Krallice

Krallice is an interesting band. They released their self-titled debut in 2008 and although Krallice are often considered a "hipster band", they're actually one of the better bands in the American black metal scene. Krallice is best described as a black metal album with elements of progressive metal and atmospheric black metal. This album would define the signature "Krallice sound", something that makes this band special to black metal fans.

Although it's black metal, the production style of Krallice is more akin to progressive metal. Colin Marston, the producer, also handles guitars and a good portion of Krallice contains long and complex guitar solos. This distinction makes me believe that Krallice is a spiritual successor to the band Weakling, one of Krallice's main influences. Lev Weinstein's drumming ranges from blast beats to straightforward drumming, often synchronized with Colin Marston's guitars. Krallice is mostly a guitar album, which means the Mick Barr's harsh vocals are rarely utilized. However, whenever they are utilized, Mick Barr unleashes his anger into the listener's ears, preparing them for the technical and melodic solos that are yet to come.

A musically complex album, Krallice is comprised of six songs. All of which are beautiful and will suck the listener into a transcendental world that is similar to Heaven. The opening and closing tracks are easily the best songs on Krallice. "Wretched Wisdom" instantly grabs the listener with its catchy guitar riffs for a song that contains a load of unorthodox patterns. The influence of shoegaze is prominent, as Mick Barr's vocals are obscured by Colin Marston's guitar play. "Forgiveness in Rot" was a track that I did not like when I first heard it. However, after I kept listening to it, I realized that Colin Marston's outstanding guitar work on here makes it a perfect choice to close out Krallice. It is a defining section on the album, and one of the proper ways to do a long guitar solo.

Unlike commercial sellouts DragonForce, Krallice is a band with musical complexity and a guitarist that can actually shred. Colin Marston's guitar playing and production on Krallice is the number one reason as to why Luc Lemay was interested in hiring him as a bassist for Gorguts. Although they are considered a "hipster band", Krallice are generally loved by black metal purists, with their self-titled debut coming as close to being their masterpiece. If you're disappointed that you never saw Weakling live, and you need something just as good as Dead as Dreams, you should definitely check out Krallice. The guitars alone make this a good entry point into black metal. Strongly recommended.

This album is my favorite strange, unworldly, truly avante-garde release. The elements of music composing that these musicians demonstrate on this album are the best of each and every one of their careers. Seriously. By this I mean that every other project these guys have been in, familiar with, or even within a somewhat close proximity to has sucked BIG BLACK DICK. Have you ever heard The Flying Luttenbachers or Behold the Poopypus or whatever? That shit is just people trying to get away with doing ridiculous things in a recording studio and hoping pretentious whores will call it "original," or "melodically enticing" and other phrases that don't make one Christ's cumshot of sense.

But back to the *music* that EM would so love me to talk about. Imagine a Corelli Sonata through a musical strobelight of tremolo picking melodies and then sprinkle in some ballsack and cool moaning/whining/screaming vocals behind the melody, which is nice, because nothing cheeses me off more than stopping everything that is happening in the guitar and bass part so a singer can emit some awful bitchmoan. They happen to do this occaisionally, but it is over so quickly because of the rarity of vocality in this album that it isn't a big deal. And as I said, the melody only yields for the vocals rarely. That's the sole reason this release didn't get the balls to the wall perfect score.

The tonal quality is also interesting for this release. Why would a black metal band use more distortion in the bass than the guitar? That would be because they want the dear listeners to be able to hear the music, since they worked so hard to write it. What a waste that would be if you couldn't hear their awesome riffage! Another answer is that this band has heavy post rock influences, which don't usually use distortion in the lead guitar. As much as the musicians would hate to admit, the post rock is much more prevalent than the avante-garde. This would be so devastating to a band that has members spread to the far corners of the musical world to be in shitty "bands" that only aim for uniqueness instead of goodness.

So in closure, this band's first selftitled release is, as a whole, a clean sounding series of melodically confusing yet good sounding (sorry, I can't really explain that, you'll have to take my word for it) pieces which seem to alternate between simplicity and monstrosity, which contain strange, prophetic vocals which no one understands. In short, this is great.

