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KEEP
OF KALESSIN: AGNEN - A JOURNEY THROUGH THE DARK
Avant Garde |
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I’ll
buy anything described as War Metal, whether I’ve heard anything
from the album or read any reviews. The style just doesn’t lend itself
to disappointment for me, in all its violent splendor. Norway’s KEEP
OF KALESSIN is no exception to the genre standards, they definitely
live up.
I liked their
first album, THROUGH TIMES OF WAR, but have played this one a lot more.
The aggression has been taken up a few notches, always a good thing. AGNEN
has an undercurrent of IMMORTAL’s BATTLES IN THE NORTH to it. It’s
not quite that relentless and the riffs are often more melodic than tightly
rhythmic, but the spirit prevails. Not to mention the songs are out of
order on the sleeve and in the lyric sheet, much like our celebrated SONS
OF NORTHERN DARKNESS.
From start
to finish of its fifty plus minutes, KEEP
OF KALESSIN reigns down with crushing momentum, taking care
to provide their riffs with appreciable staying power. I don’t want
to describe them as catchy, obviously this isn’t dance music or some
other degenerate form of weakness. But they defintely stand out and you’ll
be eager to hear them again and again. I’d cite the first riff of
"Dryland" as one. There’s no mistaking the force it is
about to open with as an intro sound increases to an explosion, and what
follows certainly doesn’t disappoint. Drummer Vyl brings an interesting
variety of fast drum beats to his repertoire, complimented by Obsidian’s
guitar work. Ghash’s vocals are effective, low with an occasional
clear delivery well in the background so as not to dilute the proceedings.
Each song enlists a couple of its own ideas to keep things fresh, like
the stop-and-go flare of "Towards I Roam."
The last
track sort of overdoes it, but is by no means a disaster. The prospect
of an even better album next time out makes KEEP OF KALESSIN a
band to watch, and one to follow now.
4 SKULLS
This
review copyright 2000 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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