Vsque ad Sidera Vsque ad Inferos

You could be forgiven for thinking that a band called Kshatriya might be some crazy bunch high on psychedelics playing a deranged and chaotic style of bleary acid-guitar mania full of dense reverbed atmospherics and featuring nutty lyrics about arcane rituals promising transcendence of a blacked-out hangover kind. Fret not, these Italian guys are actually a straight-up minimal black metal group playing structured music with definite song structures, riffs and melodies, and even occasional rock grooves. So far the band has released just one album "Vsque Ad Sidera Vsque Ad Inferos" whose name translates from Latin into English as "From the Sky to the Ground", which may be a metaphor for the descent or transmission of the forces of the spirit or the divine into physical existence.

The band's sound is admittedly thin with each instrument being very clear and contrasting strongly with the crumbly, raspy vocals. Percussion especially seems very under-powered and on some tracks the guitars may be more pure in tone and less fuzzy or sharp-edged than they should be. The lyrics are in Italian which I don't speak or understand so unfortunately I don't have much idea of what themes drive the music. There might very well be references to cycles of deep time, the impermanence of the world and the action of karma (with every action generating a reaction which in turns leads to another reaction) through time, to judge from song titles like "316 Dvapara", "Della Manifestazione Cosmica e della Giustizia" and "Ciclo Indoeuropeo".

Overall the songs are not remarkable in themselves: the level of musicianship is good but is let down by the thin sound, and the melodies are nothing out of the ordinary. On the plus side, the Kshatriya guys play with a lot of feeling and enthusiasm for their music and this passion gives the songs spark and focus. What makes the recording really stand out is the use of field recordings of spoken voice monologue and (at the start of the last track) a sample of droning horns that might have come from a Tibetan Buddhist ritual. These sampled recordings give the songs a bit more depth and mystery than they otherwise would have, and if these were integrated into the music more, rather than being tacked onto the beginnings or ends of songs, would have given the album the distinct identity it needs.

The second album would be worth watching out for, to see if Kshatriya can come up with a much more individual style of black metal with the band's chosen themes providing more inspiration for musical style and focus.

Kshatriya comes from the land of Alfa Romeos and Maserati's. Yes you guessed it they are from Italy and unlike the car brands their music is not refined it's dirty grimey black metal that tries to sound "KVLT" in this day an age.

Vsque ad Sidera Vsque ad Inferos is their debut offering and spans for 32 minutes and contains 6 tracks out of which a majority is in your face black metal. The band scores points from me for not trying too hard to create that "oh I'm so kvlt and my music sounds like it was recorded in a tin can" feel that most of the so called purists try to do when it comes to mixing and mastering their work. The guitar riffs are not anything out of the ordinary but are very simple in your face and feels honest. The drumming too is nothing awe inspiring but is just enough to keep the album flowing. There is a lot of double bass work, blast beats and cymbal work which is all reminiscent of the genres raw past.

The vocals are sharp and shrieky and compliments the music rather perfectly. There are some spoken parts in Italian thrown in for good measure which keeps diversity afloat. There are some interesting samples on Indo-European's and references to the Mahabharat which I found interesting.

So overall it is an album that flows well and keeps you hooked throughout it's entire duration but the music lacks substance and feel which the band tries to overcome with musical sincerity. This is not a ground breaking record or one that will make you go "damn black metal is awesome" it's more of a record that you wouldn't mind listening to when driving down the highway or whenever you decide to imbibe.

Originally written for : Bitter Distaste