What is this? Avant-garde black metal? Strange Black Metal? That always seems to be the sixty-four thousand dollar question. My answer to that is, who gives a shit? It's good. But if you have to know, Krallice is a progressive metal band with a post-rock sensibility borrowing a strong tremolo picked black metal influence in the guitars plus some very complex drumming going incognito as blast beats from that genre. So nigh, this is NOT black metal but if any of that gives you qualms, it's your loss. If you're still hellbent on gleaning who this album sounds like, I'm gonna make this real simple for you: Put Electric Wizard vocals and that loom-large reverb in a blender with the tremolo riff precision and distortion level of Borknagar. Press the purée button for ten seconds. Then add a teaspoon of some Weakling look and feel and push stir for about fifteen seconds. Take the top off and pour into a chalice for some Krallice EP. Tasty? Maybe you should knock some of that goat cheese off you found from listening to all that Beherit first though. Just a suggestion. Speaking of cheese, at the expense of coming across as cheesy by mentioning his name in a metal album review, all I can say is, when it comes to the drumming, Emeril Lagrasse himself would say 'Bam!' if even he were to give this a try. Hey, if a culinary analogy is good enough for a fancy schmancy album like Montheist then it's good enough to be used for an also super textured album like Krallice too so let's kick it up a notch...

The way to describe this album is that it's busy. Very busy. It's going in every which direction but loose. It's going right. It's going left. It's going diagonal. So it's going but it's going tight unlike a Wonkavator. The advanced time changes and escalation harmonizing are what make the album sound so assiduous. And yes, it has atmosphere galore just not black metal atmosphere which is another reason why I refuse to call Krallice that but that doesn't mean it isn't interesting. Quite the contrary. The aura and scenery here is on par with something alive and pulsating. This is a band intent on creating an album that is the musical equivalent of a paradox that is structured chaos. That's where the black metal borrowings come in handy and with a purpose.

The bass. Not bad if I don't say so myself. It's vibrant and put to good use. I like that there is also a sense of independence but simultaneously serving a dual role in laying down an illusion of time. Again, it goes back to that structure paradox because the drums are doing the same exact thing. This exhibit of illusory function is another extremely clever bit to appreciate about this EP.

This is the type of band usually found signed to Southern Lord and I assumed as much at first but they are not. And don't even get me started on this whole "hipster" criticism of the album("..myehh. myehh..ist ficking heepsteh..eest nein krieg fa me") Once more: Krallice is set up to play progressive metal. Leave it alone!

I got this album a little while ago; I knew it had been hyped up a fair bit - the indie kids are loving it, it seems- and so I was expecting a real love it/hate it type thing; either it'd be some hipster shit that I'd love (i.e Isis) or loathe (DsO). Turns out though that it's just somewhere in the middle, a decent but not amazing sort of release. It kind of sounds like someone got a bunch of post rock crecendos, threw them together and put some drums in at double time.

Sounds pretty good in practise, then, but overall it's fairly mediocre. There's a few moments where the tremelo picking comes together into a glorious wall of sound, but otherwise it's not terribly memorable. As is to be expected from a bunch of guys in tech bands, the band is really good on their respective instruments and have no problem showing that; it's a nice change from the usual no-frills style that most bands of this ilk employ.

I dunno, it's a relatively unique sound- certainly dissonant post rock/black metal hasn't been done very often - but it just gets so boring. It's not very dynamic, the riffs aren't interesting in the slightest, the songs unnecessarily long. I kind of get the feeling that in their obsession with being different, Krallice forgot that certain musical traditions - various chord progressions, dynamics, using structure effectively - exist for a fairly good reason. Deep and meaningful? Hardly, but I'll admit that with the stretched out arrangements, strange lyrics and walls of sound it's rather easy to think so. Krallice- not very good at making music, perhaps, but rather good at marketing.

To conclude then.. well, it's rather boring? Unique, perhaps, with a few enjoyable moments here and there (final song is alright) but sleep-inducing and super repetitive. The fact that this got praised to the skies just goes to show just how mediocre a year 2008 was.

Atmosphere and awesome riffs, atmosphere and awesome riffs, atmosphere and awesome riffs...sound good? That's this album in a nutshell. Sound like black metal? It is. But not as we know it (crap, what a cheesy line). This album is for the open-minded metal head only, most stalwart black metal fans would denounce this as not being real black metal or whatever, because of course all black metal must sound like it did in the 90's and must contain nothing but true black metal riffs. Any hint of genre progression seems to scare the shit outta these people, so if this describes you then this might not be for you, however if you have an open mind and ear then you will enjoy this muchly.

