having the kitchen sink thrown at me.

The fifth song which really begins to sound like the fifth movement , until it establishes its indentity with more of an ascendant gallop. The mix is generally pretty precise and best heard on headphones however the drum mix at times on his one sounds like its powered by the bass, which is unique of this style of music and I'm sure the double bass on this one will impress more technically minded listener the last couple minutes of this one really gets great.

Then on the sixth song we are back to the hyper powered blasting. The riffs morph into something more epic , though on my fourth pass through on this album I'm beginning to understand what doesn't click for me on this. The playing is great , these are no doubt excellent musicians a point I have not really stressed thus far, because the staying power and the timelessness of music doesnt rely on those things, while I dig the gallop of this last song, it's not speaking to me. I don't think it's a coincidence the vocals aren't really given much thought here, is because these guys don't have anything to say. I'm sure in interview views they will default to the old..." we let the music do the talking and the listener brings their own interpretation " which is a cop out for we know how to play notes but we don't know how to say anything with them.

I will give this one a 5.5, even though it's an improvement in production and the sound of what they do is more melodic it's just empty calories. Sure the execution and playing is outstanding it's generally soul less and I would go as far as saying their older material was heavier to had some faked fury to it so you almost believed thee guys were angry tech geeks at least, instead we get math and mechanics.