dasKRILL / Keitzer

Apparently this was originally released as a 3”CD a couple of years ago, but at least one of the Keitzer lads thought it deserved a vinyl release as well. And so he started 7 Degrees Records for exactly that reason. Since I’ve never really kept track of said band I hadn’t heard this release before, and I’ve never even heard of DasKrill before so they were completely new to me.

My first real experience with Keitzer was their "As the world burns" album from 2008, and I kicked myself for not checking them out earlier. But since this contains earlier material I figured it’d be cool to hear their evolvement in between this and the album. But to tell you the truth I hear little development, if any at all. Eventhough it’s only two tracks, which seemingly go by in a jiffy, it’s a strong showcase of how grindcore can be interpreted instead of treading in worn out paths. The riffing contains incredibly strong melody (just take the opening of "Signs of Armageddon" as an example); it’s emotional-as-hell, but it still has a lethal slice to it. They don’t lose aggression from daring to bring emotion and melody into a genre otherwise seen as fairly motionless, with little or no development to be found. One minute goes by chugging with a strong hardcore undertone, the next goes by in a raging flurry of furious screaming and blasting drumming. The riffing remains quite metallic but with plenty of nuances, and the riffs are actually to be heard, not just to make a distorted rumble. I mean, I love a bit of good wholesome old school grindcore, so don’t get me wrong, but it’s really nice to hear bands who dare take it to the next level. Unfortunately the sound quality isn’t even near as hefty and powerful as the previously mentioned album, but the drive, energy and aggression of the music certainly makes up for it.

Ok, so on the flipside we have DasKrill. As I said I’ve never heard of them before, but with such a strong split partner one do get high hopes. How sad it is to see all my hopes go down the drain, ‘cause I really don’t get the appeal. First off; the production sucks. It sounds as a rehearsal room recording fit for a low-fi demo, but certainly not for a vinyl release. I guess they’re going for an experimental and progressive style, mixing unorthodox drum patterns with weird halts and pure chaotic grinding. It just doesn’t work for me. It’s too much of a mess without enough flair to really get the noisy chaos lovers' attention. Instead it ends up as a mixture of Präparation-H and Arsedestroyer but without really hitting the spot. I can’t really say what it is, exactly, ‘cause they do have most of the ingredients in the mix; insane screams, deep grunts, strange riffs, stupid samples and song titles; but it just doesn’t do it for me.

Originally written for http://www.mylastchapter.net