The riffs on this album are strange, very strange in fact. There tremolo picked mostly, so they have a black metal feel to them, but the actual content, the notes, are very unique. The beauty lies in the layering of the guitars and the bass, you can hear each of them playing their own distinct, yet similar piece. The whole lot comes together to form this wonderful textured sound, much like you'd expect from a post-rock outfit. This album does feature some virtuoso band members, so of course you are treated to some superb solo's here and there, all of which are extremely well placed, such as at the end of Cnestorial. These solo's are far removed from the kind of instrumental wanking you'd expect to hear in Barr or Marstons other projects, in fact there's very little instrument wanking in this really which may please of discourage you depending on your stance on bands like Behold...the arctopus and their ilk.

I think this leans much more toward the post-rock side of things than any other post-black band I've heard, but that's not too say that this music is uplifting like post-rock tends to be, but the epic feel of post rock is certainly present. For the most part this album has a very tangible depressive atmosphere, and the vocals...when they are present...are quite angry and add a kind of manic feel to the music. However don't expect a 1349 or DSO onslaught of aggression here, this music is more akin to Alatyr or Alcest in that it's quite laid back, but is still dripping with atmosphere.

On to the drumming! This is the instrument that has the most in common with traditional black metal instrumentation. The bulk of the drumming is the classic mid-paced alternating style blastbeat, which is used a heck of a lot in black metal. Mixed in with this are a variety of familiar double bass beats and blastbeats, the drummer does add in a lot of fills though in a bid to keep things more interesting. I really really enjoyed the drumming, it gave me a familiar thing to hook into with this album, and really does provide a superb backing for the other instruments, never once pushing to the forefront...the drummer just keeps each song flowing perfectly and keeps it simple most of the time.

I am very impressed with this album, on a whole it is a great listen, and it will keep you coming back for more because the riffs are very memorable and will get stuck in your head, there are lots of hooks and nice melodies and each listen can reveal another layer that you didn't notice before. Another thing that really impresses me is the composition of the album and the restraint of each band member. Each song is very well written, nothing seems out of place, in fact I'd say it comes across as quite calculated even...like the music has been written out and tweaked to perfection as opposed to it being jammed out till it sounded right as most bands tend to. Every member of the band has a lot of technical ability and comes from a background where they'd be expected to play in a very technical style, with lots showing off and whatnot. However on this album they have all toned their playing right down, and are all playing for the music and nothing else, good show ole'bean!

Like many people, I'm sure, I was attracted to Krallice based solely off the information that Colin Marston (the dude with half a head of hair and a Warr guitar from Behold The Arctopus...) was in the band. Expecting some odd super technical misfit of the black metal genre, I was happily caught surprise by a band that adheres to an ideology of riffs, melody, and harmony before trying to baffle people with their superior musicianship. Strewn throughout the album are amazingly powerful, catchy, and melodic riffs that aren't lost amidst each other. There is just the right dose of a progressive touch that lets the album maintain its melody and catchiness and not fall prey to something overly complicated and atonal like Deathspell Omega's Fas - Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem or Drottnar's Welterwerk(which seems to be hardly black metal at all).

Now, for those of you concerned with the label of Krallice (like the previous reviewer before me) this is black metal and nothing else. Simply because of intricate and talented song writing, stellar musicianship and cohesion, doesn't mean this album is post-rock, or shoegaze or whatever. Yes there isn't a super fuzzy production, yes you can hear the bass, no there aren't any upside crosses or baby Jesus' being spat on here. So if you're into black metal only for its cliches, angst and sense of blasphemy then stop reading this right now.

What Krallice does have is everything someone like me could ever want in a band. There's tons of melodic and catchy riffs (mostly all tremolo picked), aggression, attention grabbing song structures, emotion and even atmosphere. The album is full of ups and downs, twists and turns and really powerful sections. The solo at the end of "Cnestorial" really blew me out of my seat the first time I heard it, and gets me all worked up like keys to a dog every time I hear it. Like the band it's immensely powerful and captivating, catchy and moving. If you're a huge fan of build ups, ones that by the time it's over all you can think about is rewinding and starting it over, then you'll love this band. For an example of what I mean check out the last two minutes of the second track as well as the last three minutes of "Energy Chasms" and the last two minutes of "Forgiveness in Rot'." These are all extremely epic and melodic parts that really make this album so amazing.

Regardless of how you feel about Weakling, I really don't see them as being so similar to Krallice. I myself am not a big fan of Weakling, but being that they're a USBM band who didn't adhere to the norm of black metal, had long songs, and weren't really part of the black metal scene, people like to compare them to any other USBM act who carries any of those traits (Krallice, Wittr, etc). While Weakling did contain impressive musicianship and an unorthodox approach to black metal, Dead as Dreams, is a lot denser and harsh then Krallice could ever be. Beyond that Weakling doesn't carry the same type of melody and flavor that Krallice has, so I find the comparison unwarranted and if such a comparison is a deterrent then ignore it.

As simply as possible, Krallice can be defined with such tags as complex drum work that often relies on blast beats, catchy and melodic guitar work that is mostly tremolo picked, soaring and winding guitar solos, distant yelled vocals that carry a very emotional vibe, but are sparse, pleasant and audible bass (which follows the guitar for the most part) and powerfully spiraling song structures that typically have a small dose of atmosphere. Conservative use of keyboards is also very nice, they provide little affects here and there that really help add to the atmosphere, but they are quite sparse( like at the end of "Energy Chasms" or around 2:30 on "Cnestorial."

Krallice is really a band you have to hear for yourself. What makes them so great is that they know exactly how long to repeat a certain riff, when to change, when to bring it back, when to introduce a new part of the song, when to solo, when to do everything just right. Never do I find myself getting bored with this release; I am constantly captivated and wholly interested with every single note.

Another surprising aspect to Krallice's self-titled debut is how much I enjoyed the production. The album is extremely well produced, there is no abstract static or fuzz, everything is crystal clear, yet it still maintains itself as a black metal album. I typically stay away from well produced black metal, but the production sounds sort of similar to Negura Bunget's brilliant Om album, just with a more audible bass. The guitars on Om are a bit more distorted, or muddy sounding, but they both contain high production values.

Krallice is defiantly an album of epic proportions. Almost every song, with the exception of "Molec Codices" and "Timehusk" are extremely moving and epic songs with heavy doses of catchy and melodic riffs, and "Forgiveness in Rot" is the closer to end all closers. "Timehusk" is more venomous and straightforward to some degree; although it has a mind blowing and finger blistering solo that makes it a bit unusual to be labeled as a more conventional track in terms of black metal, it has a more "metal" vibe to it: speed and riffs!

If you can't picture your black metal without a pentagram or a bullet belt, then this isn't the album for you. If you enjoy an exceptionally well composed and unique brand of black metal that is as accessible as it is deep, then this album is for you. No matter the genre, no matter the band's history, this album is absolutely amazing and nearly flawless. Treat yourself to buying this, you deserve it.

Review originally published at http://www.teethofthedivine.com by Erik Thomas

I usually take the self generated press from label owners, PR folks and such for granted. Every PR person and label folk will tell me that the upcoming album from band X on their roster is amazing or brilliant.

So when the folks at Profound Lore told me that the debut from Krallice would be the best black metal album of 2008, I took it with a grain of salt. Even more so when I heard that Krallice was comprised of guitarists Colin Marston (Behold… The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia, Byla, Indricothere) and Mick Barr (Octis, Crom-Tech, Angelblood, The Flying Luttenbachers, Orthrelm); a duo whose material I have never really enjoyed or ‘got’ despite the unquestionable skill involved.

The thing is, Profound Lore might be right…

It would be easy to assume that Krallice would simply be a mess of a black metal record recorded by two folks that while instrumental geniuses, simply could not encapsulate a black metal record without it at least sounding like say, Behold…The Arctopus simply playing black metal, but Krallice ends up not only standing on its own as a superb black metal record, but having its own identity and presence that’s simply head and shoulders above most USBM being plied right now.

The immediate comparison that struck me from the opening chords of “Wretched Wisdom” was Weakling; long songs, distant shrieks and shouts, seething, tremolo picked riffage littered with layered, intricate structures and some moments of haunting introspection. I also hear some Deathspell Omega here in the chaotic guitar work though far less malevolent, and also some classic Ulver and Wolves in the Throne Room in the more organic hues, simple drum work, minimalist basslines and chord progressions. How’s that for elite name dropping?

Yeah-this is that good folks. Each of the 6 lengthy tracks is a foray into undulating, expressive and more impressive, technically crippling black metal. Just listen to the closing solo and peak of “Cnestorial” or the regal yet discordant gait of “Molec Codices” (showing those pulsing, minimalist Ulver basslines), with a cripplingly epic and brilliant second half that’s to just die for. “Timehusk” gives you a few moments to recover with a slow marching build, before exploding into a discordant vortex, where the Deathspell Omega reference comes in.

Standout “Energy Chasms” is initially a restrained but chaotic take on classical sounds but filtered through broken glass before its transcendental metamorphosis at 2-minutes in (and again at 5:50 minutes in) reveals a beautiful yet deadly style shift into some otherworldly melodies. It’s like gazing into the heart of a dying sun; a feeling that seems to fit the entire album. Closer “Forgiveness in Rot” is the album’s longest cut and overstays a tad too long, pushing the album to a shade over an hour, but still delivers a simply awe inspiring set of solos over a steady drum beat that ends with a breath exhaling collapse and a sense of closure that the album deserves.

With this debut, Krallice have risen to and arguably surpassed Wolves in the Throne room like levels of elite American black metal brilliance, and once again shows that Profound Lore, despite a few missteps of late (my opinion only) is a truly elite label , a label that also told me that Krallice is no flash in the pan side project. Let’s hope they are right on that also.

Hailing from New York and brought forth by Mick Barr (Ocrilim, Orthrelm) and Colin Marston (Behold… The Arctopus, Dysrythmia), Krallice is an experimental USBM act that rips apart normal time structures, encompassing you in a furious black metal tornado. Their self-titled debut album released through Profound Lore, is an hour long opus with six songs ranging from six minutes, to fifteen. The twisting branches featured on the cover art are a key image to understanding the band's sound.


Starting things off with “Wretched Wisdom,” freezing guitars commence the music and really get into the groove when the drums enter. Headbanging is inevitable. The vocals, by Mick Barr, have the echoing feature of raw black metal, but with the added element of sounding like someone stuck in a cave crying for help and not just angrily screaming at the world, as in they are quite unique. The guitars are absolutely majestic towards the end of the song. On “Molec Codices,” the drumming really explodes and is very crushing. The beginning of “Timehuse” consists of what sounds like someone hammering at a construction site and then crescendos into a wild fit of guitar rage. Then there’s the fifteen minute long giant “In Forgiveness We Rot,” as the ending track. The few bits of Mick’s voice are estranged and of course the song ends with a battalion of stringed axes.


When I heard who was in the band (Colin Marston and Mick Barr), I figured that this would be a strange album, in a bad way, as I am not a fan of their other projects. However, while the music is highly unconventional, Krallice’s goal to “create vitriolic time-stretching epic black metal,” is right on. The first time I listened to the CD, I felt as if I had blacked out for an hour, a plus and minus of the album as it can get extremely numbing and some may not like the drone effect.


Once I got to the second, third, fourth and so on listens, I really heard the music and was able to notice the originality and the beauty of the guitars and the album as a whole. Krallice is definitely a band to keep a watchful eye on as their debut, “Krallice,” is a wonderful, melodic, crazed, black metal opiate.

I generally tend to try and write reviews for releases that have none, but I was compelled to break this semi-rule for Krallice's debut, primarily due to the hyperbole I've seen and heard surrounding it.

To start with, the band Krallice have been continually acquainted with deserves a mention, namely Weakling. It's blindingly obvious that Weakling were the main (and possibly only) influence, ranging from the overall sound of the band to the similarities in logos. I could end my review here to be honest, as if you enjoy Weakling you will almost certainly find something worthwhile in Krallice.

The aim of droning yet technical Black Metal is realised through the medium of guitars, drums, vocals and even infrequent keyboards that sound almost exactly the same as Weakling's, albeit with emphasis placed on lead-work rather than a gigantic wall of sound, caused by a more refined, professional production and severe reduction of background keyboards. It's for this reason that I don't consider Krallice to be a rip-off project in the same sense as the seemingly endless Burzum/Darkthrone-worship that takes place. Rather, there are a few differences that I would describe best as a minor evolution from Weakling, the most prominent of these being the bass. Imagine a distorted, pick-played bass a la Motörhead that is noticeably present for the duration of the album, adding either an extra layer to the prevailing melody, conversely providing some dissonance or taking the role of a thunderous lead in a manner reminiscent of Albert from Reverend Bizarre.

Guitar solos are a feature of Timehusk and Energy Chasms, however they are wildly different and therefore produce different results. The incredibly spastic and seemingly atonal solos on Timehusk simply don't fit the music with any coherence. Luckily they're over in a few seconds and don't have a dramatic effect on the song as a whole. However, the simple yet majestically soaring solo on Energy Chasms does full justice to the blatant songwriting skill the musicians possess, complimenting the song perfectly.

In conclusion, I honestly don't see anything revolutionary about this album for the self-explanatory reason that Weakling were playing remarkably similar material almost a decade earlier. For those who were left craving more from said band though, this could be said to be a perfect tribute, with a small yet healthy dose of originality added into the mix. I'm definitely one of these people, but I hope Krallice continue progressing, experimenting and adding more little quirks to their music, thus developing a more individual stand-alone sound.

Much North American black metal conjures images when listened to: Weakling presents a picture of urban decay, Velvet Cacoon a drug induced haze along the shore, Wolves in the Throne Room evokes the mountains and misty forests of the northwest, Wrath of the Weak feels like an abandoned, antiquated automated factory suddenly come to life, and Wold feel like being caught in an icestorm so harsh it rips flesh from bone. Somehow, Krallice, the black metal project of the infamous Mick Barr and Colin Marston, evokes all of these and more at times. This album is the future of black metal.

If you are a fan of Profound Lore releases, just stop reading right now and go buy it; you will love this. This stands up there with giants such as Cobalt and Wold quite easily.

What we have here is the epic, droning black metal that several USBM bands have pursued over the years, albeit bands of this ilk appear sparingly. This is not an easy genre to excel in; the very real possibility of failing entirely and going from hypnotic to boring always exists. However, Krallice's firm handle on songwriting and technical expertise make for an enthralling listen indeed. While Mick Barr is generally detested among metallic circles for his avant....something project, Orthrelm, his talents are undeniable. And for those who feared this album to be something like OV with black metal shrieks, fear not. This is black to the core, but accented with the technical abilities of both Barr and Marston; not the other way around.

The playing never feels self-indulgent; it all feels very natural. Even the expected freakout moments are restrained enough to not be irritating; the focus here is on atmosphere. Also, fortunately for all of us, Krallice do not fail to keep the METAL in black metal; listen to that riff in Molec Codices! It absolutely destroys! Not since "(A Shimmering Radiance) Diadem of 12 Stars" has there been a riff that headbanging-inducing in a genre known mostly for tinny tremolo riffs. Everything from the Wrath of the Weak-esque repetitive-to-the-point-of-being-ambience droning (especially in massive closer "Forgiveness in Rot") to pummeling metallic riffs, to wailing, high-pitched atonal leads (listen to around the 3-minute mark in "Wretched Wisdom!") is perfectly executed and never let go once they bore into your skull. The guitars really are the highlight of this album; they are all over the place and simply suck you in, from the slow, melodic beginning of the album to the epic thrashing at the end of "Forgiveness in Rot." And, when these two fellows get going, watch out, the technicality will shred your face off. Barr and Marston compliment each other perfectly, and this is especially surprising considering neither of these folks had any previous experience playing black metal in the least (although Marston's bandmates do not shy away from the genre either; witness the excellent Direwolf album).

Vocals, like many bands of this ilk, are sparse, distant, and have just the right amount of reverb applied for effect. I was surprised to discover that Mick Barr did the vocals himself, but they are actually quite well done. Granted, vocals are rarely the central focus of a black metal album (except for the maniacal shrieks of Weakling or Silencer, for instance), but this album, like Pagan Hammer's "Ode to My Fathers," demonstrates that less is more vocally. The guitars are given full room to breathe, and many of the leads speak for themselves; vocals would be more of an encumbrance that anything else during many portions of this album. When the vocals are utilized, they help add to the cacophony of sounds; they really are quite anguished and intense.

Drumming (and now, though not on the album, bass) is provided by members of Prog-Death band Astomatous, and gives quite the show. Blast beats, cascading fills, and an all-around frantic delivery equals the skill shown by both guitar players. If you haven't lived under a rock, you would know that keeping up with members of Behold...The Arctopus and Orthrelm as far as technicality goes is one hell of a feat. I'm going to track down Astomatous' album now; if the performance is anything like on this album, I'm in for one hell of a ride. While the drums are somewhat buried in the mix, but there are moments where they come to the front for a showing of pure ferocity.

If a melting pot of some of the best bands to ever grace the USBM scene sounds as amazing to you as it should, go buy this right now. Not since Weakling's "Dead as Dreams" has an album impacted me as much as this. I have name dropped some of the greatest albums ever in this review simply because this easily belongs among them all. This has edged out Withered's "Folie Circulaire" as not just black metal album of the year, but album of the year in general for me. If you don't like this, you're retarded and should go back to circle jerking with your buddies to Alignak.